Commonly Encountered Toxic Chemicals & Known Effects

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Commonly Encountered Toxic Chemicals & Known Effects

JoAnn Guest

Mar 20, 2003 14:45 PST

 

Commonly Encountered Toxic Chemicals

and Known Effects

 

Source: Rowat SC. Integrated Defense System Overlaps

as a Disease Model: With Examples for Multiple

Chemical Sensitivity. Reviews in Environmental

Health, 1998. Environmental Health Perspectives v.106,

Supp.1, Feb98

 

CHEMICAL AND WHERE ITS FOUND

 

TOXICITY IN HUMANS

including chronic and acute effects

(lab animal effects in brackets)

 

1,3-butadiene

rugs, rug underpaddings, rubber tires, rubber consumer products,

nylon,

gasoline, auto exhaust, groundwater leukemia, lymph cancer, blood

cell

cancer; tumors of breast, bronchial tubes, stomach, large intestine,

liver, heart, thyroid (in mice: testicular tumors, leukemia)

(references 1-5)

 

Acetaldehyde

body metabolism of alcohol; woodstoves, incinerators, smog, diesel

exhaust, byproduct of Candida Albicans fungal infections DNA and

chromosome damage; binds to liver and other cells causing autoimmune

responses; upper respiratory irritation, metabolic disruption, lung

damage (6-10)

 

Acetone

adhesives neurologic damage, lung damage; enhances carbon

tetrachloride

liver damage (11)

 

Alkylphenol resin

carbonless copy paper ( " NCR " forms) immune responses including

itching/burning skin, rash, flushing, wheezing, cough; nausea;

hormone

(prostaglandin) irregularities (12, 13)

Benzenes (benzene, benzo(a)pyrene, naphthalene, others)

gasoline (auto exhaust & interiors, gas stations) diesel exhaust,

building materials, plastics, polypropylene food containers, cooked

foods, printers, printed & copied paper, copy machines,

incinerators,

tobacco smoke, woodsmoke, marihuana smoke bronchial, colon, and

liver

damage; leukemia; DNA damage; tumors including brain, liver,

stomach,

lung; cardiac abnormalities, eye irritation, drowsiness,

unconsciousness, uncoordination, heart attack (in mice: birth

defects,

tumors) (1, 14-21)

 

BHT (butylated hydroxy-toluene)

migration from polyethylene food packaging, additive in foods

(cereals,

fats, meats, potatoes, others) allergic reactions, possible cancer,

possible kidney damage (animals: behavioural changes in offspring)

(22)

 

Carbon disulfide

 

solvents, dry-cleaning, painting, spray painting, glue work,

varnishes

peripheral nerve damage, emotional instability, insomnia, lessening

of

libido (23, 24)

Carbon monoxide

woodsmoke, tobacco smoke, auto and diesel exhaust lung damage &

irritation; carboxy-hemoglobin neutralizes blood oxygen transport

(9)

 

Chlorinated water

drinking water, shower vapour immune depression (anti-tumor

macrophages)

 

Chlorobenzene pesticides ( DDT, lindane, heptachlor, aldrin,

dieldrin,

endrin, chlordane, mirex; others)

food chain: fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, human fat,

mother's

milk; body fat, contaminated soils, groundwater brain transmitter

changes including neurological `kindling'; breast cancer (in test

bacteria: genetic mutations; in mice: developmental learning

deficits).

Many are partially or completely untested (25-30)

 

Chloroform, carbon tetrachloride

solvents, incinerators, groundwater liver- lung- & enzyme damage,

cancers, kidney damage, cardiac abnormalities, heart attack (9, 11,

31,

32)

 

Chlorpyrifos

food residues; widely used home and agricultural pesticide,

herbicide;

active metabolite found in urine of 5.8% of U.S. population

peripheral

nerve damage, autoimmune disease, antibiotic allergy, memory loss,

multiple chemical sensitivity, headaches, nausea, muscle cramps;

effects

are accelerated by other organophosphate pesticides (33-37)

 

DEHP (diethylhexyl phthalate)

plasticizer, food wraps, vinyl blood bags: leaches into blood during

storage likely toxicity to lungs, liver, reproductive organs;

possibly

carcinogenic (in animals: fetal toxicity, lung abnormalities) (38)

 

Dioxins

contaminant in pesticides, herbicides, technical products; now

worldwide

in air, water, meat, fish, human body (especially fat, liver);

formed in

incineration, electrical fires, woodsmoke, chemical reactions

(possibly

sewage sludge) genetic damage, vitamin A dysregulation, liver

toxicity,

altered fat metabolism, chlorachne (skin cysts, scarring) thymus

atrophy, impaired resistance to infection, breast cancer, nerve

transmission damage (in animals: fetal damage, immune damage, enzyme

changes)

 

(29, 39-45)

Ethanol

Aspartame (in food & Beverages),glue, alcoholic beverages fetal

damage,

developmental delay, neurologic damage, cirrhosis of liver, zinc and

selenium deficiencies; accelerates liver damage of chloroform,

carbon

tetrachloride, and nitrosamines; interferes with body processing of

styrene, xylene, toluene, methyl ethyl ketone, trichloroethylene,

benzene (6, 9, 31, 46)

 

Formaldehyde

solvents, printing, fabrics, mattresses, tobacco smoke, woodsmoke,

foam

insulation, particle board, car and diesel exhaust, smog,

groundwater

lung damage, impaired memory & dexterity, immediate and delayed

hypersensitivity reactions; asthma, rhinitis; irritation of eyes and

respiration (9, 47, 48)

 

Glycol ethers

antifreeze, paint, glue, adhesives, sealants, caulking compounds,

printed circuit boards, dyeing, inks reproductive poisons, red blood

cell damage, liver damage (in animals: fetal growth retardation,

skeletal defects, testicular lesions) (49)

 

Halothane

recently the most common general anesthetic; still in use as

pediatric

anesthetic neurologic damage, liver damage (in rodents:

developmental

brain damage, reduced learning and exploration in offspring,

neurotransmitter changes) (11, 50, 51)

 

Hexachlorobenzene

cleaners, fungicide immune suppression, reduced T & B cell responses

(in

mice: impaired resistance to infection) (26, 52)

 

Hexachlorophene

disinfectant, cleaning agent, soaps; used to wash hospital newborns

from

1950's to 1973 nausea, vomiting, convulsions, central and peripheral

nerve damage, kidney damage; caused brain lesions and death when

used to

wash newborn premature babies (53-57)

 

Hydrazine

food additives, photographic supplies, herbicides, pesticides,

textiles,

drugs, plastics autoimmune disease (lupus) (58)

MBT ( 2 -mercaptobenzothiazole)

blood vial stoppers, syringes; rubber nipples & pacifiers and other

rubber products damage to cell walls (cell death), allergy, rubber

allergy (in animals: cancer) (59, 60)

 

Methanol

aspartame(food & beverages),glue, antifreeze, paint, cement, ink,

windshield-wiper solvent; industrial uses neurologic damage,

blindness,

lung and gastro-intestinal problems; dizziness, headache (61, 62)

 

Methyl ethyl ketone

solvents, photochemical smog lung irritation and damage (9)

 

Methyl n butyl ketone

solvents, glue, varnish peripheral nerve damage, loss of motor

control

and reflexes, tremor, weight loss, muscle weakness (in rodents:

nerve

cell degeneration) (24, 63-65)

 

Methylene chloride

pesticide sprays, gaseous lubricants, aerosols, degreasers, waxes,

paints, paint-removers, varnishes heart muscle damage, heartbeat

changes; creates carbon monoxide (in animals: cancers) (61, 66)

 

N-hexane

building materials, vegetable oil extraction, gasoline, solvents,

glue,

roofing glue, varnish, vinyl production, printing inks, paints,

dry-cleaning, spray painting nerve cell damage, peripheral limb

nerve

damage; headache, cramps (23, 24, 67)

 

Nitrogen dioxide

incinerators, woodsmoke, smog, auto and diesel emissions; coal, oil

&

gas stoves lung & respiratory damage, pulmonary fluid, fatty acid

oxidation, bronchitis, childhood bronchitis; forms methemoglobin in

blood (in mice: reduced resistance to infection, lung cell damage)

 

(9, 68-71)

Nitrosamines

consumer rubbers (tires, baby nipples and pacifiers), soaps,

cosmetics,

tobacco smoke, food & food containers and packaging, marihuana

smoke,

pesticides, herbicides, industrial uses DNA damage, cancers, cell

death

(in 30 animal species tested: cancers) (72-74)

 

Ozone

incinerators, photochemical smog, diesel and auto exhaust, laser

printers lung immune system damage (B-cells), bronchial

constriction,

fatty acid oxidation, enzyme de-activation (in mice and rabbits:

lung

lesions; in rats: fat metabolism damage, increased deaths) (9, 68,

69,

75-78)

 

PBB' s (polybrominated biphenyls)

flame retardants (rugs, plastics, clothing, furnishings) immune

depression (T & B cells) (79-82)

 

PCB `s (polychlorinated biphenyls)

leakage from transformers; disposal of copy papers,

paints/plasticizers,

pesticide extenders, flame retardants, adhesives, coolants, inks,

hydraulic fluids; human, fish, and animal fat; groundwater genetic

damage causing developmental & cognitive retardation, vitamin A

dysregulation, chlorachne, immune depression, peripheral nerve

damage,

liver damage, respiratory problems, thyroid hormone dysregulation,

decreases in reaction time, spatial learning, short-term memory;

excess

pigmentation (in animals: tumors, growth retardation, behavioural

changes, fetal death, increased infection) (26, 27, 45, 52, 83-90)

 

Pentachlorophenol

 

wood preservative, packaging preservative, insecticide, metabolite

of

lindane & hexachlorobenzene; found in urine of 75% of U.S.

population

possible genetic damage, suspected cancers; commonly contaminated

with

dioxins (in animals: fetal death and mutations) (37, 61)

 

Phenols

disinfectants, insecticides, fungicides (especially citrus fruit),

food

additives, tobacco, marihuana, natural food occurrences,

incinerators

nausea, vomiting, paralysis, coma (in cats, dogs: immune depression;

in

mice: trace amounts cause immune dysfunction of yeast-killing

macrophages) (61, 91, 92)

 

Solvents (mixed) (usually some combination of: benzene, toluene,

xylene,

styrene, acetone, methanol, phenol, alkylphenol, dichloromethane)

paints, glues, degreasers, thinners, extractors, dyes, industrial

manufacturing, laboratories brain, skeletal, and other birth

defects;

brain cell degeneration; panic attacks, impaired memory, depression;

visuospatial and perceptual impairment (23, 24, 93-95)

 

Styrene

rubber, carpet backing, rug underpaddings, photocopiers, copy paper,

laser printers, polystyrene food containers (yogurt, others) genetic

mutations, chromosome aberrations; interference with liver enzymes,

dermatitis; skin, nasal & respiratory irritations, fatigue,

irritability; decreases in manual dexterity, concentration, and

reaction

times (in mice: tumors and increased death rate) (24, 96, 97)

 

Sulphur dioxide

car and diesel exhaust, incinerators, woodsmoke, smog lung &

respiratory

damage, bronchiospasm, airway irritation (in mice: increased

infection)

(9, 98)

 

Tetracycline

antibiotic fetal malformations; chelates bone calcium (99)

 

Toluene (methyl benzene)

paint, solvents, carpets, plastic & rubber cements, white-out fluid,

glue, roofing glue, photocopiers, print shops, dry-cleaning, spray

painting, varnishes, building materials, incinerators, smog,

gasoline,

groundwater (drinking, skin absorption), printed paper damages:

menstruation, respiratory system, brain, reproductive system, verbal

memory, short-term memory, reaction speed; increases emotional

reactivity and awake periods; induces asthma, blood vessel dilation,

hearing loss (9, 23, 24, 100, 101)

 

Toluene-diisocyanate

typing correction fluid, polyurethane foams and elastomers

(insulation,

cushions), industrial uses immediate (type 1) immune reactions,

other

immune-system changes; damage to mucous membranes; cough, wheeze;

irritation of eyes, lungs (9, 47, 102, 103)

 

Trichloroethylene

dry-cleaning, painting, spray painting, glue work, dewaxing and

degreasing agents, insecticides, drain cleaners, printing inks,

solvents, varnishes; incinerators damage to cranial and trigeminal

(nasal) nerves, liver; brain fatty acid changes; narcotic symptoms:

dizziness, nausea, numbness, alcohol intolerance; disruptions in

memory

and understanding; cardiac abnormalities, heart attack (in mice:

cancers) (11, 24, 101)

 

Vinyl chloride

plastic wraps (`Saran Wrap'), PVC plastics, pipes and connectors;

packing materials, wire and cable coatings, footwear, spray-

propellant

gas, hard flooring, vinyl records, groundwater liver, brain & lung

cancers; trigeminal nerve damage, `vinyl chloride disease' (loss of

bone

calcium, auto-immune complexes, peripheral nerve damage, Raynaud's

symptoms, immune complex disorder); skin damage, T-cell depression,

kidney damage; sexual and sleep disorders (9, 11, 104-106)

 

Xylene

paints, thinners, solvents, gasoline, polystyrene cups, adhesives,

roofing glue, building materials, varnish, cleaners, paper,

photochemical smog, groundwater lung enzyme damage, upper

respiratory

irritation, fatigue, headache, nausea; impaired balance and reaction

times (9, 107, 108)

 

REFERENCES

 

1. Mehlman MA. " Dangerous and cancer-causing properties of products

and

chemicals in the oil refining and petrochemical industry. VIII.

Health

effects of motor fuels: carcinogenicity of gasoline--scientific

update " .

Environ Res. 59(1):238-49 (1992).

http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Commonly-Encountered-Toxic-

Chemicals.htm