Barium health effects

As indicated in Table 7.6, all hazardous chemicals in electric arc furnace dust are assumed to induce deterministic responses. The possible responses include renal toxicity, effects on the cardiovascular system, dermal or ocular effects, decrease in body weight, hepatic toxicity, and respiratory toxicity. Decrease in body weight is not a response in a particular organ but is assumed to be a health effect of concern. All deterministic responses are assumed to be induced by more than one chemical in the waste. Furthermore, some of the chemicals (barium, beryllium, chromium, and lead) are assumed to induce all responses. 

Levels of Significant Exposure To Barium - Oral 2-2 Existing Information on Health Effects of Barium 5-1 Frequency of NPL Sites with Barium Contamination ... 

This Statement was prepared to give you information about barium and to emphasize the human health effects that may result from exposure to it. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified 1,177 sites on its National Priorities List (NPL). Barium has been found at 154 of these sites. However, we do not know how many of the 1,177 NPL sites have been evaluated for barium. 

As EPA evaluates more sites, the number of sites at which barium is found may change. The information is important for you because barium may cause harmful health effects and because these sites are potential or actual sources of human exposure to barium. 

If you are exposed to a hazardous substance such as barium, several factors will determine whether harmful health effects will occur and what the type and severity of those health effects will be. These factors include the dose (how much), the duration (how long), the route or pathway by which you are exposed (breathing, eating, drinking, or skin contact), the other chemicals to which you are exposed, and your individual characteristics such as age, sex, nutritional status, family traits, life style, and state of health. 

The health effects of the different barium compounds depend on how well the specific barium compound dissolves in water. For example, barium sulfate does not dissolve well in water and has few adverse health effects. Doctors sometimes give barium sulfate orally or by placing it directly in the rectum of patients for purposes of making x-rays of the stomach or intestines. The use of this particular barium compound in this type of medical test is not harmful to people. Barium compounds such as barium acetate, barium carbonate, barium chloride, barium hydroxide, barium nitrate, and barium sulfide that dissolve in water can cause adverse health effects. Most of what we know comes from studies in which a small number of individuals were exposed to fairly large amounts of barium for short periods. Eating or drinking very large amounts of barium compounds that dissolve in water may cause paralysis or death in a few... 

More information on the health effects of barium can be found in Chapter 2. 

To protect individuals from the possible harmful health effects of barium, the federal government regulates the amount of barium in the environment. EPA estimates that for an adult of average weight, exposure to 1.5 ppm of barium in water each day for a... 

When evaluating the health effects of barium compounds, it is important to keep in mind that different barium compounds have different solubilities in water and body fluids and therefore serve as variable sources of the Ba + ion. The Ba + ion and the soluble compounds of barium (notably chloride, nitrate, hydroxide) are generally highly toxic to humans and experimental animals. The insoluble barium compounds (notably sulfate and carbonate) are inefficient sources of the Ba + ion and therefore are generally nontoxic. Throughout the following section (2.2), the health effects by route of exposure of both soluble and insoluble barium compounds are discussed. 

Limited information is available regarding the health effects of barium following dermal exposure. Barium salts would be expected to have a local effect on skin surfaces and would not likely be absorbed systematically to any great extent. Available studies include a case report of an individual exposed dermally to molten barium chloride (Stewart and Hummel 1984), a skin irritation study evaluating barium carbonate in experimental animals (Tarasenko et al. 1977), and a skin-painting study in which mice were exposed dermally to a barium hydroxide extract of tobacco leaf (Van Duuren et al. 1968). No reliable information was available from any of these dermal studies to identify study NOAELs or LOAELs for barium. In the case report (Stewart and Hummel 1984), the dermal burns that developed in the individual exposed to molten barium chloride may potentially have contributed to some of the reported health effects, which are described briefly in Section 2.2.3.2 (Systemic Effects). 

No studies were located regarding the following health effects in humans or animals after dermal exposure to barium ... 

No acute-, intermediate-, or chronic-duration inhalation MRLs were derived for barium because studies evaluating the effects of barium in humans and animals following acute, intermediate, and chronic inhalation exposure were inadequate for establishing the exposure concentrations associated with adverse health effects. The human studies (Doig 1976 Essing et al. 1976 Seaton et al. 1986 Shankle and Keane 1988) were limited by the small number of subjects and the lack of quantitative exposure information. The animal studies (Hicks et al. 1986 Tarasenko et al. 1977) were limited by inadequate descriptions of the experimental design. 

No acute-, intermediate-, or chronic-duration oral MRLs were derived for barium because of limitations of the studies evaluating oral exposure to barium for such durations. Case studies of acute exposures in humans did not provide adequate characterization of the doses associated with adverse health effects and acute-duration animal studies did not provide sufficient data to identify a target organ. 

Roza and Berman 1971 Schott and McArdle 1974) and is used as an antidote in cases of acute barium poisoning. Calcium and magnesium suppress uptake of barium in vitro in pancreatic islets. Conversely, barium, in low concentrations, stimulate calcium uptake in these cells. Although the data are insufficient to determine the significance of these findings to human health effects, displacement of calcium may be the mechanism by which barium stimulates insulin release (Berggren et al. 1983). 

Section 104(i)(5) of CERCLA as amended directs the Administrator of ATSDR (in consultation with the Administrator of EPA and agencies and programs of the Public Health Service) to assess whether adequate information on the health effects of barium is available. Where adequate information is not available, ATSDR, in conjunction with the National Toxicology Program (NTP), is required to assure the initiation of a program of research designed to determine the health effects (and techniques for developing methods to determine such health effects) of barium. 

There is little information regarding health effects in humans following inhalation, oral, or dermal exposure to barium (Figure 2-2). Inhalation studies are limited to several case reports of individuals exposed acutely or chronically through occupational exposure (Doig 1976 Essing et al. 1976 ... 

One on-going study regarding health effects of barium was reported in the FEDRIP (1989) database. An epidemiological study is presently being conducted by L. Frohman. The relationship between barium in drinking water and the cardiovascular risk effects to humans is being assessed. No other... 

Brenniman GR, Kojola WH, Levy PS, et al. 1979a. Health effects of human exposure to barium in drinking water. Cincinnati, Ohio US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Health Effects Research Laboratory. EPA/600/1-79/003. 

EPA. 1984. Health effects assessment for barium. Prepared by Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office, Cincinnati, OFI. Washington, DC US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. EPA/540/1 -86/021. 

Kojola WH, Brenniman GR, Carnow BW. 1978. A review of environmental characteristics and health effects of barium in public water supplies. Rev Environ Health 3 79-95. 

Miller RG, Featherstone JDB, Curzon MEJ, et al. 1985. Barium in teeth as indicator of body burden. Performed by Eastman Dental Center, Rochester, NY. Research Triangle Park, NC Health Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development. EPA/600/J-85/397. 

Barium is naturally occurring in many types of rock. Deposits of fossil fuels and peat may also contain high levels of barium, often in the form of barium sulfate. It has been classified in the EPA s Group D (not classifiable). Because of its presence in drinking water and some adverse health effects on humans, it is regulated by the U.S. government. 

Collect informadon on the Surface Water Treatment Rule (SWTR) standards set by the EPA. Write a brief memo to your instructor eaqplaining your findings. Obtain the EPA s consumer fact sheets (they are now available on the Web) on antimony, barium, beryllium, cadmium, tyanide, and mercury. After readily the fiict sheets, pt >are a brief report explaining what they are, how they are used, and what health effects are associated with them. 

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