Chemical workers

AH of the toxicity data on MDA have been collected using either 4,4 -MDA or the corresponding hydrochloride salt. The information discussed in this section can also be used for commercial products containing MDA or PMDA. Because MDA is a potentially ha2ardous chemical, worker exposure should be kept to a minimum. For complete health and safety information on MDA consult references 46 and 56—59. 

Health Hazards Information - Recommended Personal Protective Equipment Acid-vapor-type respiratory protection rubber gloves chemical worker s goggles other equipment as necessary to protect skin and eyes Symptoms Following Exposure Inhalation irritates mucous membranes. Contact with liquid causes severe bums of eyes and skin. Ingestion causes severe burns of mouth and stomach General Treatment for Exposure Get medical attention following all Exposures to this compound. 

Moses, M., and Prioleau, P. Ct. (1985). Cutaneous histologic findings in chemical workers with and without chloracne with past exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-/i-d oxin. i.. 4m. Acad. Dermatol. 12, 497-506. 

Dossing M, Ranek L. 1984. Isolated liver damage in chemical workers. Br J Ind Med 41 142-144. 

Rey and coworkers78 reported methyltin intoxication in six chemical workers exposed to Me2SnCl2 and MesSnCI. After a latent period of 1 -3 days, the first symptoms occurred, including headache, tinnitus, deafness, impair of memory, disorientation, aggressiveness, psychotic behavior, syncope, loss of consciousness and, in the most severe cases, respiratory depression requiring ventilatory assistance. Increased tin excretion was detected in the urine of all patients, particularly those most ill. The patient with the highest tin levels died 12 days after the initial exposure. 

It is toxic, and killed over 40 chemical workers during its early development. 

Polednak and Hollis (1985) reported a follow-up of the study discussed above. The study update reported the mortality experience of individuals through the end of 1978 and included 694 routinely exposed white male chemical workers, 97 acutely exposed chemical workers, and 9,280 controls. 

Polednak (1980) and Polednak and Hollis (1985) examined a cohort of chemical workers exposed to phosgene at chronic low levels as well as daily exposures above 1 ppm. Approximately 35 y after exposure to phosgene, no increase in overall mortality or mortality from cancer or respiratory disease... 

International Chemical Workers Union (now part of UFCW)... 

Studies of workers in the endrin manufacturing industry have not shown an association between occupational exposure to endrin and any type of human cancer. No excess cancers could be attributed to exposure to endrin in 52 chemical workers in an endrin manufacturing facility after exposures lasting 4-13 years (Versteeg and Jager 1973). Fifteen years later, the same worker cohort showed no evidence of increased cancer rates. The small size of the cohort gives the study a low statistical power (Ribbens 1985). 

Cannon SB, Veazey JM, Jackson RS, et al. 1978. Epidemic Kepone poisoning in chemical workers. Am J Epidemiol 107 529-537. 

Whorton MD, Amsel J, Mandel J Cohort mortality study of prostrate cancer among chemical workers. Am J Ind Med 33(3) 293-296, 1998... 

In industrial experience, intoxication has occurred from inhalation of the dust or vapor or by skin absorption after direct contact. Fatal intoxication occurred in a chemical worker who spilled a solution of 2-aminopyridine on his clothing during a distillation he continued to work in contaminated clothing for 1.5 hours. Two hours later, he developed dizziness, headache, respiratory distress, and convulsions that progressed to respiratory failure and death it is probable that skin absorption was a major factor in this case. 

A nonfatal intoxication from exposure to an undetermined concentration of 2-aminopyridine in air resulted in severe headache, weakness, convulsions, and a stuporous state that lasted several days. A chemical worker exposed to an estimated air concentration of 20mg/m (5.2 ppm) for approximately 5 hours developed... 

Bond GG et al An update of mortality among chemical workers exposed to benzene. Br J Ind Med 43 685-691, 1986... 

Ward EM, Fajen JM, Ruder AM, et al Mortality study of workers in 1,3-butadiene production units identified from a chemical workers cohort. Environ Health Perspect 103(6) 598-603, 1995... 

A follow-up of CMME (BCME) workers found no increased risk of respiratory cancer among those exposed less than 1 year to a 12-fold increase among those exposed 10 years or more. Latency did not appear to be inversely related to dose but, instead, peaked at approximately 20 years from initial exposure. After 30 years of observation 25 of 67 deaths in CMME (BCME)-exposed chemical workers were due to lung cancer (80% small cell carcinoma). Standardized mortality ratios were elevated among the moderately and heavily exposed workers and peaked at 23.1 the first decade and then declined to 7.4 and 7.9 in later decades. ... 

A chemical worker who accidentally swallowed Ig (about 140mg/kg) developed nausea, dizziness, headache, pain and irritation in the eyes, conjunctivitis, and toxic nephritis. He recovered completely after 2 weeks. ... 

Dermatitis and conjunctivitis are occasionally observed in chemical workers after prolonged exposure. No systemic effects from industrial exposure have been reported. 

Bond GG, Flores GH, Stafford BA, et al Lung cancer and hydrogen chloride exposure results from a nested case control study of chemical workers. J Occup Med 33 958-961, 1991... 

A chemical worker accidentally exposed to an unknown concentration of the vapor developed giddiness, diarrhea, sleepiness, and irritability, with recovery in a week when reexposed 3 months later, he experienced drowsiness, vomiting, pallor, incoordination, slurred speech, muscular twitching, oliguria, coma, and death. At autopsy there were bronchopneumonia and pulmonary hemorrhages, with accumulation of combined iodine in the brain. 

Of three chemical workers who were observed after accidental exposures to perchloromethyl mercaptan, two survived episodes of pulmonary edema, and the third died after 36 hours. The fatality resulted from a spill of the liquid on the clothing and floor with exposure to the vapor. At autopsy, there was necrotizing tracheitis, massive hemorrhagic pulmonary edema, marked toxic nephrosis, and vacuolization of centrilobular hepatic cells. 

Mortality experience among men occupationally exposed to phosgene in the years 1943-1945 was evaluated 30 years after exposure. No excess overall mortality, or mortality from diseases of the respiratory tract, was found in a group of chemical workers chronically exposed to levels with daily excursions above Ippm. Another group of this cohort, 106 workers acutely exposed at some time to a concentration probably greater than 50 ppm, included one death from pulmonary edema, which occurred within 24 hours of exposure, and three deaths vs. 1.37 expected due to... 

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