Chromium carcinogenic form

D. M. L. Goodgame, P. B. Hayman, and D. E. Hathway, Carcinogenic chromium(VI) forms chromium (V) with ribonucleotides but not with deoxy ribonucleotides, Polyhedron, 1 (1982) 497-499. 

There is now much interest in the biology of chromium,1086"1088 which has been suggested to be involved not only in the action of insulin, but also in the activation of certain enzymes, and, possibly, the stabilization of nucleic acids. Chromium is also known to be carcinogenic and mutagenic at high concentrations, particularly as chromate. Chromate is reduced in rat liver microsomes to Crm and Crv. Crv is labile and may well be the carcinogenic form.1089... 

Many of the compounds formed by transition elements appear in various colors. Several are very toxic. Chromium, zinc, cobalt, nickel, and titanium are carcinogenic. 

Already in 1982, it was suggested that the intermediate chromium(V) state is involved in the carcinogenic process.9 Reactive Cr(V) and Cr(IV) intermediates may be harmful in many ways acting as tyrosine phosphatase inhibitors, or by forming organic radicals upon reaction with cellular reductants, which in turn can react with O2 and lead to reactive oxygen species.10 Reaction of chromium(VI) with... 

One of the main applications of LC/AAS is to help determine metal speciation in samples, not merely to identify the presence of a particular element. It is not sufficient to detect the presence of lead, mercury or chromium, one must also to be able to identify the form in which they are present. Depending on the chemical form of a mercury compound, it may or may not be highly toxic. Similarly, if chromium is present in the tertiary form it is not particularly dangerous conversely, in its sixth valency state it is strongly carcinogenic. It follows that the liquid chromatograph can be employed to separate the different species and the atomic absorption spectrometer can identify and confirm the presence of a specific element eluted at a particular retention time. 

Gasification of Leather Offal. Chrome-leather tanning scraps or offal are a waste product of the tanning and leather industries. These wastes are usually the result of trimming operations and contain 3.5 wt % chromium and about 50 wt % water. The wastes cannot be incinerated because malodorous substances and carcinogenic chromium-containing particulates are formed. Landfill disposal is presently used. 

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