Cosmetic workers

Inhalation, dermal, perhaps some oral, and publications of uptake application to the genital area (uptake via the vagina). Potential occupational exposures include cosmetic workers, paint makers, paper makers, pottery makers, rubber cable coaters, rubber tire makers, talc millers, talc miners, and talc powder makers. Consumer exposures involve various talc-containing products. 

Cosmetics workers Pigment/dye makers/users Textile workers... 

C. E. Schreck and co-workers. Soap Cosmet. Chem. Special, 36 (Sept. 1982). 

A slow response to a smoldering mix of chemicals at the Napp Technologies plant in Lodi, NJ is blamed for an April 21,1995 explosion and fire that killed four workers and injured dozens of others. The blast destroyed more than 70% of the plant, which made pharmaceutical and cosmetic iiuerniediate products, and employed 110 workers. The explosion wrecked several stores housed in (he Napp building, damaged nearby buildings, and forced evacuation of 400 residents for about 13 hours. Chemicals leaked into a nearby river, killing hundreds of fish. 

The manufacture of liposomes (which is, for example, carried out by the cosmetics industry) is a complex technical process. Thus, the question arises as to whether a simple mechanism for liposome formation exists which could have functioned under plausible prebiotic conditions. More than 20 years ago, Deamer and co-workers... 

Chemicals reach us through various media. By media we mean the vehicles that carry the chemical and that get it into contact with the body. Thus, food, beverages, air, water, and soils and dusts are the principal environmental media through which chemical exposures take place. Direct contact with the chemical, as with cosmetics applied to the skin, or household products accidentally splashed into the eye, may also occur, in which case the cosmetic or household product may be said to be the medium through which exposure occurs. Exposures to medicines occur by ingestion of tablets containing them, by injection, and by other means. Sometimes workers come into direct contact with the substances they are using. 

According to the 1981-83 National Occupational Exposure Survey, as many as 15 600 workers in the United States were potentially exposed to di(2-ethylhexyl) adipate (NOES, 1999). Occupational exposure may occur through inhalation, mainly as an aerosol, during its manufacture and its use, particularly as a plasticizer of PVC films and in other materials used in food packaging such as adhesives, cellophane and hydroxy ethyl cellulose films. Exposure may also occur during the manufacture of rubber products, nonferrous wire, cosmetics, lubricants and hydraulic fluids (Opresko, 1984). No measurements of di(2-ethylhexyl) adipate exposure in manufacturing and processing industries are available. 

Di(2-ethylhexyl) adipate is a liquid of low volatility, widely used as a plasticizer in flexible poly(vinyl chloride) products, notably food films, as well as in other plastics and in a number of other minor applications, such as lubricants and cosmetics. Occupational exposure may occur by inhalation of di(2-ethylhexyl) adipate as an aerosol during its manufacture and its use. Meat-wrapping workers may be exposed while cutting poly(vinyl chloride) film across a heated cutter. Food is the major source of exposure of the general population to di(2-ethylhexyl) adipate because of migration from poly(vinyl chloride) packaging, particularly into fatty foods such as cheese and meat. 

Neurotoxicity is the result of improper (careless) use, handling, and negligence in the management of chemical substances such as metals, food additives, pesticides, industrial solvents, cosmetics, radiation treatment, and drug therapies. Depending upon route and dose of exposure, the symptoms of neurotoxicity appear immediately after exposure or are delayed. The symptoms include limb weakness or numbness loss of memory, vision, and/or intellect headache cognitive and behavioral problems and sexual dysfunction. Children and workers with certain existing health disorders are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of neurotoxic chemicals. 

Exposure to acetone results mostly from breathing air, drinking water, or coming in contact with products or soil that contains acetone. Significant numbers of workers are potentially exposed to acetone. The general population may be exposed through the use of products such as paints, adhesives, cosmetics, and rubber cement. 

True hair is found only in mammals, and there is no such thing as a completely hairless mammal. Hair itself is dead, but is produced in hair follicles by specialized keratinocytes at the base of the hair. The outermost layer of hair is a cuticle, and most hairs have a cortex in which the dead keratinized cells are very densely packed, and an iimer medulla in which they are not as densely packed. The pigmentation in hair, like that of skin, comes from melanocytes. Hair exposure to some chemicals may produce hair discoloration, for example, green hair from copper in water or cosmetics, or blue hair in cobalt workers. 

Virtually all man-made chemicals have the potential to contact the skin of people. In fact, many (e.g., cosmetics and shampoos) are intended to have skin contact. Also, the most common medical problems in industrial workers are skin conditions, reflecting the large extent of dermal exposure where none is intended. When a large surface area of skin is exposed to contaminated soil or water, skin absorption may be significant. It is also possible for dermal effects to arise from systemic toxicants. 

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