Inhalant chemicals aromatic hydrocarbons

DOT CLASSIFICATION 6.1 Label Poison SAFETY PROFILE Poison by ingestion. Moderately toxic by inhalation. Combustible when exposed to heat, flame, or oxidizers. To fight fire, use water, CO2, dry chemical. Probably an explosive. When heated to decomposition it emits toxic fumes of NO. See also other methylnitrobenzene entries and NITRO COMPOUNDS OF AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS. 

Exposure to crude oil is a concern for the organ of contact. For dermal exposure the concern is for the skin. For inhalation exposure, the concern is for the respiratory system. Therefore, absorption and distribution kinetics are not well studied because of these site of contact concerns. Flowever, it would be expected that individual chemicals present in crude oil can be absorbed and would have biological fate appropriate for that chemical or chemical class (e.g., polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons). 

Most of this chapter has dealt with the names and structures of compounds that are nutrients for the human or metabolites that can be produced from reactions in the human body. However, our health is also affected by naturally occurring and man-made xenobiotic compounds (compounds that have no nutrient value and are not produced in the human) that we ingest, inhale, or absorb through our skin. DDT and dioxins provide examples of chlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons, an important class of manmade chemicals present in the environment. 

Chloracne is a follicular dermatosis, often refractory to treatment, which results from environmental exposure to certain halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons. Chloracne is considered one of the most sensitive indicators of biological response to these chemicals and it occurs regardless of whether chemical exposure has occurred via skin contact - the usual route, inhalation or ingestion (Crow and Puhvel 1991). 

Inhalation exposures of workers in the metals industries frequently involve a range of other chemicals. For example, in the potrooms conducting electrolytic reduction of aluminum, workers are exposed to sulfur dioxide, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, coal tar pitch volatiles, CO and CO2 from the consumable petroleum coke and pitch anode to fluoride compounds from the cryolite... 

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