Other Serious Health Effects

While overdoses are uncommon with pure Ecstasy, they do occur. When someone takes too much Ecstasy, he or she may vomit continuously and vigorously, have fast or difficult breathing, or pass out. People with existing heart, kidney, or liver problems are much more likely to suffer from an overdose when taking Ecstasy. 

More common than pure Ecstasy overdoses, it is not unusual to take too much of a laced Ecstasy tablet. Pure MDMA tablets are increasingly rare, as suppliers aim to lace the drug with additional chemicals to either increase the high, increase the addictiveness, or just maximize their profit by putting cheaper chemicals in the tablets. 

Ecstasy tablets are often laced with other drugs such as LSD, amphetamine, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), and Rohypnol (Roofies). Some tablets are even named according to the drugs they contain. For instance, an H-Bomb refers to Ecstasy mixed with heroin. More often than not, the user is not even aware that the 

When they arrived at the warehouse where the rave was, Hannah had introduced the girl to a guy she d met the weekend before. She figured he d have some good X for the girl to try. Hannah knew she wasn t really into that sort of thing, but then, neither was Hannah the first time she raved. 

Hannah s friend had resisted a bit, but she got her to try it finally. After all, she had assured the girl, there was nothing to worry about. Everything s all good on X—especially the first time. 

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ERPG-2 No irreversible or other serious health effects or symptoms that could impair an individual s ability to take protective action... 

ERPG-2 is the maximum airborne concentration below which it is believed that nearly all individuals could be exposed for up to 1 hour without experiencing or developing irreversible or other serious health effects or symptoms that could impair an individual s ability to take protective action. 

Separate from the acute toxicity endpoints described above, one must be concerned about the long-term effects of exposure to chemicals. Chronic toxicity is particularly insidious because effects may not be felt by the individual(s) for years (or even decades) before serious effects such as cancer become apparent, which may by then be too late to treat. Cancer can result from many sources, cigarette smoking and genetic disorders being notable examples, but the public is also very concerned about cancer and other serious health effects which may result from exposure to synthetic chemicals. Repeated or continuous exposure to low levels of chemicals over an extended period ( chronic exposure ) is of primary concern and therefore a focus of the EPA under the TSCA. 

Irreversible or other serious health effects that could impair the ability to take protective action 3 Life-threatening health effects... 

The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires the USEPA to control the emission of 187 hazardous air pollutants, which are pollutants that cause or may cause cancer or other serious health effects, such as reproductive effects or birth defects, or adverse environmental and ecological effects (CAA Section 112(b), 42 use 7412). Between 2005 and 2009, the hydraulic fracturing companies used 595 products containing 24 different hazardous air pollutants. 

The quantitative metric most relevant to the questions explored in this book is the release of HAPs, which are chemicals that the US EPA has identified as substances known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health effects or adverse environmental effects. Releases of HAPs must be quantified under the US EPA s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). ACC has reported that between 1988 and 2011, Responsible Care companies reduced HAP emissions by 76% [159]. 

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