Toxic Industrial Chemicals Research Articles

Toxicoepidemiology and predictors of death in 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) toxicity

Introduction 2,4-Dinitrophenol (DNP) is a highly toxic industrial chemical that is sometimes misused to reduce body fat. Toxicity following ingestion of DNP has recently become more common in the United Kingdom. This research was performed to document the frequency of DNP toxicity as reported to poisons centres in the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) and to identify the clinical features associated with fatality. Methods Calls to UK and US poisons centres involving systemic exposure to DNP were extracted for the 12 calendar years 2007-2018. These were analysed using univariate and multivariate statistical techniques. Results There were 204 cases (n = 86, US; n = 118, UK) of systemic DNP exposure identified, of which 86% were under the age of 40 and 71% were males. Over the study period the incidence of reported DNP toxicity was higher in the United Kingdom than the United States (1.78 vs. 0.26 cases per million population) and annual case numbers have increased in both countries since 2011. Case fatality was high and did not differ significantly between countries (US 11.6%; 95% CI: 6.4–20.1%: UK 16.9%; 95% CI: 11.3–24.7%; X2 (1) = 1.12, p = 0.29). Univariate analysis demonstrated significant associations between risk of death and the presence of hypoglycaemia (OR = 17.1, 95% CI 1.7–174.3), hypertonia (OR = 12.9, 95% CI 3.5–47.6), acidosis (OR = 12.5, 95% CI 4.8–32.9), raised lactate (OR = 8.3, 95% CI 2.4–28.4), hyperpyrexia (OR = 6.5, 95% CI 2.8–15.2), tachycardia (OR = 6.4, 95% CI 2.5–16.4), agitation or confusion (OR = 6.0, 95% CI 2.6–13.7), hypertension (OR = 5.6, 95% CI 1.9–16.4) and tachypnoea/dyspnoea (OR = 2.8, 95% CI 1.2–6.1). After backwards stepwise logistic regression, the following were retained as significant independent predictors of mortality: acidosis (OR = 5.4, 95% CI: 1.8 − 16.5), tachycardia (OR = 3.6, 95% CI: 1.2 − 11.0), agitation/confusion (OR = 3.4, 95% CI: 1.2 − 9.7) and hyperpyrexia (OR = 2.8, 95% CI: 1.0 − 7.4). Discussion DNP toxicity is uncommonly reported to poisons centres but has recently become more frequent in the United States and United Kingdom. Tachycardia, hyperpyrexia, acidosis, and agitation/confusion are independent risk factors for mortality and their presence should prompt rapid escalation to an intensive care environment for aggressive supportive treatment and monitoring.

In Vivo Evaluation of Validated Targets for Vesicant and Toxic Industrial Chemical Ocular Injury

In Vivo Evaluation of Validated Targets for Vesicant and Toxic Industrial Chemical Ocular Injury

Breakthrough Screening of Porous Materials: A Simple and Effective Tool for Database Generation

AbstractThe release of toxic and noxious gases in the atmosphere has become a big concern, due to its adverse effect on the health and life quality in general. The development of efficient filter materials can help to tackle this issue, considering that the production of such gases in various processes cannot be prevented. Metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as a promising class of material to adsorb several toxic industrial chemicals (TICs). Nevertheless, identifying the suitable MOF material to adsorb a specific gas is a challenging task due to the lack of fast characterization methods. Using a mass spectrometer‐detector, a simple setup has been developed and applied to register breakthrough curves and evaluate the retention capacity of selected MOFs against NH3 and H2S. The experimental results obtained using this in‐house assembled device are in agreement with several literature reports, resulting in a fast tool for the development of a gas adsorption database for porous materials. Additionally, for the specific case of Ni‐MOF‐74, the breakthrough measurements correlate well with the surface areas of the material, providing an additional and fast quality control method to evaluate the material synthesis.

Environmental and Occupational Exposure to Toxic Industrial Chemicals and COVID-19: An Exploratory Analysis of United States Counties

Background: Several studies have linked air pollution to COVID-19 morbidity and mortality A related issue, which has received less attention but is equally imp

Carnosine and anserine in chicken can quench toxic acrylamide under cooking conditions: Mass spectrometric studies on adduct formation and characterization

Acrylamide (AA) is a toxic industrial chemical but is also found in heated potato foods such as French fries due to the Maillard reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars. However, high-temperature cooking is often required for flavoring, browning, and sterilizing of raw ingredients. Imidazole dipeptides, such as carnosine (β-alanyl-l-histidine, CAR) and anserine (β-alanyl-Nπ-methyl-l-histidine, ANS), are present in high concentrations in meat and are known to scavenge radical species and toxic aldehydes. Here, we investigated the reaction between CAR/ANS and AA under several conditions expected to detoxify AA by cooking with meat. The reaction products were characterized by LC–ESI-MS/MS as CAR/ANS-AA adducts at the N-terminus, and His-Nτ/Nπ. The reactivity of CAR sites toward AA were in the order N-terminus > Nτ > Nπ. A selective LC–ESI-SRM/MS method was also developed and confirmed the formation of CAR/ANS-AA adducts during pan frying of minced potato and chicken breast.

Fluorinated Bisphenol Sorbent Materials for Spectroscopic Chemical Threat Sensing and Photonics Applications

Alcoholic and phenolic hydrogen-bond (HB) acidic absorbents activated by fluorine chemistries have been previously developed at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and elsewhere to augment sorbent HB acidity, reduce sorbent HB basicity and target complementary HB basicity of a wide range of hazardous target chemicals. A significant limitation of HB sorbents developed to date has been the propensity for sorbent self-association. This intermolecular bonding between sorbent molecules hinders sorbate access to active HB acid sites in the sorbent, limiting its overall efficacy. Sorbent self-association is evidenced by broadened hydroxyl peaks in the mid-infrared (MIR) region, which can obscure important absorption frequencies that appear upon absorption of an analyte into the sorbent. In this current work our aim is to develop improved HB acidic sorbent compounds which minimize undesired sorbent self-association in order to apply these sorbents to infrared- and Raman-based sensing devices for chemical threat detection.A series of new HB acidic sorbents have been synthesized and the subsequent sorbent-sorbate interactions have been characterized by a number of methods. MIR spectroscopy has been used to help elucidate sorbent-analyte vapor interactions. The newly synthesized sorbents have been challenged with various analyte vapors, including toxic industrial chemicals, chemical warfare agent simulants, and background interferents. A particular focus of these characterization efforts has been to observe the spectral changes that occur in the hydroxyl region of the MIR upon exposure of a sorbent material to an analyte vapor. Analyte binding of an HB base occurs principally at the sorbent hydroxyl site. The resulting redshift of the hydroxyl stretching frequency is characteristic of the basicity of the analyte.These sorbent materials are specifically designed to be selective toward hazardous chemicals through complementary hydrogen-bonding interactions between sorbent and analyte molecules. Generally, common interferents, such as hydrocarbons, have little or no hydrogen-bond basicity, while hazardous chemicals of interest have moderate to high basicity. More strongly HB basic analytes trigger larger redshifts of the hydroxyl absorption frequency. Benchtop FTIR characterization has confirmed that these newly designed sorbent materials are responsive to threat chemicals of interest at low concentrations and largely unresponsive to interferent chemicals, even at relatively high concentrations.Based on the strong affinity of these sorbents to threat chemicals of interest and the significant spectral changes that occur in the MIR upon formation of the hydrogen-bonded complex, these sorbent materials make useful candidates for MIR sensing applications. A frequency shift of the hydroxyl stretch indicates a sorbate has formed a HB with the sorbent. The magnitude of the frequency shift correlates with the basicity of the analyte, which is indicative of the class of compound to which the newly bound chemical belongs. In a sensing application, this feature can provide an alert that a hazardous chemical is present, even if it is an unknown threat. While the hydroxyl region allows for class specificity of unknown compounds, the fingerprint region complexity may facilitate specific analyte recognition. At present, this work has been focused on analysis of the hydroxyl region and distinction of different classes of compounds, but future efforts will turn to the fingerprint region to provide an avenue for specific chemical identification.Raman spectroscopy has also been used to characterize these sorbent materials. Specifically, a technique known as waveguide-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (WERS) has been used, which features the use of highly evanescent, low-loss waveguides with the sorbent material as a top cladding.2 WERS can be achieved using an incredibly small footprint with a sorbent-functionalized nanophotonic waveguide that is approximately a few centimeters long. Using WERS, the differential Raman spectra of the sorbent material interacting with different chemical warfare agent simulants has been measured at parts-per-billion detection levels. The spectra exhibit extrapolated three-sigma detection limits as low as 3 ppb. Continuing efforts are focused on adapting this technique to photonic integrated circuit-based fabrication and chip-scale Raman spectroscopy for trace chemical vapor detection.This presentation will highlight the design of these next-generation sorbents as a tool to facilitate MIR- and Raman-based sensing of threat chemicals. It will focus on analyzing sorbent-analyte spectral interactions and discuss how to exploit these features to develop MIR- and Raman-based sensors.

Metal W connected Z-scheme C fibers@WO3-x core-shell composites with highly efficient solar-driven photocatalystic activity

A series of novel metal W connected Z-scheme C fibers@WO3-x (0 ≤ x < 3) core-shell composites were developed by simply pyrolyzing preoxidized polyacrylonitrile fibers impregnated with slurries of WO3 nanopowder in absolute ethanol in a vacuum furnace. Such structured composites are a kind of more excellent solar-driven photocatalyst for degrading various aqueous organic and inorganic environmental pollutants, compared with pure tungsten oxides catalysts under the same condition. The optimally selected composite catalyst (x = 2.01) was also applied in photocatalytically purifying waste water from paper mills under sunlight, presenting high efficiency in reducing chemical oxygen demand, biology oxygen demand and heavy metal Cr content, displaying great prospect in environmental remediation through removing various toxic industrial chemicals. The greatly enhanced photocatalytic performance could be mainly ascribed to the C fiber core and metal W connection layer between the tungsten oxides and C core in the composites, which can promptly conduct electrons and promote the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes. Moreover, this work provides a simple, eco-friendly and very efficient synthesis approach, which will be of much help to design diversified semiconductors composite structures, and suitable for large-scale production and thus practical industrial application.

Metal-Organic Framework Stationary Phases for One- and Two-Dimensional Micro-Gas Chromatographic Separations of Light Alkanes and Polar Toxic Industrial Chemicals.

Despite promising advances with metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as stationary phases for chromatography, the application of MOFs for one- and two-dimensional micro-gas chromatography (μGC and μGC×μGC) applications has yet to be shown. We demonstrate for the first time, μGC columns coated with two different MOFs, HKUST-1 and ZIF-8, for the rapid separation of high volatility light alkane hydrocarbons (natural gas) and determined the partition coefficients for toxic industrial chemicals, using μGC and μGC×μGC systems. Complete separation of natural gas components, methane through pentane, was completed within 1 min, with sufficient resolution to discriminate n-butane from i-butane. Layer-by-layer controlled deposition cycles of the MOFs were accomplished to establish the optimal film thickness, which was validated using GC (sorption thermodynamics), quartz-crystal microbalance gravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy. Complete surface coverage was not observed until after ~17 deposition cycles. Propane retention factors with HKUST-1-coated μGC and a state-of-the-art polar, porous-layer open-tubular (PLOT) stationary phase were approximately the same at ~7.5. However, with polar methanol, retention factors with these two stationary phases were 748 and 59, respectively, yielding methanol-to-propane selectivity factors of ~100 and ~8, respectively, a 13-fold increase in polarity with HKUST-1. These studies advance the applications of MOFs as μGC stationary phase.

Decontamination efficacy of soapy water and water washing following exposure of toxic chemicals on human skin

Aim of the study: Following exposure to toxic chemicals, skin uptake is a potential route of intoxication. Therefore, efficient methods for rapid skin decontamination to mitigate systemic effects are of utmost importance. In operational guidelines, skin decontamination is recommended to be performed by dry absorption and washing with water or soapy water. In the present study, evaluation of decontamination efficacy using water or soapy water was performed for five chemicals, three toxic industrial chemicals and two simulants for chemical warfare agents.Materials and methods: Decontamination was initiated at time points 5, 15, 45 and 120 min after exposure in order to evaluate the time window for efficient decontamination. Experiments were conducted utilizing an in vitro skin penetration model to allow exposure of toxic chemicals on human skin. Results: For all test substances, it was clearly demonstrated that decontamination had greater efficacy when initiated at the earliest time-point while decontamination after 120 min was less efficient. Adding soap to the water showed no significant improvement for any of the tested substances.Conclusion: These results are of reledvance for the development of efficient operational decontamination procedures.

Alleviation of methyl isocyanate-induced airway obstruction and mortality by tissue plasminogen activator.

Methyl isocyanate (MIC, "Bhopal agent") is a highly reactive, toxic industrial chemical. Inhalation of high levels (500-1000 ppm) of MIC vapor is almost uniformly fatal. No therapeutic interventions other than supportive care have been described that can delay the onset of illness or death due to MIC. Recently, we found that inhalation of MIC caused the appearance of activated tissue factor in circulation with subsequent activation of the coagulation cascade. Herein, we report that MIC exposure (500 ppm for 30 min, nose-only) caused deposition of fibrin-rich casts in the conducting airways resulting in respiratory failure and death within 24 h in a rat model (LC90-100 ). We thus investigated the effect of airway delivery of the fibrinolytic agent tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) on mortality and morbidity in this model. Intratracheal administration of tPA was initiated 11 h post MIC exposure and repeated every 4 h for the duration of the study. Treatment with tPA afforded nearly 60% survival at 24 h post MIC exposure and was associated with decreased airway fibrin casts, stabilization of hypoxemia and respiratory distress, and improved acidosis. This work supports the potential of airway-delivered tPA therapy as a useful countermeasure in stabilizing victims of high-level MIC exposure.

Metal-Organic Frameworks against Toxic Chemicals.

Materials capable of the safe and efficient capture or degradation of toxic chemicals, including chemical warfare agents (CWAs) and toxic industrial chemicals (TICs), are critically important in the modern age due to continuous threats of these chemicals to human life, both directly and indirectly. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), atomically precise hybrid materials that are synthesized via the self-assembly of metal cations or clusters and organic linkers, offer a unique solid adsorbent design platform due to their great synthetic versatility. This review will focus on recent advancements in MOF-based adsorbent design for protection against chemical warfare agents (organophosphorus nerve agents, blistering agents, and their simulants) and toxic industrial chemicals such as H2S, NH3, SO2, CO, NO2, and NO.

Decontamination of Toxic Industrial Chemicals and Fentanyl by Application of the RSDL® Kit.

This study investigated the decontamination effectiveness of selected toxic industrial chemicals using RSDL® (Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion Kit; Emergent BioSolutions Inc.; https://www.rsdl.com/). Quantitative analytical methods were developed for dermal toxic compounds of varying physicochemical properties: sulfuric acid, hydrofluoric acid, ammonia, methylamine, hydrazine, phenylhydrazine, 1,2-dibromoethane, capsaicin, and fentanyl. These methods were subsequently used to evaluate the decontamination effectiveness on painted metal substrates at an initial chemical contamination level of 10g/m2 (0.1g/m2 for fentanyl). The decontamination effectiveness ranged from 97.79% to 99.99%. This study indicates that the RSDL kit may be amenable for use as an effective decontaminant for material substrates beyond the classical chemical warfare agents and the analytical methods may be used for future decontamination assessment studies using contaminated skin or other materials.

Human Health Prevention by Detection and Quantification of Toxic Chemical Compounds.

There are various methods of detection and quantification of toxic chemical compounds (TCCs) and toxic industrial chemicals (TICs). The present research is on the most effective methods known for achieving a good human health prevention. The TCCs detection methods are described and analyzed by showing their advantages and disadvantages. Although incineration or other oxidative procedures are widely discussed methodologies for TCC detection and quantification, derive their widespread industrial use and environmental persistence from their resistance to oxidative degradation. The more highly chlorinated the TCC, the greater its resistance to oxidation, and the longer it will persist in the environment. Several detection methodologies for TCC remediation have been described, including treatment with Chemical Detector Paper, Colorimetric Detection Tubes, Infra-Red (IR) Spectroscopy, M21 Remote Sensing Chemical Agent Alarm, TravelI RHC, etc.

HUMAN HEALH PREVENTION BY DETECTION AND QUANTIFICATION OF TOXIC CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS

There are various methods of detection and quantification of toxic chemical compounds (TCCs) and toxic industrial chemicals (TICs). The present research is on the most effective methods known for achieving a good human health prevention. The TCCs detection methods are described and analyzed by showing their advantages and disadvantages. Although incineration or other oxidative procedures are widely discussed methodologies for TCC detection and quantification, derive their widespread industrial use and environmental persistence from their resistance to oxidative degradation. The more highly chlorinated the TCC, the greater its resistance to oxidation, and the longer it will persist in the environment. Several detection methodologies for TCC remediation have been described, including treatment with Chemical Detector Paper, Colorimetric Detection Tubes, Infra-Red (IR) Spectroscopy, M21 Remote Sensing Chemical Agent Alarm, TravelI RHC, etc. Keywords: human health, detection, quantification, toxic chemical compounds, toxic industrial chemicals.

ORGANO-PHOSPHONATE, ORGANO-HALOGENATTED, CYANIDES AND ARSENIC TOXIC IMPACT ON THE HUMAN HEALTH CARE CONDITION

This research describes the toxic impact on the health condition of living nature because of the inevitable use of toxic chemical compounds (TCC) and toxic industrial chemicals (TICs). To reach this aim, the following objectives were established: to define the large-scale industrial chemicals from the Schedules of the Chemical weapon convention; to investigate the role of each chemical in production process; to determine the current amounts of substances used in the process and find the alternatives for their replacement. The research was conducted on the base of only open-source literature. The general description of the chemicals use was found in electronic and paper encyclopaedias, more deep understanding – received after study of scientific and technological periodics and patents from electronic bases. The content in this review is focused on the toxic impact of the organo – phosphonate, organo – halogenated, cyanides and arsenic toxic chemicals compounds. Keywords: impact, human health care, toxis chemical compounds, toxic industial chemicals.

TOXIC CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS DETECTION FOR THE SOCIETY SOCIAL HEALTH CARE PREVENTION

Presently, there is no single detector which has all the desirable capabilities and performance functions, and currently available detectors all vary considerably in cost, performance and reliability. As such care must be taken to select a detector based on the abovementioned factors and operational requirements. Furthermore, many detector manufacturers make claims based on their own testing, some of which have not been thoroughly verified by third party laboratories. In this case we have only different stages of the same process: hazardous chemical is used in the production; concerning the hazards and subsequent problems with the legislative regulations of the finances, producers start to search for alternative technology; technology is developed and implemented; technology is used for making majority of the related product without the use of hazardous substance. In the example of phosgene – this process just begun in the near past, in the case of hydrogen cyanide – the process is near the end, and in case of other chemical process is at the end. The old technology with a hazards replaced by new one – more friendly to the environment and human health. Keywords: detection, identification techniques, toxic chemical compounds, toxic industrial chemicals.

Protective Fabrics: Metal-Organic Framework Textiles for Rapid Photocatalytic Sulfur Mustard Simulant Detoxification

Summary Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) can catalyze toxic chemical decontamination, but new MOF materials and synthesis strategies are needed to improve performance, particularly in field-usable MOF-textile formats. This article reports for the first time the exceptional photocatalytic reactivity of Al-PMOF (Al-porphyrin-based MOF), composed of an earth-abundant metal-containing Al(OH)O4 cluster bridged by H2TCPP (5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin) chromophores, against the toxic sulfur mustard simulant 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (CEES) under visible-light irradiation. Furthermore, Al-PMOF is strongly immobilized into polymeric fibers via well-controlled Al2O3 solid film conversion using dimethylformamide/water cosolvent. The approach enables a secure integration of conformal Al-PMOF films onto polymer fibers at a relatively low synthesis temperature (120°C). In addition, on a per-unit mass of MOF basis, the surface-bound Al-PMOF films enable extremely rapid CEES detoxification turnover frequency, up to 170 mol CEES mol chromophore − 1 min − 1 , more than 10-fold faster than the best MOF powders and 2-fold better than MOF films reported to date.

GC–MS/MS quantification of benzyl salicylate on skin and hair: A novel chemical simulant for human decontamination studies

Human studies investigating the efficacy of emergency decontamination protocols for chemical incidents require the use of non-hazardous chemical simulants. Methyl salicylate (MeS) has almost exclusively been used for this purpose. Whilst MeS is a simulant of the chemical warfare agent (CWA) sulphur mustard, it is not an ideal simulant for many other chemical threats with greater persistence and lower volatility. Benzyl salicylate (BeS) has been investigated here as a low toxicity simulant for lower volatility, persistent chemical threat agents and toxic industrial chemicals (TICs). To evaluate the suitability of BeS as a simulant for human decontamination studies a gas chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry method was designed, optimised and validated, for the analysis of human skin and hair. Quantification was achieved using isotope-dilution, EI and collision-induced dissociation and multiple reaction monitoring for both qualifier and quantifier ion transitions. The mass transitions were m/z 285 → 91 and m/z 210 → 181, respectively for the quantifier and qualifier ions of BeS, and m/z 289 → 91 and m/z 214 → 185 for the quantifier and qualifier ions for the BeS-d4 internal standard, respectively. The method exhibited excellent coefficients of determination (R2 = 0.9992–0.9999) with LOD and LOQ values at 0.023 ng/ml and 0.23 ng/ml. Across three Quality Controls (QCs), 11.5 ng/ml, 115 ng/ml and 1150 ng/ml) average accuracy (intra-day 95.6–100.3%, inter-day 98.5–104.91%) and precision (intra-day RSD (%) 2–13.7%, inter-day RSD (%) 3.3–8.8%) were determined. The validated method was applied in a proof of principle volunteer study for the determination of total BeS recovered from skin and hair. The average total BeS recovery after 70 min was 37.9% from skin and there was a significant increase between baseline and post-intervention levels for hair. These data demonstrate that BeS is an appropriate simulant for persistent chemicals and that the analytical method employed here is suitable for BeS analysis in human studies.

Challenges and Prospects of Environmental Epidemiology in Africa

Keynote Lectures Monday, Beatrix Theater, August 26, 2019, 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Urbanization and the shift to industrialized economies in Africa are leading to increased exposure to contaminants such as pesticides, heavy metals, toxic industrial chemicals and hazardous wastes released into air, water and soil. Africa has higher exposure to poor conditions related to water, sanitation, hygiene, and solid fuel use compared to most other parts of the world. Most of the populations in Africa depend on climate sensitive agricultural resources for livelihood. Hence, Africa is more vulnerable to adverse effects on public health of climate change than other regions. Despite the substantial disease burden and economic impact of environmental stressors on public health, significant environmental health data gaps exist about Africa. With half of the expected global population growth to be in Africa by 2050, increased knowledge of the nature and magnitude of environmental health risks in Africa is important to improve global public health.

Modeling of Interdigital Electrodes Geometrical Parameters Effects on Chemical Sensor Response

The detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), humidity and toxic industrial chemicals is important for various environmental and industrial applications. The design of interdigital capacitor (IDCs) sensor is carried out in such a way that it would be suitable for microelectronic technology. The basic geometry of IDCs is defined by some parameters such as: number of electrodes N, electrode width W, electrode length L and the separation between electrodes G. The interactions between IDCs sensitive coating and analyte induced a change in the sensors capacitance due to the permittivity variation of the sensitive layer and to the change in polymer thickness (swelling). In this work, a fairly new approach of IDCs based sensor in terms of capacitance calculation has been presented. The results have been obtained from the modeling of the sensors geometry 2D and 3D using multi-physics simulation software COMSOL. The effects of some geometry parameters coupled with swelling measurements for polymeric films have been studied.