Workers exposed to high levels of chlorobenzene in the air complained of headaches, nausea, sleepiness, numbness, and vomiting. We cannot be certain that all of these effects were due to chlorobenzene exposure because the workers may have been exposed to other chemicals.
Animal studies indicate that the liver, kidney, and central nervous system are affected by exposure to chlorobenzene. Effects on the central nervous system from breathing chlorobenzene include unconsciousness, tremors, restlessness, and death. Longer exposure has caused liver and kidney damage. The limited data available indicate that chlorobenzene does not cause birth defects or infertility.
It is not known whether chlorobenzene causes cancer in people. Although chlorobenzene did not produce cancer in animal studies with rats and mice, liver nodules which can lead to cancer were produced in male rats. The EPA has determined that chlorobenzene is not classifiable as to human carcinogenicity based on inadequate evidence in both humans and animals.
The EPA has set a Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 0.1 parts per million (0.1 ppm) for chlorobenzene in drinking water. Concentrations in drinking water for short-term exposures (up to 10 days) should not exceed 2 ppm. The EPA recommends that levels of chlorinated benzenes (a group of chemicals that includes chlorobenzene) in lakes and streams should be limited to 0.488 ppm to prevent possible health effects from drinking water or eating fish contaminated with this group of chemicals. Any release to the environment greater than 100 pounds of chlorobenzene must be reported to the EPA.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set a workplace air concentration limit of 75 ppm over an 8-hour workday, 40-hour workweek.
The federal recomendations have been updated as of July 1999.
Short-term exposure to phenol in the air can cause respiratory irritation, headaches, and burning eyes. People who had skin exposure to high amounts of phenol had skin burns, liver damage, dark urine, irregular heart beat, and some died. Ingestion of high concentrations of phenol has resulted in internal burns and death. The effects of prolonged exposure to low levels of phenol in air or of ingestion of low levels of phenol are uncertain because almost always there has been simultaneous exposure to other chemicals.
In animals, breathing air with high levels of phenol resulted in irritation of the lungs. Repeated exposures induced muscle tremors and loss of coordination. Exposure to high concentrations of phenol in the air for several weeks caused paralysis and severe injury to the heart, liver, kidneys, and lungs, and in some cases, death. Some animals that drank water with very high concentrations of phenol suffered muscle tremors and loss of coordination.
Phenol can have beneficial effects when used medically as an antiseptic or anesthetic.
It is not known if phenol causes cancer in humans. Cancer developed in mice when phenol was applied to the skin several times per week for the lifetime of the animal. Phenol did not cause cancer in mice or rats that drank water containing it for 2 years. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the EPA have determined that phenol is not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans.
Children are exposed to phenol in the same way adults are, except for exposures of adults at work. However, children are at greater risk of accidentally ingesting or spilling on their skin home products that contain phenol. Vomiting and lethargy were the most frequent signs of toxicity observed in children who accidentally ingested phenol and were treated at a poison control center.
Phenol has caused minor birth defects and low birth weight in animals generally at exposure levels that also were toxic to the pregnant mothers.
The EPA lifetime health advisory for phenol in water is 2 milligrams per liter (2 mg/L). EPA requires that spills of 1,000 pounds or more of phenol to the environment be reported to the Agency.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set a limit of 5 parts per million (ppm) in air to protect workers during 8-hour work shifts.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends a limit of 5 ppm for phenol in workroom air over a 10-hour workday and that the concentration of phenol should not exceed 16 ppm during a 15-minute period.
Methylphenol also goes by the term cresol. There are 3 types of cresol/methylphenol: ortho-cresol (o-cresol aka 2-methylphenol), meta-cresol (m-cresol aka 3-methylphenol), and para-cresol (p-cresol aka 4-methylphenol).
Most exposures to cresols are at very low levels that are not harmful, but cresols breathed, ingested, or applied to the skin at very high levels, can be very harmful because they are corrosive substances. Inhalation of high levels of cresols for a short time results in irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat. Very little else is known about the effects of breathing cresols. Ingestion of high levels results in mouth and throat burns, abdominal pain, vomiting, kidney problems, and effects on the blood and nervous system. Skin contact with high levels of cresols can burn the skin and damage the kidneys, liver, blood, lungs, and brain. Death may occur in both cases. It is not known what the effects are from long-term ingestion or skin contact with low levels of cresols.
Studies in animals have shown similar effects from exposure to cresol except for one study that found lesions inside the nose of rats and mice after eating food contaminated with mostly p-cresol and a mixture of m- and p-cresol. Animal studies suggest that cresols probably would not affect reproduction in humans.
No human studies are available on the carcinogenic effects of cresols. Animal studies show that cresols may increase the ability of some carcinogenic chemicals to cause tumors.
The EPA has determined that cresols are possible human carcinogens.
The EPA requires that spills of 100 pounds or more of cresols to the environment be reported to the Agency.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set a limit of 5 ppm for cresols in air to protect workers during 8-hour work shifts.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends that workers be exposed to no more than 2.3 ppm of cresols in work place air as an average during a 10-hour workday. NIOSH also considers a concentration of 250 ppm of cresols in air as Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health.
If you breathe in large amounts of methylene chloride you may feel unsteady, dizzy, and have nausea and a tingling or numbness of your finger and toes. A person breathing smaller amounts of methylene chloride may become less attentive and less accurate in tasks requiring hand-eye coordination. Skin contact with methylene chloride causes burning and redness of the skin.
We do not know if methylene chloride can cause cancer in humans. An increased cancer risk was seen in mice breathing large amounts of methylene chloride for a long time.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has determined that methylene chloride may cause cancer in humans.
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has determined that methylene chloride can be reasonably anticipated to be a cancer-causing chemical.
The EPA has determined that methylene chloride is a probable cancer-causing agent in humans.
The EPA requires that releases of methylene chloride of 1,000 pounds or more be reported to the federal government.
The EPA recommends that exposure of children to methylene chloride be limited to less than 10 milligrams per liter of drinking water (10 mg/L) for 1 day or 2 mg/L for 10 days.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established limits on the amounts of methylene chloride that can remain after processing of spices, hops extract, and decaffeinated coffee.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set limits of 25 parts methylene chloride per million parts of workplace air (25 ppm) for 8-hour shifts and 40-hour work weeks.
The “Contaminants Found at Camp Lejeune” handout does not specify if it is a specific trichloroethane. Here is some information on 1,1,1-Trichloroethane.
If you breathe air containing high levels of 1,1,1-trichloroethane for a short time, you may become dizzy and lightheaded and possibly lose your coordination. These effects rapidly disappear after you stop breathing contaminated air. If you breathe in much higher levels, you may become unconscious, your blood pressure may decrease, and your heart may stop beating. Whether breathing low levels of 1,1,1-trichloroethane for a long time causes harmful effects is not known. Studies in animals show that breathing air that contains very high levels of 1,1,1- trichloroethane damages the breathing passages and causes mild effects in the liver, in addition to affecting the nervous system. There are no studies in humans that determine whether eating food or drinking water contaminated with 1,1,1-trichloroethane could harm health. Placing large amounts of 1,1,1-trichloroethane in the stomachs of animals has caused effects on the nervous system, mild liver damage, unconsciousness, and even death. If your skin contacts 1,1,1-trichloroethane, you might feel some irritation. Studies in animals suggest that repeated exposure of the skin might affect the liver and that very large amounts may cause death. These effects occurred only when evaporation was prevented.
Available information does not indicate that 1,1,1-trichloroethane causes cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the EPA have determined that 1,1,1-trichloroethane is not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity in humans.
EPA regulates the levels of 1,1,1-trichloroethane that are allowable in drinking water. The highest level of 1,1,1-trichloroethane allowed in drinking water is 0.2 parts 1,1,1,-trichloroethane per 1 million parts of water (0.2 ppm).
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set a limit of 350 parts 1,1,1-trichloroethane per 1 million parts of air (350 ppm) in the workplace.
The “Contaminants Found at Camp Lejeune” handout does not specify if it is a specific dichloroethene. Here is information on 1,1-Dichloroethene and 1,2-Dichloroethene.
1,1-Dichloroethene
The main effect from breathing high levels of 1,1-dichloroethene is on the central nervous system. Some people lost their breath and fainted after breathing high levels of the chemical.
Breathing lower levels of 1,1-dichloroethene in air for a long time may damage your nervous system, liver, and lungs. Workers exposed to 1,1-dichloroethene have reported a loss in liver function, but other chemicals were present.
Animals that breathed high levels of 1,1-dichloroethene had damaged livers, kidneys, and lungs. The offspring of some of the animals had a higher number of birth defects. We do not know if birth defects occur when people are exposed to 1,1-dichloroethene.
Animals that ingested high levels of 1,1-dichloroethene had damaged livers, kidneys, and lungs. There were no birth defects in animals that ingested the chemical.
Spilling 1,1-dichloroethene on your skin or in your eyes can cause irritation.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that 1,1-dichloroethene is a possible human carcinogen.
Studies on workers who breathed 1,1-dichloroethene have not shown an increase in cancer. These studies, however, are not conclusive because of the small numbers of workers and the short time studied.
Animal studies have shown mixed results. Several studies reported an increase in tumors in rats and mice, and other studies reported no such effects.
The EPA has set a limit in drinking water of 0.007 parts of 1,1-dichloroethene per million parts of drinking water (0.007 ppm). EPA requires that discharges or spills into the environment of 5,000 pounds or more of 1,1-dichloroethene be reported.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set an occupational exposure limit of 1 ppm of 1,1-dichloroethene in workplace air for an 8-hour workday, 40-hour workweek.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) currently recommends that workers breathe as little 1,1-dichloroethene as possible.
Breathing high levels of 1,2-dichloroethene can make you feel nauseous, drowsy, and tired; breathing very high levels can kill you.
When animals breathed high levels of trans-1,2-dichloroethene for short or longer periods of time, their livers and lungs were damaged and the effects were more severe with longer exposure times. Animals that breathed very high levels of trans-1,2-dichloroethene had damaged hearts.
Animals that ingested extremely high doses of cis- or trans-1,2-dichloroethene died.
Lower doses of cis-1,2-dichloroethene caused effects on the blood, such as decreased numbers of red blood cells, and also effects on the liver.
The long-term (365 days or longer) human health effects after exposure to low concentrations of 1,2-dichloroethene aren’t known. One animal study suggested that an exposed fetus may not grow as quickly as one that hasn’t been exposed.
Exposure to 1,2-dichloroethene hasn’t been shown to affect fertility in people or animals.
The EPA has determined that cis-1,2-dichloroethene is not classifiable as to its human carcinogenicity.
No EPA cancer classification is available for trans-1,2-dichloroethene.
The EPA has set the maximum allowable level of cis-1,2- dichloroethene in drinking water at 0.07 milligrams per liter of water (0.07 mg/L) and trans-1,2-dichloroethene at 0.1 mg/L.
The EPA requires that any spills or accidental release of 1,000 pounds or more of 1,2-dichloroethene must be reported to the EPA.
The Occupational Health Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set the maximum allowable amount of 1,2-dichloroethene in workroom air during an 8-hour workday in a 40-hour workweek at 200 parts of 1,2-dichloroethene per million parts of air (200 ppm).
Breathing about 900 parts of chloroform per million parts air (900 ppm) for a short time can cause dizziness, fatigue, and headache. Breathing air, eating food, or drinking water containing high levels of chloroform for long periods of time may damage your liver and kidneys. Large amounts of chloroform can cause sores when chloroform touches your skin.
It isn't known whether chloroform causes reproductive effects or birth defects in people.
Animal studies have shown that miscarriages occurred in rats and mice that breathed air containing 30 to 300 ppm chloroform during pregnancy and also in rats that ate chloroform during pregnancy. Offspring of rats and mice that breathed chloroform during pregnancy had birth defects. Abnormal sperm were found in mice that breathed air containing 400 ppm chloroform for a few days.
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has determined that chloroform may reasonably be anticipated to be a carcinogen.
Rats and mice that ate food or drank water with chloroform developed cancer of the liver and kidneys.
The EPA drinking water limit for total trihalomethanes, a class of chemicals that includes chloroform, is 100 micrograms per liter of water (100 µg/L).
The EPA requires that spills or accidental releases of 10 pounds or more of chloroform into the environment be reported to the EPA.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set the maximum allowable concentration of chloroform in workroom air during an 8-hour workday in a 40-hour workweek at 50 ppm.
If you are exposed to acetone, it goes into your blood which then carries it to all the organs in your body. If it is a small amount, the liver breaks it down to chemicals that are not harmful and uses these chemicals to make energy for normal body functions. Breathing moderate- to-high levels of acetone for short periods of time, however, can cause nose, throat, lung, and eye irritation; headaches; light-headedness; confusion; increased pulse rate; effects on blood; nausea; vomiting; unconsciousness and possibly coma; and shortening of the menstrual cycle in women.
Swallowing very high levels of acetone can result in unconsciousness and damage to the skin in your mouth. Skin contact can result in irritation and damage to your skin.
The smell and respiratory irritation or burning eyes that occur from moderate levels are excellent warning signs that can help you avoid breathing damaging levels of acetone.
Health effects from long-term exposures are known mostly from animal studies. Kidney, liver, and nerve damage, increased birth defects, and lowered ability to reproduce (males only) occurred in animals exposed long-term. It is not known if people would have these same effects.
The Department of Health and Human Services, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have not classified acetone for carcinogenicity.
Acetone does not cause skin cancer in animals when applied to the skin. We don't know if breathing or swallowing acetone for long periods will cause cancer. Studies of workers exposed to it found no significant risk of death from cancer.
The EPA requires that spills of 5,000 pounds or more of acetone be reported.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set a maximum concentration limit in workplace air of 1,000 parts of acetone per million parts of air (1,000 ppm) for an 8-hour workday over a 40-hour week to protect workers. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends an exposure limit of 250 ppm in workplace air for up to a 10-hour workday over a 40-hour workweek.
Also known as Lindane. ATSDR does not have it listed in their ToxFAQs. I have found information on this VOC through Oregon State University, as listed below.
Acute toxicity: Lindane is a moderately toxic compound via oral exposure, with a reported oral LD50 of 88 to 190 mg/kg in rats [2]. Other reported oral LD50 values are 59 to 562 mg/kg in mice, 100 to 127 mg/kg in guinea pigs, and 200 mg/kg in rabbits [2,9]. Gamma-HCH is generally considered to be the most acutely toxic of the isomers following single administration [2]. It is moderately toxic via the dermal route as well, with reported dermal LD50 values of 500 to 1000 mg/kg in rats, 300 mg/kg in mice, 400 mg/kg in guinea pigs, and 300 mg/kg in rabbits [2,9]. Notably, a 1% solution of linadane in vanishing creme resulted in a six-fold increase in acute toxicity via the dermal route in rabbits, with a reported dermal LD50 of 50 mg/kg [2]. It is reported to be a skin and eye irritant [9]. Younger animals may be more susceptible to linadane's toxic effects [2]. Calves are especially susceptible to dermal application [2]. Effects of high acute exposure to lindane may include central nervous system stimulation (usually developing within 1 hour), mental/motor impairment, excitation, clonic (intermittent) and tonic (continuous) convulsions, increased respiratory rate and/or failure, pulmonary edema, and dermatitis [2]. Other symptoms in humans are more behavioral in nature such as loss of balance, grinding of the teeth, and hyper-irritability [2]. Most acute effects in humans have been due to accidental or intentional ingestion, although inhalation toxicity occurred (especially among children) when it was used in vaporizers. Workers may be exposed to the product through skin absorption and through inhalation if handled incorrectly. Lotions (10%) applied for scabies have resulted in severe intoxication in some children and infants [17]. It is reported that single administrations of 120 mg/kg inhibited the ability of white blood cells to attack and kill foreign bacteria in the blood of rats, and 60 mg/kg inhibited antibody formation to human serum albumin [3]. It is not clear whether these effects were temporary, or for how long they may have lasted [2].
Chronic toxicity: Doses of 1.25 mg/kg/day in mice, rats, and dogs produced no observable effects over periods of up to 2 years [2,3]. Doses of 40 to 80 mg/kg/day were rapidly fatal to dogs in a study over 2 years, and doses of 2.6 to 5.0 mg/kg/day resulted in convulsions in some test animals [2]. This same dose level caused liver lesions in rats [2]. In one study, 6 to 10 mg/kg/day was reported to have no observable effects on mice, but in another study, that dose caused apparent metabolic changes in the liver [2]. Other studies in mice have demonstrated liver damage at higher doses [2]. In a 2-year rat study, significant liver changes were attributed to the dietary intake of approximately 5 mg/kg/day [2]. Sufficiently high repeated administration of lindane has caused kidney, pancreas, testes, and nasal mucous membrane damage in test animals [2]. There have been reported links of lindane to immune system effects; however, these have not been amply demonstrated in test animals or in humans in a long-term study [2]. Long-term toxicity of the gamma-isomer may be less than that of the alpha- and beta-isomers due to its more rapid transformation and elimination and lesser storage in the body [2]. Sixty male workers in a lindane producing factory had no signs of neurological impairment or perturbation after 1 to 30 years exposure [17]. Another study of chronically exposed workers showed subtle differences between their electrocardiographs (graphs of the heart beat impulses) and those of unexposed workers [17].
Reproductive effects: In rats, doses of 10 mg/kg/day for 138 days resulted in marked reductions in fecundity and litter size [2], and half that dose (5 mg/kg/day) reportedly had no effect [2]. In another study in rats, doses as low as 0.5 mg/kg/day over 4 months caused observable disturbances in the rat estrus cycle, lengthened gestation time, decreased fecundity, and increased fetal mortality [2]. Lindane was found to be slightly estrogenic to female rats and mice, and also caused the testes of male rats to become atrophied. Semeniferous tubules and and Leydig cells (important for production of sperm) were completely degenerated at doses of 8 mg/kg/day over a 10-day period [2]. Reversible decreases in sperm cell production were noted in male mice fed approximately 60 mg/kg/day for 8 months [2]. It is unlikely that lindane will cause effects at the low levels of exposure expected in human populations.
Teratogenic effects: In rats, doses as low as 0.5 mg/kg/day over 4 months caused decreased growth in offspring [2]. Beagles given 7.5 or 15 mg/kg/day from day 5 throughout gestation did not produce pups with any noticeable birth defects. Pregnant rats given small amounts of lindane in their food had offspring unaffected by the pesticide [17]. It appears that lindane is unlikely to cause developmental effects at levels of exposure expected in human populations.
Mutagenic effects: Most tests on mice and on microorganisms have shown no mutagenicity due to lindane exposure [2]. However, lindane has been shown to induce some changes in the chromosomes of cultured human lymphocytes at 5 and 10 ppm in the culture medium. Some chromosomal damage was also noted at a concentration of 1 ppm in this study as well. An in vivo (in live animals) study of the effects of lindane on rat leukocytes (white blood cells) did not find chromosomal abnormalities after a single administration of 75 mg/kg [2]. It is unlikely that lindane would pose a mutagenic risk in humans at normal exposure levels.
Carcinogenic effects: No tumors were found in groups of 20 mice fed the beta-, gamma-, and delta-isomers of HCH at about 64 mg/kg/day, but tumors occurred in 100% of the mice fed the alpha-isomer only [2]. In rats similar findings were noted at doses of about 49 mg/kg/day [2]. Other work suggests that rodents may suffer from liver tumors from high doses of the gamma-isomer (lindane) [2]. HCH was not found to promote tumors initiated by benz[a]anthracene [2]. The available evidence is contradictory, and does not allow assessment of the potential for carcinogenic effects in humans from lindane exposure.
Organ toxicity: Data from animal tests indicate that lindane may affect the central nervous system, liver, kidney, pancreas, testes, and nasal mucous membrane.
Fate in humans and animals: Animal studies show that lindane is readily absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract, skin, and lungs [2]. Studies show that systemic distribution may be similarly rapid [2]. The metabolism of the different isomers of HCH is complex and occurs via many different pathways. The metabolism of lindane, while complex, is nonetheless fairly rapid [2,9]. The main pathways include stepwise elimination of chlorines to form tri- and tetrachlorophenols and conjugation with sulfates or glucuronides and subsequent elimination [2]. Other pathways involve the ultimate formation of mercapturates [2]. These water soluble end-products are elimated via the urine [2]. Less is known of the metabolism of the other isomers [2]. While all isomers of HCH are stored in fat, the gamma-isomer is stored at very much larger rates than the other isomers, which are more readily metabolized and eliminated [2]. Storage equilibrium, at low levels of lindane in rats, is reached after 2 to 7 days, while that for beta-HCH or other isomers may take longer [2]. Of a single dose of 40 mg/kg to rats, 80% was excreted in urine and 20% in feces [2]. Half of the administered lindane is excreted in 3 or 4 days [2].
The “Contaminants Found at Camp Lejeune” handout does not specify if it is a specific tetrachloroethane. Here is information on 1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane.
1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane is not life-threatening unless you intentionally or accidentally drink more than a few spoonfuls at one time or spill a large amount so that you breathe it and get it on your skin. Breathing high levels in a closed room can cause fatigue, vomiting, dizziness, and possibly unconsciousness. However, most people recover from these effects once they are in fresh air. Breathing, drinking, or touching large amounts of 1,1,2,2-tetra-chloroethane for a long period of time can cause liver damage, stomachaches, or dizziness.
The health effects of long-term (365 days or longer) exposure to low levels of 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane are not known. It is also not known whether 1,1,2,2-tetra-chloroethane will cause reproductive effects in people.
It is not known whether 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane causes cancer in humans. In a long-term study, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane caused an increase in liver tumors in mice, but not in rats.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined that 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane cannot be classified as to its ability to cause cancer in humans, while the EPA has determined that it is a possible human carcinogen.
The EPA has decided that not more than 0.17 micrograms of 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane per liter of water (0.16 parts per billion [ppb] or about 1 drop in an above-ground pool) should be in lakes and streams, although no national drinking water standards have been set. EPA recommends that children do not drink water with more than 0.04 milligrams per liter (mg/L) of 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane for a period exceeding 10 days. EPA also requires that spills of 100 pounds or more of 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane to the environment be reported to the Agency.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set a limit of 5 parts per million (ppm) in air to protect workers during an 8-hour workday, 40-hour workweek.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends a limit of 1 ppm for 1,1,2,2-tetra-chloroethane in workroom air over an 8- to 10-hour workday.
