Poisons affecting the skin

All homes contain substances capable of causing serious injury if they come into contact with the skin. These substances include detergents, acids and alkalis found in many cleaning products, and petroleum distillates such as white spirit and petrol. Asphalt used in road surfacing can also cause local effects, particularly if it is still hot when contact occurs. The risk of effects on the skin from these chemicals is increased if decontamination in delayed. The method of decontamination will depend on the substance involved but in many cases simple bathing is sufficient. Removal of oily or greasy substances may require the use of a commercial degreaser and sticky material may need to be softened with oil or fat to facilitate removal. Decontamination after contact with corrosive substances may require prolonged and repeated water irrigation to ensure thorough removal. Another potential source of dermal injury in pets is exposure to psoralen-containing plants (such as hogweed, Heracleum spp.) in combination with ultraviolent light (sunlight) which can result in erythema, blistering and dermatitis. In this case, management is supportive with avoidance of sunlight.

THERMAL NEUTRALIZATION OF CARBON-CONTAINING SLUDGE

Acid tar is a resinous substance, which in most cases has a viscous structure. They are obtained as a result of sulfuric acid purification of petroleum distillates, oil residues, in the production of sulfonate additives, in the sulfonation and purification of oils, paraffins, kerosene and gas oil fractions and other petroleum products from aromatic hydrocarbons. Until recently, this type of waste was temporarily accumulated in specially designated areas - acid tar storage ponds, which were located near the oil refinery, which had a significant impact on the environment. The paper considers the process of formation of acid tar on the example of the production of sulfonate additives. The composition of the mixture of acid tar and sulfonate sludge was evaluated, and the hazard class of this type of waste was determined. Methods of utilization of acid tar are studied and a method of utilization of acid tar for the considered production is proposed.

Poisons affecting the skin

All homes contain substances capable of causing serious injury if they come into contact with the skin. These substances include detergents, acids and alkalis found in many cleaning products, and petroleum distillates, such as white spirit and petrol. Asphalt used in road surfacing can also cause local effects, particularly if it is still hot when contact occurs. The risk of these chemicals having an effect on the skin is increased if decontamination is delayed. The method of decontamination will depend on the substance involved, but in many cases simple bathing is sufficient. Removal of oily or greasy substances may require the use of a commercial degreaser and sticky material may need to be softened with oil or fat to allow removal. Decontamination after contact with corrosive substances may require prolonged and repeated water irrigation to ensure thorough removal. Another potential source of dermal injury in pets is exposure to psoralen-containing plants such as hogweed, Heracleum spp. in combination with ultraviolet light, which can result in erythema, blistering and dermatitis. In this case, management is supportive with an avoidance of sunlight.

Occupational pesticide use and self-reported olfactory impairment in US farmers

ObjectivesPesticide exposure may impair human olfaction, but empirical evidence is limited. We examined associations between occupational use of 50 specific pesticides and olfactory impairment, both self-reported, among 20 409 participants in the Agricultural Health Study, a prospective cohort of pesticide applicators (mostly farmers, 97% male).MethodsWe used logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for associations between pesticide use at enrolment (1993–1997) and olfactory impairment reported two decades later (2013–2016), adjusting for baseline covariates.ResultsAbout 10% of participants reported olfactory impairment. The overall cumulative days of any pesticide use at enrolment were associated with a higher odds of reporting olfactory impairment (OR (highest vs lowest quartile): 1.17 (95% CI: 1.02 to 1.34), p-trend = 0.003). In the analyses of 50 specific pesticides, ever-use of 20 pesticides showed modest associations with olfactory impairment, with ORs ranging from 1.11 to 1.33. Of these, higher lifetime days of use of 12 pesticides were associated with higher odds of olfactory impairment compared with never use (p-trend ≤ 0.05), including two organochlorine insecticides (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and lindane), two organophosphate insecticides (diazinon and malathion), permethrin, the fungicide captan and six herbicides (glyphosate, petroleum distillates, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid and metribuzin), although many of these did not exhibit clear, monotonic exposure-response patterns.ConclusionOverall, we found relatively broad associations between pesticides and olfactory impairment, involving many individual pesticides and covering several chemical classes, suggesting that pesticides could affect olfaction through multiple pathways. Future epidemiological studies with objective measurement of olfaction are required to confirm these findings.