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Toxic Products In The Home

Toxic Products In The Home. Be it ever so humble, there ’s no place like home. Home, Sweet Home! John Howard Payne. Home, Sweet Home!. Household products Mold & mildew Radon Indoor air Second hand smoke Lead Paint solvents. Toxics in the Home.

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Toxic Products In The Home

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  1. Toxic Products In The Home

  2. Be it ever so humble, there ’s no place like home. Home, Sweet Home! John Howard Payne Home, Sweet Home!

  3. Household products Mold & mildew Radon Indoor air Second hand smoke Lead Paint solvents Toxics in the Home

  4. How many pounds of household hazardous waste in your home? (i.e. paints, varnishes, motor oil, pesticides, antifreeze, fluorescent lights) Household Hazardous Waste

  5. Flammability Reactivity Corrosive (strong acid or base) Toxicity: human Toxicity: environmental Product Hazards

  6. Risk = Hazard X Exposure Hazard and Risk Dose / Response Individual Sensitivity

  7. Exposure Routes • Ingestion • Direct ingestion of product • Hand to mouth contact • Inhalation • Acute inhalation of product during use • Chronic inhalation of indoor air • Skin/eye contact • Splashing/spilling during use • Violent chemical reactions • Contact with treated surfaces

  8. Poisoning events in United States - 2000 2.2 million reported exposures 53% involved children under age 6 90% occurred in the home 475,079 treated in a health care facility 920 deaths reported in 2000 Source: National Poison Centers, 2000 data (Litovitz, 2001) Poisoning Facts

  9. More Poisoning Facts

  10. Even More Poisoning Facts

  11. Common Toxicity Measures • LD50: acute ingestion (mg/kg) • LC50: acute inhalation (ppm) • Draize score: skin irritation • TLV: chronic inhalation (ppm) • Reference dose: chronic exposure (mg/kg/day)

  12. Oral Toxicity of Common Substances Practically non-toxic (> 15,000 mg/kg) Probable oral lethal dose for 150 lb adult > 1 quart modeling clay paraffin wax baby lotion blemish cover (e.g. Clearasil) bone meal cat litter

  13. Slightly toxic Slightly toxic (5,000 to 15,000 mg/kg) Probable oral lethal dose for 150 lb adult: between 1 pt & 1 qt hand dishwashing liquid window cleaner latex house paint soap deodorant (roll-on) white glue (e.g. Elmers)

  14. Moderately toxic Moderately toxic (500 to 5,000 mg/kg) Probable oral lethal dose for 150 lb adult: between 1 oz & 1 pt antifreeze dry cleaning fluid* (1,1,1-trichloroethane) motor fuels* (gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel) shoe polish oil-based house paint holly berries *NOTE: aspiration probably more important than toxicity

  15. Very toxic Very toxic (50 to 500 mg/kg) Probable oral lethal dose for 150 lb adult: between 1 tsp & 1 oz aspirin and other analgesics lacquer thinners toluene, xylene (aromatic hydrocarbons) mothballs (camphor, naphthalene) tobacco leaves foxglove (digitalis) caffeine diazinon insecticide

  16. Extremely toxic Extremely toxic (5 to 50 mg/kg) Probable oral lethal dose for 150 lb adult: 7 drops to 1 tsp opium codeine oil of sassafras

  17. Super toxic Super toxic (< 5 mg/kg) Probable oral lethal dose for 150 lb adult: less than 7 drops nicotine botulinum toxins

  18. TLVs of Common Ingredients COMPOUND TLV FOUND IN at % ethanol 1000 vodka, gin, rum, etc. 40 acetone 750 nail polish remover >50 isopropanol 400 rubbing alcohol 70 gasoline 300 motor fuel 100 Methanol 200 Bix Stripper paint stripper 24-50 turpentine 100 paint thinner 100 xylene 100 spray paint bulk hexane 50 Carter’s rubber cement 90 methylene chloride 50 Bix Tuff Job paint stripper 85 paradichlorobenzene 10 mothballs 100 carbon monoxide 10 malathion 0.74 Ortho Malathion 50+ Insect Spray 50 formaldehyde 0.30 chlorpyrifos 0.014 Dursban Spray 5.3 diazinon 0.008 Diazinon Granules 5.0 TLV – Threshold Limit Value

  19. Carcinogens Ingredient Product(s) % in Product chlorothalonil Daconil Fungicide 12.5-30% benzene gasoline >1% formaldehyde probably many unknown lead acetate Grecian Formula hair dyes 0.36% methylene chloride paint strippers (many) up to 85% p-dichlorobenzene mothballs (many) 100% vermiculite potting soils ? arsenic CCA-treated lumber 34% As2O5

  20. Deducing Toxicity from Label Information • Stick with federally regulated information • Signal words only semi-consistent • Ignore marketing information • Be alert for inconsistencies

  21. Example ADVERTISING SIGNAL WORD

  22. Signal Words Signal Word EPA CPSC FDA DANGER Cat. I Ex. Haz not used WARNING Cat. II Hazardous not used CAUTION Cat. III/IV Hazardous “pay attention” No sig. word not used Not Hazardous

  23. Shortcomings of Label Information • All ingredients not listed (except food, drug, cosmetic, personal care) • Only pesticides have disposal and environmental information (and the disposal information is incorrect!) • Signal words linked to acute hazards only • Some labels contain marketing information that minimizes or contradicts safety warnings • People don’t read labels anyway

  24. Favorite Labels “Confine pets during application to prevent them from believing they are being fed.” - slug bait “Avoid use while smoking.” - hair spray “This product must not be used for dyeing eyelashes or eyebrows. To do so may cause blindness.” - hair color

  25. Label Contradictions “...contains no harsh chemicals which could cause drying or damage...no gloves, no caps, does not irritate your skin” “You get rid of gray gradually, naturally” …………..but there’s more

  26. The Rest of the Story • Caution: contains lead acetate. [a carcinogen] • For external use only. • Keep this product out of children’s reach. • Do not use on cut or abraded skin. If skin irritation develops, discontinue use.

  27. And That’s Not All! • Do not use to color mustaches, eyelashes, eyebrows or hair on parts of the body other than the scalp. • Do not get in eyes. Follow instructions carefully and wash hands thoroughly after each use.” —Grecian Formula hair dye

  28. Water-based products Mechanical devices Enzymes instead of solvents Biological pesticides Less-Toxic Alternatives

  29. Alternative Instead of Using Toxic Ingredient Avoided Latex paint Oil-based paint Solvents Snake, plunger Caustic drain opener Corrosive lye Scouring powder Acid toilet cleaner Corrosive hydrochloric acid Beneficial Insecticide for Diazinon, carbaryl or other nematodes soil grubs insecticide Weed puller, Herbicide 2,4-D, dichlobenil, etc. mulch Less-Toxic Alternatives

  30. A Small Dose of ™ Toxics At Home

  31. Washington Toxics Coalition (WTC) Home Safe Home consumer fact sheets Toxics Hotline: 800-844-SAFE Internet: www.watoxics.org Resources from WTC Thanks to Philip Dickey from WTC for providing many of the slides and information for the chapter.

  32. Additional Information • Web Sites • U.S. Household Products Database – National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine. <http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/index.htm> Site has a range of information about household products including their potential health threats. • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Household Waste Management. <http://www.epa.gov/seahome/hwaste.html> Site has a self-directed educational program on managing household waste.

  33. Authorship Information This presentation is supplement to “A Small Dose of Toxicology” For Additional Information Contact Steven G. Gilbert, PhD, DABT E-mail:sgilbert@innd.org Web: www.asmalldoseof.org

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