Risk Assessment for Methyl Isocyanate Inhalation Exposure

Background:10yr old Active, healthy male

SYMPTOMS:General Malaise, always in pain, joints hurt, developed Juvenile ArthritisSevere headaches; unable to attend schoolExtremely tired, drowsiness, apathy and general weaknessLoss of appetite, losing weight; when ate food/water got severe stomach crampsLost urge to thrive, listless, just laid in bed all dayBlood work: elevated TA1 cells , decreased B lymocytes, markers for autobodies rheumatoid arthritis markers

Result:Saw 9 specialists at Children's and UW : flu

Medical Mystery : Case study #1:Risk Assessment for theExposure to Isocyanates (in carpets)

Isocyanate Monitoring SystemWhat are Isocyanates?The CompoundWhere found:polyurethane products Carpets (newly installed)UpholsteryFoamMattressesPaints/Auto finishSurface coatings (laminates)Adhesives

Isocyanate molecules have the functional group -N=C=O.

Dream HOME ? I wanted the house to be so nice, and then I poisoned my son with it.

Bhopal, India Gas Leak Disaster 1984

Partial list of Some of the Over 200 Chemicals Found in Manufactured Carpetethylbenzeneformaldehydemethacrylate acidmethyl methacrylateacrylic oligomerstetrachloroethylenetoluenexylenes4-phenylcyclohexeneacetonitrileazulenebenzenebiphenyl2-butyloctanol-1cyclopentadiene-ethenyl-2-ethylene1,3,5-cycloheptatriene1-chloronaphthalenediphenyl etherdodecane1,4-dihydroxyacenophtheneethylxylene

1-ethyl-3-methylbenzenehexadecanolhexamethylene triamine1-h-indene1-methylnaphthalene2-methylnaphthalene1-methyl-3 propylbenzene2-methyl-4-tridecene5-methyltridecaneoctadecenyl amine (oleylamine)oxariumpolyacrylates1-phenylcyclopentanol2-propylheptanolphthalic estersstyrene1,2,3,-trimethylbenzene1,2,4,-trimethylbenzenetetradecene2,3,7-trimethyldecaneundecane,2,6-dimethyl (provided by a carpet manufacturer)

*By selecting Green Label Plus carpet or adhesive, you are assured one of the lowest emitting products on the market, and you may be able to earn LEED or Green Guide for Health Care points.

!! HAZARDS!!eye irritationthroat cancerblurred visioneyes sensitive to lightthroat irritationloss of voicecoughdry or thirsty mouthlips burningtongue burningnose burning or bleedingloss or increase of smellmoodinessrespiratory tract irritation

rash or itchinghair lossweight loss or gainflu-like symptomsaggravated asthmaaggravated allergiesjoint painmuscular achesabdominal painmemory losspoor concentrationnervous system disordersunusual depressionIrritabilityheadachesdizziness,disorientationvomitingnauseachest painsshortness of breathirregular heart beathigh blood pressuredrowsinessunusual fatiguechemical sensitivityjerking in sleepmenstrual irregularitiessexual dysfunction

Symptoms associated with exposure to the chemicals (provided by industrial hygienists)

The Toxic Characteristics of New Carpets:Contain toluene, benzene, formaldehyde, ethyl benzene, styrene, acetone and a host of other chemicals that are known carcinogens and produce fetal abnormalities in test animals. These chemicals also cause hallucinations, nerve damage and respiratory illness in humans. Please refer to this article: "Toxic Emissions from New Carpets"

That 'new carpet smell' comes from 4-PC, associated with eye, nose and upper respiratory problems. 4-PC is used in the latex backing of 95% of US carpets.

Other compounds that affect your health are adhesives, flame retardants and stain protectors. In 2000 the 3M Company removed the chemical perflouro-octanyl salphonate from their product, Scotchgard, because it had been found to cause reproductive problems in rats. Stain repellent chemical linked to thyroid disease in adults .

Mothproofing chemicals contain naphthalene, which is known to produce toxic reactions, especially in newborns.

Fire retardants often contain PBDEs which are known to cause damage to thyroid, immune system and brain development functions in humans.

Other possible hazardous chemicals: sprays, artificial dyes, antimicrobial treatments and finishespotential human carcinogen causes cancer in animals.

!! HAZARDS!!9Hazards

Cauldron of Chemical Soup IsocyanatesBENZENEacetonitrileP.B.D.E.PFCsPFOAMicron(pesticide)Toxic Cocktail C-8Case study #2: Background on Mr. Braithwaite:-Carpet layer since he was 10yrs old, worked with father-39 yrs old disabled male -Father Died of lung cancer at 58

Mr. Braithwaite symptoms: -severe concentration problems -dizziness -memory loss-ringing in his ears-erratic heartbeats-shortness of breath-erratic sleeping patterns recurring nosebleeds-weakness-coordination problems-sharp pains -Irritability-gastrointestinal problems-numbness and sensations of pins and needles in his lower arms and hands.-symptoms worsen when he is around the low levels of petrochemicals commonly found in many public buildings.

Neurological testing: -SPECT scan (single photon emission computed tomography) verified damage to his brain, especially to his posterior parietal brain lobes. His doctors are convinced that the solvents and other chemicals in the carpets and glues Ron was working with are the cause. "My dad died of lung cancer when he was fifty-eight. Another carpet layer who was a good friend of his died the same way. There are a lot of carpet layers in our area that died of cancer and developed other serious health problems when they were relatively young." "I want to know the names of all the chemicals I have been working with for the past twenty plus years. I should have a legal right to know what has been poisoning me," he says. "I want to know why I was never given any warnings about any of this all the years I laid carpet. And I want to know how to tell my two young children that their daddy is too sick to go to their school play or go on the swing with them, or help build a snowman. I want to know how to tell my children why mommy and daddy seem to be arguing all the time because their daddy can't provide for his family the way he did for years, and because we are worried about the future of our children."How many other families, including vulnerable little children, have to be made seriously ill by carpet before the CRI honestly admits to the problem and stops putting out products that place people at risk?Ron Braithwaite and his wife Donna mortgaged their home to open a local corner store. Donna Braithwaite often works eight-hour weeks at their store in an effort to support their family. As Ron struggles to cope with his disability, he spends his time gathering information regarding the health effects of chemicals in carpets, and plant to start a support groupNothing has been proven to date that links carpet and ill health effects," says the CRI's Kathryn Wise.Case study #2: (cont.)Exposure: foam, mattressI have worked at a foam mattress factory and the chemicals they use are quite nasty. I remember being told that the main chemical to be worried about was, I think TDI, which I believe is from the isocyanate family. I was also told that the remnants of this chemical remain in the mattress, in minute quantities and that the mattress should always be allowed to 'air' thoroughly before use...I only remember it because we had to have regular drills in case of a spill or a leakage. The gas given off by this chemical was odorless and lethal, worse still was that if you were affected the symptoms might take 24 hours before causing breathing difficulties...Needless to say the safety drills were impressive! When working near the foaming plant you always had to carry a gas mask around which had a few minutes of air so that if the ventilation fans and their backups failed, the sirens sounded and you could escape - pretty frightening stuff!In the ventilation warehouse, about 100 yards long, there were emergency exits in the wall every 10 yards, the reason was that if the fans stopped you would still be only a short distance to an escape exit!!http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/3496/Memory-Foam-or-Foamy-Memory

Case study #3:Case # 410 month boy, Christopher, on the carpet. All of a sudden, he went into this strange seizure-like reaction. His upper body tensed up, and his arms started shaking, and his jaw moved kind of funny-like.RESULTS:

Background: After a week of testing, the doctors ruled out multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and tumors, but they couldn't identify the disorder. Christopher was then taken to the head of pediatric neurology at UCLA, who diagnosed "tremors of unknown origin."

doctors tried drugs to suppress the central nervous system, but they didn't stop the tremors.

parents had carpet tested in a lab. the mice were rolling over and shaking just like our son did," said Jocelyn. "We were horrified."

ripped out the carpet, the tremors stopped.

Testing on Christopher McIvers shows immune system damage consistent with chemicals exposure, autoantibodies (indicating that the body's immune system has mistakenly identified its own tissues or cellular components as foreign and has directed antibodies against them) to the myelin in his nervous system -- a sign that nerve tissue damage has occurred. Isocyanates Inhalation Exposure

Human Immune NOAEL..0006ppm=.oo14mg HumanResp. NOAEL.0002ppm=.0061 mg/m3

Conversions for human Inhalation Exposure1 ppm = 2.34 mg/m3

1 mg/m3 = .4274 ppm

Example:LOAEL for respiratory system is .0006ppm.0006ppm x 1mg/m3/.4274 ppm =.0014mg/m3

Chronic Human Respiratory andImmune Exposure to Isocyanates

Assessment/Exposures: using BioMarkersnotes from Dr.Costas lecture Feb 10, 2010Adverse Affects:

Nervous system, O2 and glucose requirements Memory loss Cognitive ImpairmentHumans now have this neurotox index.Neurotoxins affect cell to cell interaction biomarkers: PolymorphismsOn cell surface have structures made out of glycoprotein, that after toxic exposures: have missing parts. If our body can not replace those missing parts (called glyconutients) then it destroys those structures. This is what causes auto-immune (where body attacks itself) .Its a response that a lot of people have and most carpet layers have. sugars that a stressed body cant make, then have to come from our food, which can be depleted of these sugars. (Castor). Mannose is one of those key sugars, our body uses to repair and restore the cell-cell communication. Stop body self-destruction, or auto immune response } . 5 of the 8 necessary sugars are present in human breast milk .

* Manifests: chronic fatigue, lupus, fibromyalgia, brain fog, severe headaches, Multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), hearing loss, memory loss (see symptom list)Adverse affects on Nervous system, O2 and glucose requirementsMsemry lossCognitive Impairment

Study of GlycobiologyOne solution of toxic exposures"Carbohydrates are the glue that pulls things together, the cell surface matrix in which cells communicate, and they provide the connections for signal transduction. It's only been within the last decade that we've realized that such structures are critical for all kinds of biological function."ScienceDaily.com- May 15, 2008

In 1996 Harper's Biochemistry, a medical text, introduced "the eight principal sugars found in human glycoproteins." Eight specific sugars were identified on human cell surface glycoforms which are involved in cellular recognition processes.

ChemicalHealth EffectsBenzene, formaldehyde, ethyl benzene, styrene, acetoneCANCER4-PC (used in the latex backing of 95% of US carpets)Eye, nose and upper respiratory problemsScotchgard (perflouro-octanyl salphonate)Reproductive problems in ratsNaphthalene (mothproofing chemicals)Produce toxic reactions, especially in newbornsPBDEs (fire retardants)Damage to thyroid, immune system and brain development functions in humansCatastrophic Chemical Leak and ExplosionBhopal, India

Precautionary Risk AssessmentHazard, Community, Exposure IssuesCommunity/Social IssuesParameterScoreG = goal3 does NOTmoves forward the goal of human and environmental healthN = need3 we do NOT need thisF = future generations3 there is VERY HIGH potential impact on future generationsD = democratic community based process3 hardly anyone knows about the risks and hazardsA = alternatives3 some companies switched out formaldehyde for isocyanates...Total15/15 NOT SUPPORTIVE OF HEALTH OR COMMUNITYExposure IssuesParametersScoreE = exposureM = multiple exposureC = children exposedConsumer productsTotalHazard/Toxicity IssuesParametersScoreHazardIndividual sensitivityEcological hazardVolumePersistentBioaccumulationUncertaintyTotal "The carpet industry has mounted a massively deceptive merchandising campaign that intentionally mislead the public by implying that all carpets with the green tag have met safety standards," says New York Attorney General Robert Abrams. He had petitioned CPSC(Consumer Product Safety Commission) to require warning labels on carpets. Because of the large number of carpet complaints, the attorneys general of twenty-five other states signed the petition as well. (9) CPSC refused to even consider their petition. there are no such recognized standards of safety. The Carpet and Rug Institute its own arbitrary standards. CRI's testing program is completely inadequate because it measures only a small percentage of the chemicals emitted from carpets. a manufacturer can get a green tag for an entire product line simply by having one small piece of carpet tested once a year." One of the carpets to pass the green tag testing is associated with disabling the members of the Charles Fitzgerald family of West Friendship, Maryland,who were exposed to it in their lighting store in 1992. When tested by Anderson Labs, the Fitgeralds' carpet caused gross nervous system abnormalities in mice." The Consumer Product Safety Commission receives hundreds of complaints and inquiries each year about the adverse health effects associated with the materials used to make carpet,"said Abrahms.Yet the government has chosen to sweep this problem under the rug by ignoring the public's health concerns as well as my request to disseminate meaningful information about potential carpet hazards."Nothing has been proven to date that links carpet and ill health effects," says the CRI's Kathryn Wise.

COVER UP by the CRI (Carpet Rug Institute) Cover up (cont)EPA cover-up a thousand complaints were reported by EPA workers who were made ill by new carpet in the EPA headquarters building. The CRI were, at a minimum, well aware of neurological complaints and very serious pulmonary complaints from a number of EPA workers." Despite its own study, and the removal of 27,000 square yards of carpet from the headquarters building in 1989, EPA published a public information brochure, "Indoor Air Quality and New Carpet: What You Should Know," which states, "Limited research to date has found no links between adverse health effects and the levels of chemicals emitted by new carpet." http://www.holisticmed.com/carpet/ When EPA returned to its own labs, "instead of duplicating what Rosalind Anderson did, as they were charged to do at the October '92 carpet hearing, EPA created its own protocol," bottled air in their own lab and bubbled it through water to add humidity, the humidity changed the result. What they found was that humidity reduced the toxicity, so apparently whatever the toxins are, they are soluble in water at low levels." After Anderson Labs changed their protocol to humidify the air in the same manner as EPA had done," we found it removed the toxic effect as well," said Anderson. When they passed air over a toxic carpet sample and bubbled it through water, the air was not toxic to the mice. took that water and exposed the mice to it in the form of a mist. "Lo and behold, the toxic effect had been removed from the air and put into the water. We were now seeing the same enurotoxic effects from the water, including death, said Anderson.

Recommendation: Do not contact the EPA or Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) with the expectation of getting help with the problem. While they may do good work on other issues, they are in bed with the industry on this issue, so do not trust anything they say. http://www.holisticmed.com/carpet/

Peer reviewed articles and journals are mistakenly presented to be of high quality. Product defense firms establish their own journals, using their own scientists, that present themselves to the unwary as independent sources of information and science.

Example: Indoor and Built Environment Journal

Cover up (cont)

Cindy Duehring(1962 - 1999)Researcher, Activist, Writer, Editor1997 Right Livelihood Award Winner

In 1986 Duehring founded the Environmental Access Research Network (EARN).

1991, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry designated CIIN a clearinghouse to aid communities and individuals on the toxic health effects associated with low levels of chemical exposure

In 1994 became Chemical Injury Information Network (CIIN).CIIN is a support and advocacy organization for the benefit of the chemically injured with over 5,000 members in 35 countries. Its primary focus is education, credible research, multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), and the empowerment of the chemically injured.

She was awarded The Right Livelihood Award ...for putting her personal tragedy at the service of humanity by helping others understand and combat the risks posed by toxic chemicals. CIIN works with healthcare professionals and governments in many countries, and the United Nations Environment Program and the European Union have both recognized CIIN/EARN's work. .

Cover up (cont)

Sourceswww.ciin.org The Chemical Center Information Networkhttp://www.inspiredliving.com/airpurification/a~toxic-carpets1.htmhttp://www.naturalhomeproducts.com/1430chemicals.html Natural Home Design CenterJournal of nutritional medicine ISSN0955-6664 Source / Source 1995,vol.5,no4,pp.375-386(24 ref. ) http://webmail.aol.com/30746-111/aol-1/en-us/Suite.aspxCARPET CONCERNS: Carpet Installers Speak OutAs the Medical Evidence Mounts.by Cindy Duehringhttp://www.inspiredliving.com/airpurification/a~toxic-carpets2.htmMethyl Isocyanate. Technology Transfer Network., EPA. November 6, 2007. January 32, 2010. http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/methylis.htmlLecture: Sam Castor, On History of Glycoproteins, a New Biology. Feb 19, 2010. Seattle , WALecture: Dr. Costa, UW , Seattle, WA Feb 17, 2010http://www.glycoscience.co.za/index.htmhttp://www.rightlivelihood.org/uploads/tx_templavoila/Kopbilder_Recipients_01.jpghttp://www.holisticmed.com/carpet/ summary of cover-up,examples of disable carpet layers

30Journal of nutritional medicine ISSN0955-6664 Source / Source1995,vol.5,no4,pp.375-386(24 ref.

Resources: To understand how PR techniques are sometimes used to by Monsanto, Dupont and others to con the general public, please purchase and read the excellent new book: Toxic Sludge is Good For You! (Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton Common Courage Press, Monroe, Maine (USA), c1995 ISBN 1-56751-061-2 or ISBN 1-56751-060-4 (pbk.) This book will help you understand what tricks to expect from Monsanto, Dupont, and others as scientists and the general population recognizes the dangers from exposure to toxic carpeting.

Doubt is Their Product David Michaels, 2008 by Oxford Press Peer reviewed articles and journals are mistakenly presented to be of high quality.Product defense firms establish their own journals, using their own scientists, that present themselves to the unwary as independent sources of information and science.Examples: JOURNAL: Indoor and Built Environment , financed by the tobacco industry to promote that inadequate ventilation, not second hand smoke, is the problem. JOURNAL : Regulations, Toxicology and Pharmacology An association dominated by scientist who work for industry trade groups and consulting firms.

Chart10.000060.00060.00060.0003050.003050.00350.000260.0026

Respiratory NOAELRespiratory LOAELImmune LOAELYearsPPM

Sheet1X-ValuesY-Values30.000630.00006N16.50.003570.00030516.50.000260.0004330.0006L70.0030516.50.00260.0380.02