The Toxic Chemicals

There are several chemicals listed in the post named  One of The Contaminated Areas
  and in this section here lets see what they are and how they effected human health.


Ethylbenzene  :

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined that ethylbenzene is a possible human carcinogen.

This sediment release sample taken from the east perimeter drainage ditch at the Clyde Dump site in 1990 was 880 ppb.

What is ethylbenzene?

Ethylbenzene is a colorless, flammable liquid that smells like gasoline. It is naturally found in coal tar and petroleum and is also found in manufactured products such as inks, pesticides, and paints. Ethylbenzene is used primarily to make another chemical, styrene. Other uses include as a solvent, in fuels, and to make other chemicals.

Ethylbenzene moves easily into the air from water and soil, and takes about 3 days to be broken down in air to other chemicals. In surface water it breaks down by reacting with other chemicals found naturally in water, and it can move through soil into groundwater. In soil it is broken up by bacteria.

How is someone exposed to Ethylbenzene?

Ethylbenzene is not often found in drinking water; however, high levels may be found in residential drinking water wells near landfills, waste sites, or leaking underground fuel storage tanks. Releases into the air occur from burning oil, gas, and coal from places that use ethylbenzene. If you live in a city or near many factories or heavily traveled highways, you may be exposed to ethylbenzene in air, also exposure can occur if you work in an industry where ethylbenzene is used or made. Exposure can also occur if you use products containing it, such as gasoline, carpet glues, varnishes, and paints.

Health Effects of ethylbenzene:

Exposure to high levels in air for short periods can cause eye and throat irritation and exposure to higher levels can result in dizziness. Irreversible damage to the inner ear and hearing has been observed in animals exposed to relatively low concentrations of ethylbenzene for several days to weeks and exposure to relatively low concentrations of ethylbenzene in air for several months to years causes kidney damage in animals.

How does ethylbenzene affect children?

There are no studies evaluating the effects of ethylbenzene exposure on children or immature animals.  It is likely that children would have the same health effects as adults. We do not know whether children would be more sensitive than adults to the effects of ethylbenzene. It is not known if it will cause birth defects in humans. Minor birth defects and low birth weight have occurred in newborn animals whose mothers were exposed to ethylbenzene in air during pregnancy.

Naphthalene:

Based on the results from animal studies, the Department of Health and Humans Services (DHHS) concluded that naphthalene is reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded that naphthalene is possibly carcinogenic to humans. The EPA determined that naphthalene is a possible human carcinogen (Group C).

This sediment release sample taken from the east perimeter drainage ditch at the Clyde Dump site in 1990 was 450 ppb.

What are naphthalene?

Naphthalene is a white solid that evaporates easily. Fuels such as petroleum and coal contain naphthalene. It is also called white tar, and tar camphor, and has been used in mothballs and moth flakes. Burning tobacco or wood produces naphthalene. It has a strong, but not unpleasant smell. The major commercial use of naphthalene is in the manufacture of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics. Its major consumer use is in moth repellents and toilet deodorant blocks.

What happens to naphthalene when they enter the environment?
Naphthalene enters the environment from industrial and domestic sources, and from accidental spills,

it can dissolve in water to a limited degree and may be present in drinking water from wells close to hazardous waste sites and landfills. It also can become weakly attached to soil or pass through soil into underground water. In air, moisture and sunlight break it down within 1 day. In water, bacteria break it down or it evaporates into the air. Naphthalene does not accumulate in the flesh of animals or fish that you might eat.

How might I be exposed to naphthalene?

Breathing low levels in outdoor air contaminated from industrial discharges or smoke from burning wood, tobacco, or fossil fuels. Using or making moth repellents, coal tar products, dyes or inks could expose you to these chemicals in the air. Drinking water from contaminated wells. Touching fabrics that are treated with moth repellents containing naphthalene. Exposure to naphthalene, from eating foods or drinking beverages is unlikely.

Health eposure to naphthalene?

Exposure to large amounts of naphthalene may damage or destroy some of your red blood cells. This could cause you to have too few red blood cells until your body replaces the destroyed cells. This condition is called hemolytic anemia. Some symptoms of hemolytic anemia are fatigue, lack of appetite, restlessness, and pale skin. Exposure to large amounts of naphthalene may also cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, blood in the urine, and a yellow color to the skin. Animals sometimes develop cloudiness in their eyes after swallowing high amounts of naphthalene. It is not clear whether this also develops in people. Rats and mice that breathed naphthalene vapors daily for a lifetime developed irritation and inflammation of their nose and lungs. It is unclear if naphthalene causes reproductive effects in animals; most evidence says it does not.


How can naphthalene affect children?


Hospitals have reported many cases of hemolytic anemia in children, including newborns and infants, who either ate naphthalene mothballs or deodorants cakes or who were in close contact with clothing or blankets stored in naphthalene mothballs. Naphthalene can move from a pregnant woman's blood to the unborn baby's blood. Naphthalene has been detected in some samples of breast milk from the general U.S. population, but not at levels that are expected to be of concern.


There is no information on whether naphthalene has affected development in humans. No developmental abnormalities were observed in the offspring from rats, mice, and rabbits fed naphthalene during pregnancy.

2-methylnaphthalene:

There are no studies of humans exposed to 1-methylnaphthalene or 2-methylnaphthalene. Mice fed food containing 1-methylnaphthalene and 2-methylnaphthalene for most of their lives had part of their lungs filled with an abnormal material.

This sediment release sample taken from the east perimeter drainage ditch at the Clyde Dump site in 1990 was 81 ppb.

2-methylnaphthalene is a naphthalene-related compound. 2-methylnaphthalene is a solid and can be smelled in air and in water at very low concentrations. 2-methylnaphthalene is used to make other chemicals such as dyes and resins and is also used to make vitamin K.

What happens to 2 methylnaphthalene when it enters the environment?

2-methylnaphthalene is expected to act like naphthalene in air, water, or soil because it has similar chemical and physical properties.

How might I be exposed to 2 methylnaphthalene?

Breathing low levels in outdoor air contaminated from industrial discharges or smoke from burning wood, tobacco, or fossil fuels. Using or making moth repellents, coal tar products, dyes or inks could expose you to these chemicals in the air. Drinking water from contaminated wells. Touching fabrics that are treated with moth repellents containing naphthalene. Exposure to 2 methylnaphthalene , from eating foods or drinking beverages is unlikely.

How can 2-methylnaphthalene affect children?

They do not have any information on possible health effects of 2 methylnaphthalene on children.

Methylene Chloride:

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.

This sediment release sample taken from the east perimeter drainage ditch at the Clyde Dump site in 1990 was 81 ppb.

What is methylene chloride?

Methylene chloride is a colorless liquid with a mild, sweet odor. Another name for it is dichloromethane. It does not occur naturally in the environment. Methylene chloride is used as an industrial solvent and as a paint stripper,  and some aersol and persitcide products. It is mainley released into the enviroment by in the air and some small amounts in drinking water.



How might I be exposed to methylene chloride?

The most likely way to be exposed to methylene chloride is by breathing contaminated air. Breathing the vapors given off by products containing methylene chloride. Exposure to high levels of methylene chloride is likely if methylene chloride or a product containing it is used in a room with inadequate ventilation.

Healths effects of methylene chloride

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.

How does methylene chloride affect children?

It is likely that health effects seen in children exposed to high amounts of methylene chloride will be similar to the effects seen in adults. We do not know if methylene chloride can affect the ability of people to have children or if it causes birth defects. Some birth defects have been seen in animals inhaling very high levels of methylene chloride.

Xylenes (total):

This sediment release sample taken from the east perimeter drainage ditch at the Clyde Dump site in 1990 was 5000 ppb.

Both the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the EPA have found that there is insufficient information to determine whether or not xylene is carcinogenic.

What are xylenes?


There are three forms of xylene in which the methyl groups vary on the benzene ring: meta-xylene, ortho-xylene, and para-xylene (m-, o-, and p-xylene). These different forms are referred to as isomers. Xylene is a colorless, sweet-smelling liquid that catches on fire easily. It occurs naturally in petroleum and coal tar. Chemical industries produce xylene from petroleum. It is one of the top 30 chemicals produced in the United States in terms of volume. Xylene is used as a solvent and in the printing, rubber, and leather industries. It is also used as a cleaning agent, a thinner for paint, and in paints and varnishes. It is found in small amounts in airplane fuel and gasoline.

What happens to xylenes when they enter the environment?

Xylene evaporates quickly from the soil and surface water into the air. In the air, it is broken down by sunlight into other less harmful chemicals in a couple of days. It is broken down by microorganisms in soil and water. Only a small amount of it builds up in fish, shellfish, plants, and other animals living in xylene-contaminated water.

How might I be exposed to xylenes?

Using a variety of consumer products including gasoline, paint varnish, shellac, rust preventatives, and cigarette smoke. Xylene can be absorbed through the respiratory tract and through the skin. Ingesting xylene-contaminated food or water, although these levels are likely to be very low. Working in a job that involves the use of xylene such as painters, paint industry workers, biomedical laboratory workers, automobile garage workers, metal workers, and furniture refinishers.

How can xylenes affect my health?

No health effects have been noted at the background levels that people are exposed to on a daily basis. High levels of exposure for short or long periods can cause headaches, lack of muscle coordination, dizziness, confusion, and changes in ones's sense of balance. Exposure of people to high levels of xylene for short periods can also cause irritation of the skin, eyes, nose, and throat; difficulty in breathing; problems with the lungs; delayed reaction time; memory difficulties; stomach discomfort; and possibly changes in the liver and kidneys. It can cause unconsciousness and even death at very high levels.

How can xylene affect children?

The effects of xylene have not been studied in children, but it is likely that they would be similar to those seen in exposed adults. Although there is no direct evidence, children may be more sensitive to acute inhalation exposure than adults because their narrower airways would be more sensitive to swelling effects. Studies of unborn animals indicate that high concentrations of xylene may cause increased numbers of deaths, and delayed growth and development. In many instances, these same concentrations also cause damage to the mothers. We do not know if xylene harms the unborn child if the mother is exposed to low levels of xylene during pregnancy.

Benz[a]anthracene, Fluoranthene,  Pyrene, Chrysene, Benzo[b]fluoranthene,
Benzo[e]pyrene:

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has determined that benz[a]anthracene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, and pyrene are known animal carcinogens. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined the following: benz[a]anthracene and benzo[a]pyrene are probably carcinogenic to humans; benzo[b]fluoranthene is possibly carcinogenic to humans, and chrysene, fluoranthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, and pyrene are not classifiable as to their carcinogenicity to humans. EPA has determined that benz[a]anthracene, benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, chrysene, are probable human carcinogens and that fluoranthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, and pyrene are not classifiable as to human carcinogenicity.   

Benzo[a]abthracene: This sediment release sample taken from the east perimeter drainage ditch at the Clyde Dump site in 1990 was 320 ppb.

Fluoranthene: This sediment release sample taken from the east perimeter drainage ditch at the Clyde Dump site in 1990 was 510 ppb.

Pyrene: This sediment release sample taken from the east perimeter drainage ditch at the Clyde Dump site in 1990 was 470 ppb.


Chrysene: This sediment release sample taken from the east perimeter drainage ditch at the Clyde Dump site in 1990 was 560 ppb.

Benzo[b]fluoranthene: This sediment release sample taken from the east perimeter drainage ditch at the Clyde Dump site in 1990 was 460 ppb.

Benzo[a]pyrene: This sediment release sample taken from the east perimeter drainage ditch at the Clyde Dump site in 1990 was 410 ppb.

These substances are called Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons or PAH.


What are PAHs?

PAHs are a group of chemicals that are formed during the incomplete burning of coal, oil, gas, wood, garbage, or other organic substances, such as tobacco and charbroiled meat. PAHs generally occur as complex mixtures (for example, as part of combustion products such as soot), not as single compounds. PAHs usually occur naturally, but they can be manufactured as individual compounds for research purposes; however, not as the mixtures found in combustion products. As pure chemicals, PAHs generally exist as colorless, white, or pale yellow-green solids. They can have a faint, pleasant odor. A few PAHs are used in medicines and to make dyes, plastics, and pesticides. Others are contained in asphalt used in road construction. They can also be found in substances such as crude oil, coal, coal tar pitch, creosote, and roofing tar. They are found throughout the environment in the air, water, and soil. They can occur in the air, either attached to dust particles or as solids in soil or sediment.



Although the health effects of individual PAHs are not exactly alike, the following 17 PAHs are considered as a group in this profile:
acenaphthene
acenaphthylene
anthracene
benz[a]anthracene
benzo[a]pyrene
benzo[e]pyrene
benzo[b]fluoranthene
benzo[g,h,i]perylene
benzo[j]fluoranthene
benzo[k]fluoranthene
chrysene
dibenz[a,h]anthracene
fluoranthene
fluorene
indeno[1,2,3-c,d]pyrene
phenanthrene
pyrene

These 17 PAHs were chosen to be included in this profile because (1) more information is available on these than on the others; (2) they are suspected to be more harmful than some of the others, and they exhibit harmful effects that are representative of the PAHs; (3) there is a greater chance that you will be exposed to these PAHs than to the others; and (4) of all the PAHs analyzed, these were the PAHs identified at the highest concentrations at NPL hazardous waste sites.

What happens to PAHs when they enter the environment?

PAHs enter the environment mostly as releases to air from volcanoes, forest fires, residential wood burning, and exhaust from automobiles and trucks. They can also enter surface water through discharges from industrial plants and waste water treatment plants, and they can be released to soils at hazardous waste sites if they escape from storage containers. The movement of PAHs in the environment depends on properties such as how easily they dissolve in water, and how easily they evaporate into the air. PAHs in general do not easily dissolve in water. They are present in air as vapors or stuck to the surfaces of small solid particles. They can travel long distances before they return to earth in rainfall or particle settling. Some PAHs evaporate into the atmosphere from surface waters, but most stick to solid particles and settle to the bottoms of rivers or lakes. In soils, PAHs are most likely to stick tightly to particles. Some PAHs evaporate from surface soils to air. Certain PAHs in soils also contaminate underground water. The PAH content of plants and animals living on the land or in water can be many times higher than the content of PAHs in soil or water. PAHs can break down to longer-lasting products by reacting with sunlight and other chemicals in the air, generally over a period of days to weeks. Breakdown in soil and water generally takes weeks to months and is caused primarily by the actions of microorganisms.

How might I be exposed to PAHs?

PAHs are present throughout the environment, and you may be exposed to these substances at home, outside, or at the workplace. Typically, you will not be exposed to an individual PAH, but to a mixture of PAHs.


In the environment, you are most likely to be exposed to PAH vapors or PAHs that are attached to dust and other particles in the air. Sources include cigarette smoke, vehicle exhausts, asphalt roads, coal, coal tar, wildfires, agricultural burning, residential wood burning, municipal and industrial waste incineration, and hazardous waste sites. Background levels of some representative PAHs in the air are reported to be 0.02–1.2 nanograms per cubic meter (ng/m³; a nanogram is one-millionth of a milligram) in rural areas and 0.15–19.3 ng/m³ in urban areas. You may be exposed to PAHs in soil near areas where coal, wood, gasoline, or other products have been burned. You may be exposed to PAHs in the soil at or near hazardous waste sites, such as former manufactured-gas factory sites and wood-preserving facilities. PAHs have been found in some drinking water supplies in the United States. Background levels of PAHs in drinking water range from 4 to 24 nanograms per liter (ng/L; a liter is slightly more than a quart).

In the home, PAHs are present in tobacco smoke, smoke from wood fires, creosote-treated wood products, cereals, grains, flour, bread, vegetables, fruits, meat, processed or pickled foods, and contaminated cow's milk or human breast milk. Food grown in contaminated soil or air may also contain PAHs. Cooking meat or other food at high temperatures, which happens during grilling or charring, increases the amount of PAHs in the food. The level of PAHs in the typical U.S. diet is less than 2 parts of total PAHs per billion parts of food (ppb), or less than 2 micrograms per kilogram of food (µg/kg; a microgram is one-thousandth of a milligram).

The primary sources of exposure to PAHs for most of the U.S. population are inhalation of the compounds in tobacco smoke, wood smoke, and ambient air, and consumption of PAHs in foods. For some people, the primary exposure to PAHs occurs in the workplace. PAHs have been found in coal tar production plants, coking plants, bitumen and asphalt production plants, coal-gasification sites, smoke houses, aluminum production plants, coal tarring facilities, and municipal trash incinerators. Workers may be exposed to PAHs by inhaling engine exhaust and by using products that contain PAHs in a variety of industries such as mining, oil refining, metalworking, chemical production, transportation, and the electrical industry. PAHs have also been found in other facilities where petroleum, petroleum products, or coal are used or where wood, cellulose, corn, or oil are burned. People living near waste sites containing PAHs may be exposed through contact with contaminated air, water, and soil.

How can PAHs enter and leave my body?

PAHs can enter your body through your lungs when you breathe air that contains them (usually stuck to particles or dust). Cigarette smoke, wood smoke, coal smoke, and smoke from many industrial sites may contain PAHs. People living near hazardous waste sites can also be exposed by breathing air containing PAHs. However, it is not known how rapidly or completely your lungs absorb PAHs. Drinking water and swallowing food, soil, or dust particles that contain PAHs are other routes for these chemicals to enter your body, but absorption is generally slow when PAHs are swallowed. Under normal conditions of environmental exposure, PAHs could enter your body if your skin comes into contact with soil that contains high levels of PAHs (this could occur near a hazardous waste site) or with used crankcase oil or other products (such as creosote) that contain PAHs. The rate at which PAHs enter your body by eating, drinking, or through the skin can be influenced by the presence of other compounds that you may be exposed to at the same time with PAHs. PAHs can enter all the tissues of your body that contain fat. They tend to be stored mostly in your kidneys, liver, and fat. Smaller amounts are stored in your spleen, adrenal glands, and ovaries. PAHs are changed by all tissues in the body into many different substances. Some of these substances are more harmful and some are less harmful than the original PAHs. Results from animal studies show that PAHs do not tend to be stored in your body for a long time. Most PAHs that enter the body leave within a few days, primarily in the feces and urine.


Health effects of PHA's

PAHs can be harmful to your health under some circumstances. Several of the PAHs, including benz[a]anthracene, benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, chrysene, pyrene, have caused tumors in laboratory animals when they breathed these substances in the air, when they ate them, or when they had long periods of skin contact with them. Studies of people show that individuals exposed by breathing or skin contact for long periods to mixtures that contain PAHs and other compounds can also develop cancer.

Mice fed high levels of benzo[a]pyrene during pregnancy had difficulty reproducing and so did their offspring. The offspring of pregnant mice fed benzo[a]pyrene also showed other harmful effects, such as birth defects and decreased body weight. Similar effects could occur in people, but we have no information to show that these effects do occur.
Studies in animals have also shown that PAHs can cause harmful effects on skin, body fluids, and the body's system for fighting disease after both short- and long-term exposure. These effects have not been reported in people.

***All of this information on these chemicals was taken from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).