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 9,689 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

An outbreak of cadmium intoxication in a jewelry factory provided an opportunity for evaluating the usefulness of diagnostic procedures used to evaluate human cadmium toxicity. Blood cadmium levels in workers exposed to cadmium were higher (.93 micrograms/100ml vs .38 micrograms/100 ml) than in unexposed workers. A dose-response relationship was noted between blood cadmium level and symptom prevalence in four symptoms (dyspnea, chest pain, dysuria, and dizziness). Segmental hair analysis revealed highest cadmium levels (up to 19 micrograms/gm) in segments formed prior to cadmium exposure, suggesting that extrinsic contamination was the primary source of cadmium in the hair. beta2-microglobulin levels were within normal limits. No significant renal or pulmonary dysfunction was noted. Symptoms ceased after a cadmium-containing brazing alloy used in jewelry production was replaced, yet urine cadmium levels remained persistently elevated in four workers. Blood cadmium determinations were found to be useful in evaluating symptoms potentially related to cadmium intoxication.
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PMID:Subacute cadmium intoxication in jewelry workers: an evaluation of diagnostic procedures. 22 21

Thirty-eight workers from a factory producing nickel-cadmium and other types of batteries came to us for medical evaluation. They included 21 women and 17 men (seniority 2-20 years, age range 31-63 years), and represented a self-selected subset of 700-900 ever-employed and 200+ recently or currently employed workers in the factory. Thirty-four worked on the nickel-cadmium assembly line. Symptoms and signs included: headache in 34; weakness, fatigue and lassitude in 26; dizziness in 16; pruritus and skin eruptions in 37; gingivitis, teeth loss and caries in 34; nasal congestion, nosebleeds and anosmia in 30; cough, phlegm production, wheezing and shortness of breath in 26; "asthma" in 14; bone pain in 18; urinary frequency, beta 2 microglobulinuria and kidney stones in 17; and sterility or multiple abortions (33) in 8 of 21 women. One additional patient had died from an "amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-like syndrome", while CT scans in six workers revealed brain atrophy. One other worker had leukemia, and two had died from cancer (lung and pancreas). Those who had worked for more than 10 years had more symptoms and signs than shorter-term employees, especially neurological illness, bone pain and urinary tract problems, including beta 2 microglobulinuria. Past blood and urinary cadmium levels were in the range of 1.6-8.7 micrograms/dl and 8-306 micrograms/l, respectively. Our findings indicated that: a) health risks for workers were not confined to the nickel-cadmium assembly line or to older workers, b) hazardous exposures still existed and illness appeared in new workers after a clean-up and intervention program, and c) exposures involved increased risks for renal disease and cancers. Finally, there is a need to control exposures and determine health risks in the full cohort of those ever employed, in the workers' children, and in the surrounding environment (air, ground, water) due to the dumping of waste from the plant.
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PMID:Medical findings in nickel-cadmium battery workers. 142 13

There is a wealth of information about the nutritional and medicinal properties of honey. However, honey may contain compounds that may lead to toxicity. A compound not naturally present in honey, named 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), may be formed during the heating or preservation processes of honey. HMF has gained much interest, as it is commonly detected in honey samples, especially samples that have been stored for a long time. HMF is a compound that may be mutagenic, carcinogenic and cytotoxic. It has also been reported that honey can be contaminated with heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium. Honey produced from the nectar of Rhododendron ponticum contains alkaloids that can be poisonous to humans, while honey collected from Andromeda flowers contains grayanotoxins, which can cause paralysis of limbs in humans and eventually leads to death. In addition, Melicope ternata and Coriaria arborea from New Zealand produce toxic honey that can be fatal. There are reports that honey is not safe to be consumed when it is collected from Datura plants (from Mexico and Hungary), belladonna flowers and Hyoscamus niger plants (from Hungary), Serjania lethalis (from Brazil), Gelsemium sempervirens (from the American Southwest), Kalmia latifolia, Tripetalia paniculata and Ledum palustre. Although the symptoms of poisoning due to honey consumption may differ depending on the source of toxins, most common symptoms generally include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, convulsions, headache, palpitations or even death. It has been suggested that honey should not be considered a completely safe food.
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PMID:Toxic compounds in honey. 2421 51

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are major pollutants and are considered to be one of the most important contaminants generated by human beings living in urban and industrial areas. Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is a VOC that has been widely used as a gasoline additive to reduce VOC emissions from motor vehicles. However, new gasoline additives like MTBE are having negative environmental impacts. Recent survey reports clearly show that groundwater is often polluted owing to leakage of petroleum products from underground storage tanks. MTBE is highly soluble in water (e.g., 0.35-0.71 M) and has been detected at high concentrations in groundwater. The presence of MTBE in groundwater poses a potential health problem. The documented effects of MTBE exposure are headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, cough, muscle aches, sleepiness, disorientation, dizziness, and skin and eye irritation. To address these problems, photocatalytic treatment is the preferred treatment for polluted water. In the present work, a simple and template-free solution phase synthesis method has been developed for the preparation of novel cadmium sulfide (CdS) hollow microspheres using cadmium nitrate and thioacetamide precursors. The synthesized products have been characterized by a variety of methods, including X-ray powder diffraction, high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and UV-visible diffused reflectance spectroscopy. The HR-SEM measurements revealed the spherical morphology of the CdS microspheres, which evolved by the oriented aggregation of the primary CdS nanocrystals. Furthermore, studies of photocatalytic activity revealed that the synthesized CdS hollow microspheres exhibit an excellent photocatalytic performance in rapidly degrading MTBE in aqueous solution under visible light illumination. These results suggest that CdS microspheres will be an interesting candidate for photocatalytic detoxification studies under visible light radiation.
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PMID:Nanotechnology in environmental remediation: degradation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) over visible-light-active nanostructured materials. 2456 52