M4.2: National Library ToxNet

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Viewing enviRN-Evidence was very helpful in identifying health effect associated with exposures to urea formaldehyde and bleach.

It was interesting to see the toxicity effect for specific organisms. For example, inhalation and oral consumption of this chemical lead to behavioral aggression and gastrointestinal problems/vomiting, respective to its route of consumption. There is also skin, eye, and respiratory irritations that can arise from chemical exposure. There has been some evidence for carcinogenicity which result in certain type of leukemias and gastrointestinal tumors in rats. In some cases, death resulted from the exposure to urea formaldehyde. Overall, urea formaldehyde is considered a probable carcinogen.

 As for bleach, which is a regular cleaning product used in our homes, there were varied results. Bleach is also known as chlorine, but in the liquid form rather than gas form. One shocking piece of information I found is that in in in-vitro experiments on a human lymphocyte culture resulted in chromosome breaks, translocations, and gaps. Overall, this chemical can be a skin, eye, and respiratory irritant if given in big quantities. There can also be other fumes that can result in mixing bleach with other products. Larger exposures can lead to cardiac or respirator arrest. This chemical is not classified as a carcinogen, but it may be a probable carcinogen for humans.

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 21, 2018 at 7:59 PM

    Hi Daisy,
    I loved that you discussed the different effects of these chemicals on different organisms. Because we tend to never test these chemicals on humans, it is interesting to see the negative health impact on rats. It is interesting to see that we are seeing these effects on organisms smaller than humans, yet we still put them on the market and use them regularly despite these risks.
    Thank you for post!
    Kera

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 23, 2018 at 3:36 PM

    Hi Daisy,

    I think ToxNet is a great site to investigate products and their ingredients. I also found an interesting study on the effect of bleach on women who use it as a cleaning product every day. The study concluded that the use of bleach leads to asthma. Thanks for sharing!

    Carmen

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownSeptember 25, 2018 at 9:07 AM

    Hi Daisy,
    Great summary of information you found regarding Urea formaldehyde and bleach. The fact that a chemical can cause behavioral aggression is pretty scary, not to mention the multiple irritations and possible risk for cancer associated with use. Very shocking information you found regarding bleach and in-vitro experiments. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

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