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Butadiene, or 1,3-butadiene is a human carcinogen ranked 36 th in the top 50 most produced chemicals in the United States. Every year, three billion pounds of butadiene are produced in the U.S., with 12 billion pounds produced globally. The health effects caused because of butadiene exposure can be serious and potentially deadly. An occupational and environmental pollutant, butadiene is widely used in the manufacturing of resins, plastics, and synthetic rubber.
The majority of butadiene exposure occurs in the workplace in industries such as rubber and latex production, petroleum refining, secondary lead smelting, water treatment, agricultural fungicides, production of raw material for nylon, the use of fossil fuels, as well as other industries. In 1989, butadiene was first listed as "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen", but has since then been classified as carcinogenic. By 1990, butadiene was listed as a hazardous air pollutant and a mobile source toxic air pollutant in the Clean Air Act Amendments.
The Environmental Protection Agency has linked butadiene to cancer in rubber workers in Ohio. Human exposure to butadiene can occur through inhalation, ingestion, and/or dermal contact of the carcinogenic chemical. There are different levels of health effects that can be suffered depending on whether the exposure to butadiene was acute or chronic. People exposed to butadiene at a low acute level may suffer irritation to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. If the butadiene exposure was dermal, frostbite can result.
At acute high exposure, damage to the central nervous system will start to occur. Symptoms such as distorted blurred vision, vertigo, general tiredness, decreased blood pressure, headache, nausea, decreased pulse rate, and fainting may be witnessed. As the exposure to butadiene occurs at a higher level and for a longer duration, the effects witnessed will become more serious. The actual link between chronic effects of butadiene has been argued over the years, though human epidemiological studies have been performed over the years showing increased risks in serious adverse health effects.
Several studies show butadiene exposure increases risk in cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Animal data suggests the carcinogenic effects of butadiene may have a higher sensitivity to females over men when exposed to the chemical. While this data reveals important implications to the risks of human exposure to butadiene, more data is necessary to draw more conclusive risk assessments. There is also a lack of human data on the effects butadiene has on reproductive and developmental effects shown to occur in mice, but animal studies have shown breathing butadiene during pregnancy can increase the number of birth defects.
According to the National Occupational Exposure Survey that was conducted from 1981 to 1983 by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, an estimated 51,971 workers, including 1,411 women at 2,201 facilities were potentially exposed to 1,3-butadiene. Over the years, some factories have agreed to reduce the emissions of butadiene by installing more efficient pollution control devices, as well as taking other steps. Despite some changes made, the butadiene reduction methods can be costly so companies may not be willing to implement changes unless state regulators or other groups push for them.
The federal government has made recommendations for how much butadiene can exist in the environment. The EPA requires that butadiene discharges or spills into the environment of one pound or more be reported and OSHA has set an occupational butadiene exposure limit of 1,000 parts per million parts of air. Due to the toxicity of butadiene, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends butadiene be kept at the lowest concentration possible because of the carcinogenic effects it can have. While government recommendations exist to protect the environment and humans, it is not always easy to know if these guidelines are being followed unless air emissions tests are performed and companies make it a priority to adhere to the guidelines.
Since there is currently no way of medically testing to see if butadiene exposure has occurred, extra precautions should always be followed if working in or living around areas that may have elevated levels of butadiene present. In addition to its classification as a carcinogenic chemical, other effects witnessed in animals breathing low levels of butadiene for one year have included kidney and liver damage and damaged lungs, with some animals dying. Until more studies are performed, emissions are reduced, and methods of measuring butadiene levels present in the blood occur, steps to ensure the most minimal exposure level to butadiene possible is necessary to protect health and environment from damaging effects.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that for the first time in five years toxic chemical pollution from factories, power plants, and other industrial facilities increased in 2002. According to an environmental group, the EPA has dra...
OSHA.gov - Safety and Health Topics: Butadiene
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