Organochlorines - Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are organic compounds with two to ten chlorine atoms. Thus there are 209 substances of high toxicity. These are used as coolant, insulating fluid in transformers, additive in PVC coated electrical wires and electronic components. These are also present in carbonless copy paper, adhesives and in paints. Most PCBs are toxic and so these were banned in 1970. But these groups are classified as persistent organic pollutants which bio accumulates in humans and animals even today.

PCBs are persistent organic pollutants and these were in the environment through use and waste. These were banned almost 40 years ago but we still found everywhere. Unfortunately these are still used in transformers. The very bad thing in our world is even if a toxic substance is banned in one country they produce this and sell to other countries, particularly to developing countries which may not have strict environmental laws and enough supervision in handling and disposal. But the wastes formed during production of organochlorines would be disposed in some poor countries. Tourism with industrial chemical wastes should not be allowed and the persons organizing this dirty business must be punished seriously.

PCBs have many negative adverse effects on our health. They include:

• Chloracne
• Rashes
• Yusho disease. PCBs contamination in rice bran oil caused a mass poisoning in Japan
• Irregular menstrual cycles
• Lowered immune response
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Cough
• Skin sores

The PCBs exposure could come from workplace contamination and consumption of contaminated fish or food. The exposed pregnant gave birth to babies who weighed less than babies born to the unexposed mothers. But problems with motor skills and a decrease in short-term memory lasted for several years. Immune system was affected also in children born to mothers exposed to PCBs. Infants are exposed through mother’s milk.

PCBs can alter estrogens level and the result may be reproduction problems. Intersex and feminization in the womb are reported. This pollution is so strong that polar bears and whales are there with both male and female sex organs and males incapable for reproduction.

There are cancer risks due to PCBs. These are associated with liver and biliary tract cancer.

PCBs are chemically inert compounds and they have a high thermal stability. They are resistant to chemical oxidation, photodegradation, acid-base reactions and hydrolysis. Therefore, it is difficult for natural systems to metabolize PCBs. The estimated half life period of PCBs is approximately 8 to 15 years.

It is not advisable to eat fishes from unknown waters. However, fish from the commercial food supply may be eaten. Never burn painted or treated wood. Burning materials that contain PCBs produce dioxins and furans which are more toxic.

Appropriate safety measures must be available in workplace.

Organochlorines - Dioxin, 2,3,7,8 -TCDD (tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin)

Dioxin is possibly the strongest poison which human beings produced. It causes the cancer of lungs and liver and influences the immune system resulting in a number of infectious diseases and misgrowth of embryos. It is known from the accidental explosion of a chemical plant in Seveso in Italy. There are 210 substances in the groups. In both dioxins and furans only 17 compounds are highly toxic. The most poisoning dioxin is 2,3,7,8 -TCDD (tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin).

Actually we do not need dioxin and we never wanted to produce it too. But without our knowledge as an unwanted by product it was produced during the manufacture of chlorinated substances such as pesticides, plastics such as PVC. Other sources include chlorine bleaching of paper. When these chlorinated products are burnt as waste, dioxin is produced and comes back to the soil along with the next rain. Motor oil is a major source. It is produced from herbicides also.

In several countries, there are strict rules about the daily intake of dioxin. The daily intake is around one pico gram per day. That means not in parts per billion but parts per trillion ranges. This also shows how poisonous dioxin is. That is why burning plastics and many related products are very harmful. In many countries such open burnings are totally banned.

The half life period gives us an idea how a substance is dangerous in the environment as well as in the body. Half life period of a substance is defined according to the matrix; the matrix may be soil, water, blood or tissues. The time needed to reduce the amount to half is called half life period for the substance in a particular matrix such as blood or soil. 2,3,7,8 -TCDD has the longest half life in blood, it is 11 years and it is stored in liver and fat. The persistence half-life of 2,3,7,8-TCDD on soil surfaces may vary from less than 1 year to 3 years, but half-lives in soil interiors may be as long as 12 years.

There are many scandals with dioxin. It happened in Belgium and a long-time scandal came to limelight. The industry has been trying to save money by mixing the chemical or oil waste with the animal feed and marketing these products. They mixed old, highly contaminated engine oil with the animal feed. The result is contaminated milk, poultry, eggs, pork and beef with dioxin. The worst thing is that the Belgians exported this contaminated animal feed to other countries in Europe.

Swiss animal feed was also contaminated because they used German Kaolinite which has a high amount of dioxin. It is also used in animal feed in Austria and Germany. This is not different in France. In Germany huge amount of milk was destroyed because of this contamination.

What is happening in India and other countries? We have to see everything with open eyes and ask correct questions everywhere. Even sewage sludge was mixed with animal feed which contained high concentration of heavy metals, dioxin, antibiotics and resistant bacteria.

Low levels of dioxin from environment are present in vegetables and all other foods. If contaminated animal feed is used, then eggs, milk, beef, pork and fish contain dioxin. Dioxin accumulates in fat and so fatty food must be avoided. Wherever it is possible it is controlled and so the value of dioxin in human beings is decreased. Vegetarians have better cards here.

There were two known accidental exposures, one is Soveto and the other one is animal feed in Belgium. Agent Orange T (TCDD) was also used in Vietnam War by American forces to destroy the forests. Not only the inhabitants of Vietnam but also the American air force personnel are contaminated. The factory which produced Agent Orange T was closed in Germany decades ago but the workers lived or still living is highly contaminated.

The former President of Ukraine, right or not right, poisoned or not, nobody knows the truth, had the symptoms of dioxin poisoning.

We need many chemicals, but we should not forget that chemicals are also poisons. The dose makes the poison.

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT)

DDT is the well known synthetic pesticide in the world. It was used with unique success in the control of mosquitoes which spread malaria and typhoid. Later it was also used in agriculture and its production was enormous. The environmental effects may not be known at that time or the industry was so mighty that only very few people opposed the uncontrolled spraying of DDT everywhere.

Nobody thought at that time about the toxicity of a chemical except its use. Ms. Rachel Carson, a biologist in 1962 questioned the indiscriminate use of DDT in her book. She was the first person who suggested that DDT and other pesticides may cause cancer. It is now banned in agriculture throughout the world. But it is still used in some tropical countries for other purposes or selectively against mosquitoes. In India lakhs of tons of DDT was used for Malaria eradication Programme from World Health Organization (WHO).

DDT is a permanent organic pollutant and its half life period is 2 to 30 years. The process of biodegradation occurs very slowly. Breakdown products in the soil are DDE and DDD which are also persistent and have same physical as well as chemical properties. DDT and its metabolites DDE and DDD could enter our bodies through the food chain. It is fat soluble and stored in fat in humans and animals. In the nineteen seventies almost everybody in the world had detectable DDT in their blood. Even now many people have DDT in their blood whether they come from developed or developing countries. According to the WHO survey the Indian mother’s milk contains DDT in higher concentration than any other country in the world. Without exception all the mothers in the world have DDT metabolites in their milk.

DDT and its metabolites are classified as moderately hazardous by World Health Organization. It is not acute toxic. In chronic exposition, liver may be damaged and farmers have an increased incidence of non-allergic asthma. Organochlorine compounds, particularly DDE are linked with diabetes. Fish is a major contaminant in the world. Liver, biliary tract and pancreas cancer may be possible for persons who are working with DDT for a long time. There are meagre studies to establish that DDT or DDE may cause breast cancer. It is very interesting to know about the reproductive toxicology where it is told that DDT, DDE and other organochlorines have xenoestrogenic activity which means that these are chemically similar to estrogens, the female sexual hormone. This may affect the semen quality in men.

There are many cases of DDT victim in the world and I could remember few. A woman between 35 and 40 years came to me and told that she was not doing well and we had to find out what it was. She was not feeling well, very tired and had problems of memory. I asked her to tell what happened in the previous days and weeks so that I could get a picture of what had happened. Five weeks before she had flown to Africa for two weeks holidays. She enjoyed her holidays well and had enough rest and relaxation for her body as well as for her soul. When she returned after the completion of her holidays she had several health problems. We talked about her holidays, she told me how happy she was there and finally I asked her about her food in Africa. She has eaten fish and fish only all the fourteen days because the fish items was highly delicious. I asked her the source of the fish and she replied that it was fished from a big lake. The lake water was very clean, she added. After this it was an easy work for me. We took a blood sample from her and she had very high amounts of DDT, DDE and other organochlorines in her blood. This was the reason for her sickness.

The farmers in the nearby fields sprayed so much of pesticides including DDT and in course of time the whole lake water and the soil became contaminated. DDT is insoluble in water but soluble in fat. Hence, it is stored in the fat tissues. Thus DDT accumulated in the fat of the fish. Fourteen days, two to three times, approximately 500 to 700 gram of fish every time brought so much of DDT and its metabolites in her body and the result is this environmental sickness.

A lady professor, who did research on the impact of DDT, came to our Institute to deliver a lecture. I was out of station on the day. Everybody applauded that the lecture was very good and I also got the copies of her scientific publications. It was about the estrogenic activity of DDT and its metabolites. I read all, it was interesting and her conclusion was that on account of the continuous exposure to DDT, DDE and other organochlorines, the reproductive capacity of the man is strongly reduced and he may not have children. Six months later, she delivered a lecture with seminar organized by the Heidelberg University and I attended that. In the interval I asked her whether she knew India and Malaria Eradication Programme. If her research findings were correct, India’s population should have been dwindling down to 50% by this time. She laughed and she had no answer. She had her data obtained only from white patients. Are white men different from other men in this particular problem?

Most of the mothers prefer to breastfeed their children and breast milk is the healthiest food for the infants. Mothers, who think and know about the environment, are afraid to breastfeed their children. One would be mother met me and wanted help. We had analysed several breast milks and knew the situation. Almost, every breast milk is found to be contaminated with traces or detectable amount of pesticides. In our body fat, the pesticides are stored, if a woman is very slim, she has very less fat in her body. That means all her fat is needed for the production of the milk, accordingly she has more pesticide residue in her mother’s milk. If there is more fat in the body, then only a part is needed for the production of the mother’s milk, correspondingly fewer pesticides in her milk. So it is advisable to increase ten to fifteen kilos that means eating heavily what a modern woman normally does not eat. Only two groups must be careful, the women who have problem with cholesterol and high blood pressure and women who are having high blood sugar. They have to consult their doctor.

Pesticides are sometimes useful, but they are always poisons. We must be careful to save us and our environment…

Unforgettable incidents during my profession: Chloroform…

Modern clinical toxicology deals with a lot about environmental poisons and illness. I have experienced thousands of these problems from my patients. Here I like to inform you a few case studies to show that it can play a vital role in your health. Today, it is about Chloroform as an environmental poison.

A worried wife telephoned me and told that her husband had become an alcoholic. He drank the whole weekend although he never drank so much earlier. Moreover, Monday to Friday he was not at all drinking. I asked her where he was working and told that it would be better her husband talked to me personally. I talked to him over the phone and he came to my institute next day. We took blood sample from him for analysis. We analysed also the oil with which he was working from Monday to Friday. We detected an unknown solvent from his blood as well as from the oil.

When I talked to his Company Doctor he wanted me to drop the whole matter because even his wife was telling that he was an alcoholic. Moreover, the doctor told me,” you say some volatile substances, but as long as you could not say the correct substance, my company has no fault”.

I needed one small additional analytical instrument for that specific purpose and we bought it immediately. The unknown substance was confirmed as chloroform and the whole riddle was cleared. They heated the chloroform 60 degrees Celsius and now and then the worker had to open a small window to control. The worker breathed the vapours eight hours a day, Monday to Friday and these had influenced his central nervous system.

On Saturday morning he could not inhale the vapour but his body needed it. He took the alternative, alcohol to sedate his nerves. The multinational company had problems with the Health Department. These analyses brought me few hundred Euros but the instrument that was bought costed my institute more than 5000 Euros and it shows how difficult it is to deal with for a single person to fight against a multinational company. With the unlimited support from my boss I had the chance to prove this truth.

It was very much interesting to find this organic solvent even in the blood of administrative staffs who were away from the production area.

Chloroform is an anaesthetic agent. Inhalation of chloroform vapours depresses the central nervous system. It is also a carcinogen and higher incidence of birth defect may be possible. It is immediately dangerous to health and life even if 500 ppm is taken. If we breathe for a short time taking about 900 ppm dizziness, fatigue and headache are the symptoms. Liver damage may be caused by chronic chloroform exposure.

Unforgettable incidents during my profession: Permethrin…

Modern clinical toxicology deals with a lot about environmental poisons and illness. I have experienced thousands of these problems from my patients. Here I like to inform you a few case studies to show that it can play a vital role in your health. Today it is about permethrin.

A woman of 50 years came to me with problems connected with her nervous system. In two hour conversation, there was no clue. Finally, I wanted to know about the articles in her house. She did not want to give any information about her bedroom because it was her most private place. After 15 minutes discussion and my threatening to send her away she agreed to talk.

We had found out the exposition very quickly. She had spread white woollen carpet with thousands of frills in her bed room. Normally woollen carpets are soaked in pesticide solution before they were sold. She had that carpet; the contamination took place in her bed room. The equilibrium between the carpet, air and the walls in the room was established for ever. So in her most private place she was getting the exposition. I asked her to remove the carpet and she did not want because she had paid more than € 6000 for that. Finally she had removed it, presented it to her son, her health became better and her son had no problem with that. This show how important our detoxification and free radical scavenging systems are.

This is a very good example to understand how difficult the process of diagnosis is. Further, the poisons will not affect all persons as in the case of flu. If the detoxification system is perfect, you have no problem with most of the poisons. If there are defects in the genes or in the enzymes or if you do not take enough antioxidants along with the food, the problem starts.

The insecticide used in the carpet was permethrin (pyrethrum is a plant product obtained from dried flowers and pyrethroids are manipulated pesticides from pyrethrum with chlorine, bromine, fluorine or nitro compounds). Nature gives us harmless pesticides like pyrethrum and we humans manipulate this and make them good poisons to us.

It was also used by airlines in their planes to kill the insects.

We could estimate the amount of permethrin in her blood and urine. The woollen carpet had high amount of permethrin too.

You must only buy furniture and carpets free from any poisons. If the source is your house then your health has to suffer a lot.