Toxic Encephalopathy

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Indoor Air Quality Effects on Human
Health Nevada Department of Health and Human
Services Commission on Services for Persons with
Disabilities (CSPD) May 12, 2016 Jack Dwayne
Thrasher, Ph.D. Toxicologist, Fetal-toxicologist,
Immuno-Toxicologist NTEF Technical Director PO
Box 29194, Las Vegas, NV 89126 (702)
490-9677 Email Toxicologist1_at_msn.com Website
www.drthrasher.org
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Overview 1/2

• Environmental Protection Agency
• World Health Organization
• Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)
• Fragrances Air Fresheners
• Common VOC Chemicals in Fragrances, Air
  Fresheners and Cleaning Products
• Are Fragrances Addictive?
• How VOCs Impact Health
• Endocrine System
• Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals

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Overview 2/2

• Top 12 Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals in IAQ
• IAQ and Rise in Thyroid Disease
• Olfactory Pathway to the Brain
• Mold, Mycotoxins MVOCs
• Pesticides
• LEED Buildings

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Environmental Protection Agency 1/2

• Concentrations of VOCs in indoor air are 2 to 5
  times greater than outdoor air (and sometimes far
  greater).
• During certain activities, indoor levels of VOCs
  may reach 100 times that of the outside air.
• Studies have shown that individual VOC emissions
  by themselves are not that high in an indoor
  environment, but the indoor total VOC (TVOC)
  concentrations can be up to five times higher
  than the VOC outdoor levels.
• New buildings especially contribute to the
  highest level of VOC off-gassing in an indoor
  environment because of the abundant new materials
  generating VOC particles at the same time.
• In addition to new buildings, consumer products
  also emit VOCs, increasing total concentration
• In the Winter, IAQ problems are 3-4 times higher
  than summer

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Environmental Protection Agency 2/2
Health effects from indoor air pollution cover
the range of acute and chronic effects, and
include eye, nose, and throat irritation,
respiratory effects, neurotoxicity, kidney and
liver effects, heart functions, allergic and
infectious diseases, developmental effects,
mutagenicity, and carcinogenicity.? Source EPA
Report for Congress on Indoor Air Quality, Volume
II, Assessment and Control of Indoor Air Pollution
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World Health Organization

• Every year, 4.3 million deaths occur from
  exposure to indoor air pollution.1
• Indoor air pollution such as from dampness and
  mould, chemicals and other biological agents is
  a major cause of morbidity and mortality
  worldwide.2
• Indoor exposure to air pollutants causes very
  significant damage to health globally
  especially in developing countries.3
• Clean air is a basic requirement of life. The
  quality of air inside homes, offices, schools,
  day care centres, public buildings, health care
  facilities or other private and public buildings
  where people spend a large part of their life is
  an essential determinant of healthy life and
  peoples well-being.4
• 1World Health Assembly closes, passing
  resolutions on air pollution and epilepsy (May
  26, 2015)
• 2World Health Organization, Guidelines for Indoor
  Air QualityDampness and Mould (2009)
• 3World Health Organization, Guidelines for Indoor
  Air QualitySelected Pollutants (2010)
• 4World Health Organization, Environmental Burden
  of Disease Associated with Inadequate Housing
  (2011)

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Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) 1/4

• Compounds that easily convert to vapors or gases
• Off-gassing, can be odorless
• Evaporates at room temperature
• VOC concentrations in indoor air depend on many
  factors, including
• Amount of VOCs in a product
• Volume air room/building
• Ventilation rate or area
• Outdoor concentrations of VOCs

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Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) 2/4

• Long-term exposures cause damage to
• Liver
• Kidneys
• Central nervous system
• Reproductive system
• Pregnancy
• Cancer
• Declines in serum cholinesterase levels
• Emesis
• Epistaxis

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Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) 3/4

• Short-term exposures cause damage to
• Eye and respiratory tract irritation (worsening
  asthma)
• Headaches
• Dizziness
• Visual disorders
• Fatigue
• Ataxia, loss of coordination
• Allergic skin reactions
• Nausea
• Memory impairment 

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Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) 4/4

• Where VOCs are found
• New building construction, furniture, wall
  treatments 
• Office equipment (photocopiers, printers)
• Cleaning products
• Personal care products
• Pesticides
• Air Fresheners, candles
• Ozone generators (interact with VOCs to form
  other VOCs)

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Fragrances Air Fresheners 1/3

• Under the law, cosmetic products and ingredients,
  with the exception of color additives, are not
  subject to FDA approval before they go on the
  market.
• 95 of synthetic fragrance chemicals are from
  petrochemicals (including aldehydes, benzene
  derivatives and phthalates)
• Petrochemicals are synthetic compounds derived
  from petroleum and natural gas
• Parabens are a commonly used synthetic
  preservatives in many fragrances which can
  interfere with the production and release of
  hormones

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Fragrances Air Fresheners 2/3

• Environmental Working Group
• 75 of chemicals under the term fragrance had
  phthalates which disrupt hormone activity, cause
  reproductive abnormalities, and are linked to
  breast and liver cancers, diabetes and obesity
• Phthalates are a known carcinogen health effects
  may include damage to liver/kidneys, birth
  defects, decreased sperm counts and early breast
  development in girls and boys
• Synthetic Musks not only disrupt hormones, but
  traces have been found in fat tissue, breast
  milk, body fat and umbilical cord blood
• Capable of causing allergies, birth defects,
  cancer and nervous system disorders

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Fragrances Air Fresheners 3/3

• Fragrance is a generic term that has allowed the
  industry to hide chemicals under the umbrella of
  trade secret
• 3,000 chemicals are used and almost all of them
  have not been fully tested for toxicity
• Some of these chemicals are on the EPAs
  hazardous waste list
• Dr. Philip J. Landrigan of the Mount Sinai
  Childrens Environmental Health Center linked
  fetal exposure with autism, ADHD and neurological
  disorders.

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Common VOC Chemicals in Fragrances/Air Fresheners
1/2

• Chemicals in fragrances/personal care items are
  in red.
•  
• FORMALDEHYDE -- Recognized Carcinogen
• Gastrointestinal or Liver Toxicant,
  Immunotoxicant, Neurotoxicant, Reproductive
  Toxicant, Respiratory Toxicant, Skin or Sense
  Organ Toxicant
•  
• ACETALDEHYDE -- Recognized Carcinogen
• Developmental Toxicant, Immunotoxicant, Kidney
  Toxicant, Neurotoxicant, Respiratory Toxicant,
  Skin or Sense Organ Toxicant
• ACETONE  
• Cardiovascular or Blood Toxicant,
  Gastrointestinal or Liver Toxicant, Kidney
  Toxicant, Neurotoxicant, Respiratory Toxicant,
  Skin or Sense Organ Toxicant
• ETHYL ALCOHOL/ETHANOL -- Suspected Carcinogen
• Cardiovascular or Blood Toxicant, Developmental
  Toxicant, Endocrine Toxicant, Gastrointestinal or
  Liver Toxicant, Kidney Toxicant, Neurotoxicant,
  Reproductive Toxicant, Respiratory Toxicant, Skin
  or Sense Organ Toxicant

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Common VOC Chemicals in Fragrances/Air Fresheners
2/2

• Chemicals in fragrances/personal care items are
  in red.
• ETHYL ACETATE
• Neurotoxicant, Respiratory Toxicant, Skin or
  Sense Organ Toxicant 
• d-LIMONENE
• Neurotoxicant, Respiratory Toxicant, Skin or
  Sense Organ Toxicant 
• LINALOOL
• Neurotoxicant, Respiratory Toxicant, Skin or
  Sense Organ Toxicant
• ?-PINENE
• Neurotoxicant, Respiratory Toxicant, Skin or
  Sense Organ Toxicant

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Are Fragrances Addictive?

• Some of the chemicals have narcotic-like
  properties
• Do not produce a traditional narcotic high
• They cause dependency which triggers the need for
  repeated use of the product to avoid the
  discomfort and irritability of withdrawal.
• In a 1991 study by the EPA, benzaldehyde, ethyl
  acetate and linalool were identified as having
  narcotic-like qualities
• Its not only the individual ingredients that are
  of concern, but the complex interaction of all
  ingredients contribute to the highly addictive
  nature of fragrances

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How VOCs Impact Health

• Endocrine System
• Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals
• Olfactory Pathway

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Endocrine System
The endocrine system is made of eight major
glands, each of which secretes different types of
hormones that regulate metabolism, growth and
development, tissue function, sexual function,
reproduction, sleep and mood, among other things.
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Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals (EDC)

• Mimic hormones
• Primarily man made
• Mostly in fragrances, personal care products,
  plastics, toys, non-stick cookware, fire
  retardants and pesticides

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Top 12 Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals

Organophosate pesticides Glycol Ethers -- common
solvents in paints, cleaning products, brake
fluid and cosmetics Mercury Phthalates -- plastic
food containers, childrens toys (some phthalates
are already banned in kids products), plastic
wrap made from PVC (which has the recycling label
3), personal care products, and phthalates under
the general term of fragrance Source
www.ewg.org/research/dirty-dozen-list-endocrine-di
sruptors
BPA1 Dioxin Atrazine Perchlorate Fire
Retardants Lead Arsenic Perfluorinated chemicals
(PFCs) -- non-stick cookware 1http//www.mayoclin
ic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eat
ing/expert-answers/bpa/faq-20058331
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IAQ and Rise in Thyroid Disorders 1/2

• Silent epidemics of our time
• Nearly 1/2 of all women and 1/4 of all men in the
  U.S. will die with evidence of an inflamed
  thyroid
• Increased incidence of thyroid disease can be
  linked to an over-burden of toxins caused by
  pollution through air, water and food (e.g.,
  perchlorate pesticides, phthalates like
  bisphenol-A (BPA), and thyroid-disrupting
  endocrine disruptors, also known as environmental
  estrogens)
• Estimated that 27 million Americans have thyroid
  disease and about 13 million of them are
  undiagnosed1
• Thyroid cancer is on the rise. According to the
  American Cancer Society, around 56,460 new cases
  of thyroid cancer (43,210 in women, and 13,250 in
  men) will be diagnosed in 2012.
• "The chance of being diagnosed with thyroid
  cancer has risen in recent years and is now more
  than twice what it was in 1990.2
• 1Blackwell J. Evaluation and treatment of
  hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. J Am Acad
  Nurse Pract. 2004 Oct 16(10)422-5.
• 2www.cancer.org/cancer/thyroidcancer/detailedguide
  /thyroid-cancer-key-statistics

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IAQ and Rise in Thyroid Disorders 2/2

• 2 common thyroid-disrupting chemicals in everyday
  products
• Benzophenone 2 (BP2), a sunscreen for fragrances
  -- potent thyroid function disruption.
• Absorption rates of BP2 transcutaneously in the
  human are likely to exceed any safe threshold
  values
• BP2 to affect the thyroid and estrogen receptors
  while influencing the systemic regulation of
  these hormones clearly places the system in a
  precarious and hazardous situation with the
  direct introduction into the vascular system
• Phthlates -- fragrance carrier, effects thyroid,
  banned in Europe

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Olfactory Pathway to the Brain
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Mold, Mycotoxins MVOCs

• Most water damage is not properly remediated
• Bleach should NOT be used
• Air fresheners only mask the odor from the mold
• Painting over the mold does not solve the problem
• Mycotoxins (fungal toxins, or biomolecules,
  produced by fungi)
• MVOCs (microbial volatile organic compounds)
• Effects of mold, mycotoxins and MVOCs
• Acute and chronic effects
• Cognitive impairments, memory loss, reduced
  executive functioning
• Systemic, inflammatory process
• Cytotoxic, interferes with RNA and DNA,
  neurotoxic
• Mutagenic and carcinogenic
• Respiratory, nervous system, dermal, vascular,
  digestive, ocular, tremors, depression, nose
  bleeds, sleep disturbances, anxiety, vertigo,
  seizures, reproductive system, immune system

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Pesticides

• Registered by the EPA
• EPA generally has not allowed the use of safe
  in labeling because it has been considered to be
  false or misleading
• Active vs inert ingredients
• Active-disclosed, chemicals used to kill
• Inert-hidden, 50-95 composition, more toxic
  than active
• EPA decided not to mandate the disclosure of
  pesticide inert ingredients that are known to be
  toxic or hazardous to human health. Some 371
  inert ingredients used in pesticide formulations
  have been designated as toxic or hazardous under
  U.S. law 1
• Primarily attacks nerve impulses
• 1www.paleyrothman.com/legal-blog/epa-defends-decis
  ion-not-to-mandate-disclosure-of-inert-ingredients
  -in-pest

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LEED Buildings

• No assurance a building has healthy IAQ
• Certification is primarily for construction -- no
  internal quality controls after building is
  occupied
• Just recently started to look into healthy IAQ
• Buildings can have chemicals that are harmful or
  carcinogenic, including
• Formaldehyde in pressed wood and particle board
  furniture
• Mold and water damage
• Pesticides
• Scent-branding

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Indoor Air QualityEffects on Human Health