Biomaterial Database

Occupational and environmental health hazards in the plastics industry. 1976

R E Eckardt

A brief description of the potential occupational health hazards encountered in the manufacture of plastics (polymers) is given. In general, these hazards are due to the monomers used to make the various plastics, to unreacted monomer contained within the finished products, and to the fillers, stabilizers, pigments, inhibitors, and initiators used in fabricating the finished products. They run the gamut from angiosarcomas of the liver due to vinyl chloride, to dermatitis and asthma-like reactions due to the initiators used with epoxy resins.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008113	Liver Neoplasms	Tumors or cancer of the LIVER.	Cancer of Liver,Hepatic Cancer,Liver Cancer,Cancer of the Liver,Cancer, Hepatocellular,Hepatic Neoplasms,Hepatocellular Cancer,Neoplasms, Hepatic,Neoplasms, Liver,Cancer, Hepatic,Cancer, Liver,Cancers, Hepatic,Cancers, Hepatocellular,Cancers, Liver,Hepatic Cancers,Hepatic Neoplasm,Hepatocellular Cancers,Liver Cancers,Liver Neoplasm,Neoplasm, Hepatic,Neoplasm, Liver
D009783	Dermatitis, Occupational	A recurrent contact dermatitis caused by substances found in the work place.	Occupational Dermatitis,Dermatosis, Industrial,Industrial Dermatosis,Dermatitides, Occupational,Dermatoses, Industrial,Industrial Dermatoses,Occupational Dermatitides
D009784	Occupational Diseases	Diseases caused by factors involved in one's employment.	Diseases, Occupational,Occupational Illnesses,Disease, Occupational,Illnesse, Occupational,Illnesses, Occupational,Occupational Disease,Occupational Illnesse
D010968	Plasticizers	Materials incorporated mechanically in plastics (usually PVC) to increase flexibility, workability or distensibility; due to the non-chemical inclusion, plasticizers leach out from the plastic and are found in body fluids and the general environment.	Plasticizer
D010969	Plastics	Polymeric materials (usually organic) of large molecular weight which can be shaped by flow. Plastic usually refers to the final product with fillers, plasticizers, pigments, and stabilizers included (versus the resin, the homogeneous polymeric starting material). (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)	Plastic
D012140	Respiratory Tract Diseases	Diseases involving the RESPIRATORY SYSTEM.	Respiratory Diseases,Respiratory System Diseases,Disease, Respiratory System,Disease, Respiratory Tract,Respiratory System Disease,Respiratory Tract Disease
D002482	Cellulose	A polysaccharide with glucose units linked as in CELLOBIOSE. It is the chief constituent of plant fibers, cotton being the purest natural form of the substance. As a raw material, it forms the basis for many derivatives used in chromatography, ion exchange materials, explosives manufacturing, and pharmaceutical preparations.	Alphacel,Avicel,Heweten,Polyanhydroglucuronic Acid,Rayophane,Sulfite Cellulose,alpha-Cellulose,Acid, Polyanhydroglucuronic,alpha Cellulose
D002617	Chemical Industry	The aggregate enterprise of manufacturing and technically producing chemicals. (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)	Industry, Chemical,Chemical Industries,Industries, Chemical
D004781	Environmental Exposure	The exposure to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents in the environment or to environmental factors that may include ionizing radiation, pathogenic organisms, or toxic chemicals.	Exposure, Environmental,Environmental Exposures,Exposures, Environmental
D006394	Hemangiosarcoma	A rare malignant neoplasm characterized by rapidly proliferating, extensively infiltrating, anaplastic cells derived from blood vessels and lining irregular blood-filled or lumpy spaces. (Stedman, 25th ed)	Angiosarcoma,Angiosarcomas,Hemangiosarcomas