Vinyl Chloride Cancer Mechanism

Brain cancer lung cancer and some cancers of the blood also may be connected with breathing vinyl chloride over long periods.

Vinyl chloride cancer mechanism.

There is strong evidence from both human and animal studies that vinyl chloride causes cancer via a genotoxic mechanism. Vinyl chloride is an organochloride flammable gas with a sickly sweet odor which is a colorless at ambient temperature. Discovered in 1835 it is used as an intermediate in the production of polyvinyl chloride pvc which is molded into pvc piping and bottles. Dalpiaz in drug induced liver disease third edition 2013.

About 13 billion kilograms are produced annually. It also has other toxic effects on the liver and it has recently been suggested that exposure to vinyl chloride also causes. 3 acute inhalation exposure to vinyl chloride can cause dizziness nausea headache fatigue visual and hearing disturbances sleep disturbances unconsciousness and in high concentrations death. Vinyl chloride monomer is a known cause of angiosarcoma of the liver.

Vinyl chloride was considered by previous iarc working groups in 1974 1978 1987 and 2007 iarc 1974 1979 1987 2008. In the 1970s epidemiologists found that workers in factories using vinyl chloride the key ingredient for pvc plastics had unusually high rates of a rare form of liver cancer called angiosarcoma. Since that time new data have become available which have been incorporated in this monograph and taken into consideration in the present evaluation. Vinyl chloride is used primarily to make pvc a substance used in products such as pipes.

Vinyl chloride is an organochloride with the formula h 2 c chcl that is also called vinyl chloride monomer vcm or chloroethene this colorless compound is an important industrial chemical chiefly used to produce the polymer polyvinyl chloride pvc. Studies of long term exposure in animals showed that cancer of the liver and mammary gland may increase at very low levels of vinyl chloride in the air 50 ppm.