NIOSH Releases New Skin Notation Profiles on 5 Chemicals
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced the availability of new skin notation profiles for 5 chemical substances - atrazine, catechol, chlorinated camphene, pentachlorophenol, and sodium fluoroacetate. This adds to a steadily growing list of profile documents from NIOSH. Here we explore the topic of skin notation profiles, review their purpose and significance, and discuss the most recent additions.
The Skin and Skin Notation Profiles
The skin serves as our body’s natural barrier to a multitude of substances in our environment, including hazardous chemicals. It plays an extremely important role in helping to guard us against the negative health effects that exposure to these substances can cause, both locally and systemically. For this reason, protecting the skin is critically important for maintaining individual health and well-being.
The purpose of skin notations is to designate the need to prevent adverse health effects from skin contamination caused by percutaneous absorption of chemical substances. Relative to this, skin notation profiles are support documents that present related supplemental information and relevant data summaries to help determine potential exposure-related health hazards. These profiles provide the reasoning for skin notation assignment for specific substances. They also feature brief summaries of key toxicological and epidemiological information for these chemicals.
The New Profiles
While the chemical substances corresponding to the new skin notation profiles vary significantly in their composition and chemical properties, the profiles for them share the same fundamental purpose - providing information to help protect workers from the dangers of skin contact with the chemicals.
| # | Substance Name | CAS Number | Chemical Formula | DHHS (NIOSH) Publication Number | Use(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atrazine | 1912-24-9 | C8H14CIN5 | 2019-117 | Herbicide |
| 2 | Catechol | 120-80-9 | C6H4(OH)2 | 2019-118 | Antioxidant in rubber, dye fat, and oil industries; Used in pesticides, pharmaceutical ingredients, and aroma chemicals |
| 3 | Chlorinated Camphene | 8001-35-2 | C10H10Cl8 | 2019-119 | Insecticide (banned for all uses in the United States in 1990) |
| 4 | Pentachlorophenol | 87-86-5 | C6Cl5OH | 2019-120 | Biocode and wood preservative |
| 5 | Sodium Fluoroacetate | 62-74-8 | FCH2COONa | 2019-121 | Predacide |
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
To Learn More
Having an in-depth knowledge of the dangers associated with skin exposure to hazardous chemicals is vitally important for occupational health and safety. To learn more about these chemicals and their dangers, and to access a complete collection of skin notation profiles, contact ToxPlanet and register for a Free Trial.
