Order 1379296: Illnesses linked to toxic chemicals

Methylene dichloride (also known as dichloromethane) is a germinal organic compound with the formula CH₂Cl₂. It’s used as an inhalation anesthetic and acts as a narcotic in high concentrations. It is a colorless liquid, but volatile with a moderate sweet scent in which used as a solvent. Although it is not mixable with water, but mixable with many other solvent.

Trichloroethylene is a halocarbon commonly used as an industrial solvent. Prolonged exposure to high concentrations of trichloroethylene can lead to cardiotoxicity and neurological impairment. Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) chemicals are used as a solvent to remove grease from metal parts, as well it is use by dry cleaners to remove spots on clothing and also is found in cleaning products that people buy for cleaning in the home and maintenance of the car. Since trichloroethylene can be exposed to people by inhaling air, drinking water, and or the soil. Trichloroethylene breaks down slowly in which causes it to be in the environment for a long time.

This company was also a chronic polluter. For decades, it dumped arsenic, chromium, lead and other hazardous chemicals, contaminating soil and groundwater. Ultimately, the pollution was so prevalent that the E.P.A. declared the property a Superfund cleanup site. Arsenic has a similar electronegativity and ionization energies to its lighter congener phosphorus and as such readily forms covalent molecules with most of the nonmetals.

According to Ms. Hamnett and her colleagues, the results of multiple studies were “compelling enough to establish an apparent link to cardiovascular disease in adults. They concluded in a report in 2006 that there was “stronger evidence for a relationship between lead exposure and blood pressure for adults,” After more than a decade of research, the agency had concluded in January that methylene chloride was so hazardous that its use in paint removers should be banned. Extensive arsenic contamination of groundwater has led to widespread arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh and neighboring countries. It is estimated that approximately 57 million people in the Bengal basin are drinking groundwater with arsenic concentrations elevated above the World Health Organization's standard. However, a study of cancer rates in Taiwan with these issues.