A water-extractable toxic compound in vinyl upholstery fabric.

A compound, highly toxic to goldfish, was found to be released from a vinyl (polyvinyl chloride) automotive upholstery fabric when the material was immersed in their water. The compound, a flame retardant used in such material, was identified by specific detector gas chromatography and mass spectrometry as triphenyl phosphate. Fish exposed to the immersed fabric or pure triphenyl phosphate showed neurologic intoxication and extensive histopathologic lesions.

Studies of possible absorption of a flame retardant from treated fabrics worn by rats and humans.

An investigation was made of the possible migration of a flame retardant, tris (2,3-dibromopropyl) phosphate (TBPP), commercially used in childrens sleepwear, to the skin of rats and humans and subsequent absorption. When the pure chemical was applied directly to the shaved skin of a rat, the hydrolysis product, 2,3-dibromopropanol (DBP), appeared in the urine. The 10,000 X g supernatant fraction of rat liver hydrolyzed TBPP to DBP. When TBPP-finished fabrics were worn by a rat, an adult male and a 5-year-old boy for up to 9 days, DBP was not detected in the urine.

A feeding study with the herbicide, Kerb (N-(1, 1 dimethylpropynyl)-3,5-dichlorobenzamide, in the dairy cow.

The herbicide, Kerb ((N-(1,1 dimethylpropynyl)-3,5-dichlorobezamide) was fed to a lactating cow at a concentration of 5 ppm in the ration for four days. Excretion of residues of equivalent herbicide in milk, urine and feces were found to be, respectively, 0.19, 44.38 and 4.46% of the total dose.