Weight of the evidence on the human carcinogenicity of 2,4-D.

The phenoxy herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) is widely used to control the growth of weeds and broadleaf plants. We convened a panel of 13 scientists to weigh the evidence on the human carcinogenicity of 2,4-D. The panel based its findings on a review of the toxicological and epidemiological literature on 2,4-D and related phenoxy herbicides. The toxicological data do not provide a strong basis for predicting that 2,4-D is a human carcinogen. Although a cause-effect relationship is far from being established, the epidemiological evidence for an association between exposure to 2,4-D and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is suggestive and requires further investigation. There is little evidence of an association between use of 2,4-D and soft-tissue sarcoma or Hodgkin's disease, and no evidence of an association between 2,4-D use and any other form of cancer. Scientists on the panel were asked to categorize 2,4-D as a "known," "probable," "possible," or "unlikely" carcinogen or as a noncarcinogen in humans. The predominant opinion among the panel members was that the weight of the evidence indicates that it is possible that exposure to 2,4-D can cause cancer in humans, although not all of the panelists believed the possibility was equally likely: one thought the possibility was strong, leaning toward probable, and five thought the possibility was remote, leaning toward unlikely. Two panelists believed it unlikely that 2,4-D can cause cancer in humans.

Acute toxicology of components of vegetation smoke.

Only in recent times, systematic attention has been paid to the occupational health of forest firefighters and workers who manage prescribed fire. Two parts of the effort to learn the impact on worker health are medical observation of those workers, and study of occupational hygiene. It is also necessary to learn what components of smoke are most likely to affect firefighters, and to learn something of the manner in which those substances might compromise health; this review is a step toward that end. The number of possible products of vegetation combustion is almost limitless, and every fuel and condition of burning produces a unique pattern. Nonetheless, it is possible and practical to select a limited number of products that are most likely to be involved in the acute toxicity of smoke. Two products that are almost certainly important are formaldehyde and acrolein. Both appear to occur in all smoke. The toxicology of both is well studied; in particular both are powerful mucosal irritants. Estimates of exposure suggest strongly that concentrations are high enough in smoke to contribute some or all of the irritant activity. There seems to be a reasonable prospect that free radical precursors with half-lives in the tens of minutes are produced when cellulosic materials burn. If so, they will reach the respiratory tract, and liberate free radicals that react immediately on or in pulmonary cells. Ozone is not produced in the fire, but the various hydrocarbons of smoke are substrates for reactions that eventually produce ozone, and that production may continue for miles down-plume. Some measured plume concentrations approach the threshold for human health effects. The effects of the best known component, the particulate material, are unknown in isolation from all of the other substances in smoke. In spite of that ignorance, particulate loading is the principal index of smoke pollution for regulatory purposes, and sometimes is incorrectly used to represent smoke emissions regardless of source. The need to understand health impacts of these components of smoke seems obvious. Perhaps less obvious is the need to use such knowledge in management of both prescribed burning and wildfire. To some extent, it is possible to either manage fire itself to alter emission patterns, or control exposures in certain situations. Whether that should be done to protect worker health can only be judged if enough is known about health effects to direct the management decisions.

Isolation and measurement of 15N2 from respiratory gases of animals administered 15N-labeled substances.

A method is described for collection of metabolic 15N2 from in vitro preparations or intact rats administered 15N-containing compounds. The methods enables routine collection and mass spectrometric measurement of as little as 10 mumol 15N2 respired by a rat over a 24-h period. A device is described that includes either an animal chamber or a tissue reaction vessel in a closed recycling atmosphere, with automatic O2 replenishment and removal of CO2 and water. It is capable of sustaining moderate vacuum and is coupled to a high-vacuum manifold designed to process the contained atmosphere and respiratory gases. The starting atmosphere is an 80:20 mix of sulfur hexafluoride and O2. Recovery of 15N2 gas from the system without an animal present was 101.3 +/- 5.75%. When 15N2 gas was very slowly infused iv into an animal, recovery was 89.1 +/- 5.38%. Use of the method in studies of the fate of [15N]hydrazine in rats indicated that about 15% of the administered hydrazine is rapidly converted to 15N2, followed by slower conversion of an additional 7-10% over the next several hours.

Metabolic fate of hydrazine.

Studies of the disposition of hydrazine administered to mammals have not succeeded in accounting for more than a modest fraction of the dose, nor have the excretory products been completely identified. We have utilized 15N-labeled hydrazine and conventional methods to account for about 75% of single doses of about 0.5 LD50 (1 mmol/kg). In 48 h, about 30% appeared in urine as hydrazine and about 20% emerged as a derivative that is acid-hydrolyzable to hydrazine. About 25% was converted to N2 gas, most of which appeared less than 30 min after administration. The percentage converted to N2 at 4 h increased only slightly with dose between 0.5 and 2.0 mmol/kg. Disappearance of hydrazine from blood was biphasic with half-times of 0.74 and 26.9 h.