Health effects of acrylonitrile in acrylic fibre factories

The relationship between the degree of exposure and biological effects of acrylonitrile (AN) was studied in 102 workers whose exposure period exceeded five years, and in 62 matched controls, all of whom had been randomly sampled from six acrylic fibre factories in Japan. The six factories were classified into three groups on the basis of AN concentration at workplaces. The most highly exposed group of subjects showed an eight-hour average AN concentration of 4-2 ppm by personal sampling, a mean urinary AN concentration of 360 microgram/1 and a mean urinary thiocyanate concentration of 11-4 mg/1. Medical examination, including the indocyanine green excretion test and multiple clinical chemistry determinations, failed to detect any health effect attributable to AN. Slight liver damage may possibly occur in more highly exposed workers. Urinary AN and thiocyanate determinations may provide more accurate estimates of low-grade exposure (less than 5 ppm).

Acute combined effects of HCN and CO, with the use of combustion products from PAN (polyacrylonitrile)--gauze mistures

The combustion product from gauze-PAN (Polyacrylonitrile) micture was used as a material for the evaluation of the combined effects of CO and HCN. Rats and mice were exposed for 30 min. to the combustion products. In mice experiments, the time at which animals turned laterally and were killed, was measured. In experiments with rats, blood COHb and cyanide determinations were made, in addition to the observation of the behavior. Exposure room gas concentrations (O2, CO2, CO, HCN) were determined and temperature in the combustion room was measured during heating. Preliminary experiments with PAN, ranging from 2g to 10g, on mice showed that HCN is responsible for the toxicity of the combustion products from this fiber. In mixture experiments all animals died during exposure. In experiments with mice (8g of total weight of mixed sample), animals in groups with larger proportion of PAN turned over and died earlier and this was explained by higher HCN concentration. In rats experiments (10g), this held true for severe impairment, however, as to the death time, this was not the case. There was a long interval between severe impairment and death in groups with larger proportion of PAN. The larger amount of HCN was produced as temperature rises. A linear relation between COHb concentration and CT (concentration-time) product was shown. There was not a linear relation between blood COHb and cyanide levels. Judging from the blood analyses data, it seemed probable that there is neither an additive nor a synergistic action between CO and HCN with respect to lethal effects.