Ethylene Glycol Toxicity in the Setting of Recurrent Ingestion: A Case Report and Literature Review

Improving the Performance of Si/PEDOT:PSS Hybrid Solar Cells with More Economical and Environmentally Friendly Alcohol Ether Solvents

The photoelectric characteristics of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) films significantly affect the power conversion efficiency and stability of Si/PEDOT:PSS hybrid solar cells. In this paper, we investigated PEDOT:PSS modification with alcohol ether solvents (dipropylene glycol methyl ether (DPM) and propylene glycol phenyl ether (PPH)). The reduction of PSS content and the transformation of the PEDOT chain from benzene to a quinone structure in PEDOT:PSS induced by doping with DPM or PPH are the reasons for the improved conductivity of PEDOT:PSS films. DPM and PPH doping improves the quality of silicon with the PEDOT:PSS heterojunction and silicon surface passivation, thereby reducing the surface recombination of charge carriers, which improves the photovoltaic performance of Si/PEDOT:PSS solar cells. Comparing the power conversion performance (PCE) and air stability of Si/PEDOT:PSS solar cells with DPM (13.24%), DPH (13.51%), ethylene glycol (EG, 13.07%), and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, 12.62%), it is suggested that doping with DPM and DPH can replace DMSO and EG to enhance the performance of Si/PEDOT:PSS solar cells. The EG and DMSO solvents not only have a certain toxicity to the human body but also are not environmentally friendly. In comparison to DMSO and EG, DPM and DPH are more economical and environmentally friendly, helping to reduce the manufacturing cost of Si/PEDOT:PSS solar cells and making them more conducive to their commercial applications.

Data on the relationship between acetone, ethylene glycol, isopropanol, methanol, and propylene glycol serum/plasma concentrations and osmolal gaps in patients at an academic medical center

Ingestion of toxic alcohols other than ethanol (ethylene glycol, methanol, isopropanol, and propylene glycol) can cause life-threatening complications including altered level of consciousness, respiratory depression, and organ damage from metabolites. Many hospitals lack the ability to specifically analyze these compounds using gas chromatography, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, or by enzymatic assays for ethylene glycol. Consequently, the presence of these compounds in blood is often ascertained indirectly by laboratory testing for acid-base status, osmolal gap, and anion gap. In the related research article, we analyzed 260 samples originating from 158 unique patients that had osmolal gap and specific testing for toxic alcohols performed on serum/plasma at an academic medical center central clinical laboratory. The data in this article provide the patient demographic, osmolal gap (and associated laboratory tests needed for this calculation), ethanol concentration by enzymatic assay, specific testing for toxic alcohols (ethylene glycol, isopropanol, methanol, propylene glycol) and acetone, anion gap, clinical history, antidotal treatment, and estimated timing of ingestion. The analyzed data is provided in the supplementary tables included in this article. Bias plots of osmolal gap estimations are included in a figure. The dataset reported is related to the research article entitled "Correlation of Osmolal Gap with Measured Concentrations of Acetone, Ethylene Glycol, Isopropanol, Methanol, and Propylene Glycol in Patients at an Academic Medical Center" [1].

Correlation of osmolal gap with measured concentrations of acetone, ethylene glycol, isopropanol, methanol, and propylene glycol in patients at an academic medical center

The ingestion of toxic alcohols including methanol, ethylene glycol, and isopropanol remains a significant public health problem. These compounds can cause central nervous system depression and, for methanol and ethylene glycol, organ damage from toxic metabolites. The presence of these compounds in serum/plasma can often be determined and monitored by measuring the osmolal gap (OG). However, other compounds originating from endogenous or exogenous sources, such as propylene glycol and acetone, can also increase the OG. Conversion factors can be used to estimate specific concentrations of acetone and toxic alcohols from OG. In this retrospective study, data were analyzed for 260 samples originating from 158 unique patients that had determination of both OG and concentrations for toxic alcohols at an academic medical center central laboratory. Specific analysis included gas chromatography (acetone, isopropanol, methanol, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol) and/or enzymatic assay (ethylene glycol). Many samples also contained ethanol. The data was grouped by type of ingestion. The present study analyzed the relationship between the OG calculated from measured plasma/serum osmolality and the OG estimated by applying conversion factors to measured concentrations of the different compounds. The correlations tend to be linear and vary by compound, with methanol and ethylene glycol having the highest R2 values of 0.93 and 0.95, respectively, consistent with other published studies. Higher variability was seen for the data for isopropanol and acetone. For each of the data subsets, the estimated toxic alcohol concentration calculated using conversion factors from OG tends to overestimate the actual concentration of the compound. Overall, the present study demonstrates the generally linear relationship between OG determined by osmolality and the OG estimated using measured concentrations of acetone and toxic alcohols.