Effects of solar radiation, air pollution, and artificial blue light on the skin
Roger L. McMullen in Antioxidants and the Skin, 2018
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are generally defined as molecules that are emitted as gases from solids or liquids due to the compound’s low vapor pressure. VOCs are produced from a variety of common household substances including paints, aerosol sprays, cleansers and disinfectants, and solvents. According to a study conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States, the level of VOCs in indoor environments can be two to five times higher than outside.116 While by definition VOCs can be a number of different molecules—even natural compounds, such as odors, that become volatized—the regulatory definition is restricted to compounds that have adverse effects on the environment. Some of the most common and dangerous VOCs, especially for long-term exposure, consist of benzene; carbon tetrachloride; 1,4-dichlorobenzene; methylene chloride; perchloroethylene; tetrachloroethylene; toluene; 1,1,1-trichloroethane; styrene; and xylene.
The Volatilome in Metabolomics
Raquel Cumeras, Xavier Correig in Volatile organic compound analysis in biomedical diagnosis applications, 2018
What are volatile organic compounds (VOCs)? Depending on the application sector or country, a different definition exists. Traditionally, VOCs have been associated with indoor air pollutants adversely impacting people’s health as with the formation of ground level ozone and particulate matter, the main ingredients of smog contamination. Consequently, environmental and atmospheric VOCs have received thorough attention, as several regulations exist (EU CE, 2010; US EPA, 2014). However, a group of World Health Organization experts (WHO, 1989) provided an internationally recognized definition of VOCs. It was specified that VOCs concept could be classified for their boiling points (BP). The lower the BP, the higher the volatility, more likely the compound will be emitted. Therefore, VOCs have a BP range from 50–100ºC to 240–260°C, sampled by adsorption and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) or liquid chromatography (LC). Outside this interval, lower BP is named very volatile organic compounds (VVOC, <0ºC to 50–100°C) but those compounds have such low BP that they are difficult to measure and are found almost entirely as gases. The compounds with higher BP are named semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC, 240–260ºC to 380°C), and finally, compounds with BP > 380°C, are named particulate organic matter (PM).
Environmental Toxins
Gia Merlo, Kathy Berra in Lifestyle Nursing, 2023
Ozone (O3) is a highly reactive gas composed of three oxygen atoms. Ozone occurs naturally in the environment but can also be a man-made product that has adverse effects on human health. Stratospheric ozone occurs naturally and reduces the amount of harmful ultraviolet radiation that reaches the Earth’s surface. Ground level ozone is formed from man-made processes and is able to be inhaled by humans. Ground level ozone is mainly formed from photochemical reactions between two major classes of air pollutants, volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides. Significant sources of VOC in the environment are chemical plants, gasoline pumps, and autobody shops. Nitrogen oxides result primarily from high temperature combustion from sources such as power plants, industrial furnaces and boilers, and motor vehicles (EPA, 2021a).
Hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in rats induced by carbon tetrachloride and the protective effects of Teucrium polium and vitamin C
Published in Toxicology Mechanisms and Methods, 2019
Fatma Rahmouni, Riadh Badraoui, Nahed Amri, Aïda Elleuch, Abdelfattah El-Feki, Tarek Rebai, Mongi Saoudi
CCl4 is degraded by hepatic microsomal P450 isoenzymes through reductive dehalogenation in the endoplasmic reticulum of hepatic cells, resulting in unstable free radicals of trichloromethyl (CCl3) and trichloromethyl peroxyl (CCl3O2) (Andritoiu et al. 2014). CCl4 can also cause kidney damage by the formation of the trichloromethyl radical (CCl3) peroxidation of membrane lipids, and depletion of the antioxidant state and DNA damage (Khan et al. 2010). It is a volatile organic compound (VOC) that has been used as solvent in pharmaceutical, plastic, oil, cleaning, and dry cleaning, paint and semiconductor industries. CCl4 with an estimated life time of roughly 40 years may cause depletion of stratospheric ozone. It should be noted that CCl4 might also result in adverse effects on human health. Photo catalytic decomposition of halogenated organic compounds in aqueous and gaseous phases is of increasing interest and importance. Photoexcitation of TiO2 can generate strongly oxidative (valence band) holes and moderately reductive (conduction band) electrons to initiate the photo catalytic decomposition of CCl4 (Chien et al. 2008).
Intake of New Zealand Blackcurrant Powder Affects Skin-Borne Volatile Organic Compounds in Middle-Aged and Older Adults
Published in Journal of Dietary Supplements, 2022
M. E. T. Willems, M. Todaka, M. Banic, M. D. Cook, Y. Sekine
In humans, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are chemicals that are primarily produced by endogenous biochemical processes. VOCs are emitted via urine, feces, breath, and skin (de Lacy Costello et al. 2014). The chemical classification of the VOCs (e.g., carboxylic acids, alcohols, aldehydes, and ketones) is based on functional groups in their chemical structure, and it allows the analysis of a VOC profile (Baranska et al. 2013). The VOC profile or even the occurrence of a particular VOC can be altered by disease conditions, for example, breath VOCs in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Van Berkel et al. 2010; e.g., isoprene) and Alzheimer’s disease (Mazzatenta et al. 2015) and urine and feces VOCs for colorectal cancer (Bond et al. 2019; Mozdiak et al. 2019). In addition, breath VOCs can reveal the risk for development of a pathophysiological condition (Lacey et al. 2018) and skin VOCs for the presence of body odor (Ishino et al. 2010; Jha 2017). The analysis of breath and skin emissions of VOCs is an emerging research discipline to allow detection of noninvasive biomarkers of internal metabolic processes linked with health and disease.
Examination of xylene exposure in the U.S. Population through biomonitoring: NHANES 2005–2006, 2011–2016
Published in Biomarkers, 2021
Víctor R. De Jesús, Daniel F. Milan, Young M. Yoo, Luyu Zhang, Wanzhe Zhu, Deepak Bhandari, Kevin S. Murnane, Benjamin C. Blount
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are ubiquitous in the environment, originating from many different natural and anthropogenic sources. In the United States, tobacco smoke is the major non-occupational source of exposure to a number of harmful VOCs, including xylene.Regardless of exposure source, high levels of toxic VOCs are an area of significant public health concern. Monitoring urinary metabolites of VOCs provides complimentary data to measuring VOCs in exhaled breath or blood, and a longer time window during which biomarkers are elevated following cessation of exposure to VOCs.
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