A RETURN TO TRICHLOROETHYLENE

Fatal addiction to trichloroethylene.

Trichloroethylene inhalation is a common industrial hazard that involves a risk of addiction. In the present case there was evidence of indulgence of addiction at work but not at home. The medical history suggested permanent paresis of the olfactory nerves in addition to intermittent gastric disturbance. Sudden death, not preceded by severe physical exertion, occurred some 17 hours after the la...

A return to virtue.

T he dominant trend in contemporary medical ethics describes ethical behavior in terms of the principles and rules that must be followed to bring it about, most notably nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, and respect for autonomy. An alternative approach to ethics, virtue ethics, emphasizes not principles and rules, but rather the virtues, or characteristics, whose exercise will bring about e...

Coexposure to mercury increases immunotoxicity of trichloroethylene.

We have shown previously that chronic (32 weeks) exposure to occupationally relevant concentrations of the environmental pollutant trichloroethylene (TCE) induced autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) in autoimmune-prone MRL+/+ mice. In real-life, individuals are never exposed to only one chemical such as TCE. However, very little is known about the effects of chemical mixtures on the immune system. The c...

Myoclonic encephalopathy after exposure to trichloroethylene.

Trichloroethylene is a widely-used industrial solvent that is absorbed through the digestive or respiratory tracts or cutaneously. It has a selective tropism for the cardiovascular and central nervous systems and may cause death due to cardiac arrest or neurological sequelae. We present the case of a 25-yr-old women who was exposed to trichloroethylene in the workplace for 18 months and who dev...

A Return to the Landscape