Toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and methylene diphenyldiisocyanate (MDI) are used in large quantities in the polyurethane foam manufacturing industry. Both substances are mutagenic and at least TDI is carcinogenic to animals, but the occupational hazard with respect to cancer is not known. Cancer incidence and mortality patterns were therefore investigated in a cohort of 4154 workers from nine Swedi...

The electrospinning of gelatin with tunable fiber morphology from round to flat/ribbon was shown, and the detailed studies were conducted to correlate the fiber morphology with electrospinning process parameters and gelatin concentration in electrospinning solution. Particularly, variations in the applied voltage and the concentration of gelatin led to the transition of fiber shape from round t...

Inhalation challenges to isocyanates are conducted in specialized centers to confirm occupational asthma. The pattern of asthmatic reactions due to consecutively increasing daily doses of isocyanates is unknown. We conducted a study involving 24 subjects who had undergone specific inhalation challenges to isocyanates (toluene diisocyanate [TDI], n = 8; hexamethylene diisocyanate [HDI], n = 10; ...

OBJECTIVES The pathogenic basis of respiratory disorders associated with isocyanates are still obscure. One reason for this is the lack of good estimates of human exposure. In this study exposure was estimated by measurement of isocyanate metabolites in biological samples. METHODS In a factory using isocyanate based polyurethane (PUR) glue, isocyanate concentrations in air were measured by li...

The performance of a dry sampler, with an impregnated denuder in series with a glass fibre filter, using di-n-butylamine (DBA) for airborne isocyanates (200ml min(-1)) is investigated and compared with an impinger flask with a glass fibre filter in series (1 l min(-1)). An exposure chamber containing 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI), and 2,4- and 2,6-toluene ...

These studies were conducted to investigate the potential use of a flow cytometric analysis method for the identification and differentiation of chemicals with the capacity to induce irritation, IgE- or T cell-mediated hypersensitivity responses. An initial study investigated the ability of equally sensitizing concentrations (determined by local lymph node assay) of IgE-mediated (Toluene Diisoc...

BACKGROUND The development of occupational asthma is the result of interactions between environmental factors and individual susceptibility. We assessed how our model of chemical-induced asthma is influenced by using different mouse strains. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS On days 1 and 8, male mice of 7 different strains (BALB/c, BP/2, A/J, C57Bl/6, DBA/2, CBA and AKR) were dermally treated w...