[Histonet] Re: Does xylene cause skin cancer?

[Jerry Ricks]

As far as I know Xylene is not a conformed carcinogen.  On the other hand the structure is close to that of Benzene which is a confirmed human carcinogen.  It's an aromatic hydrocarbon, so why take chances.  It makes sense to 1) minimize use. 2) Use fume hoods when possible.  3) Wear PPE--nitrile gloves not latex!




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylene

 

http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/chem_profiles/xylene/health_xyl.html

 

http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/chemicals/chem_profiles/benzene/health_ben.html#_1_6




Jerry Ricks
Research Scientist
University of Washington
Department of Pathology



> Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:33:00 -0500
> From: rsrichmond <@t> gmail.com
> To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> Subject: [Histonet] Re: Does xylene cause skin cancer?
> 
> What's badly needed is a registry of death certificates of
> histotechnologists. The thing I'd want to examine would be the
> prevalence of myeloid leukemia and related diseases - known to be
> elevated in workers exposed to benzene. If such a correlation were
> found, it would mandate eliminating xylene from histology and cytology
> labs, and increasing precautions for handling resinous mounting media.
> 
> The American Medical Association maintains such a registry of American
> physicians (or used to). It was used to establish that exposure to
> ionizing radiation (fluoroscopes and other X-ray equipment) was
> correlated with deaths from myeloid leukemia. Pathologists didn't have
> any particular problems - here I'd wonder about formaldehyde exposure
> and upper airway cancer. Pathologists get more exposure to
> formaldehyde than do histotechnologists.
> 
> Bob Richmond
> Samurai Pathologist
> Knoxville TN
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Histonet mailing list
> Histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet