Re: Glutaraldehyde, it just keeps coming "Darkroom Disease"

Katharine,
 
8% Glutaraldehyde seems very strong to me... Why did you
have to use it so strong?

Anyway, I did a 0.2 second search on the internet and this
came up on darkroom worker effects of GA toxicity.

I will just cut and paste a few lines.

If anyone wishes to use GLUTARALDEHYDE, I think they
should read the entire site (and more) as it describes a
real and serious problem already under investigation.

What Katharine is suffering may or may not be a result of
acute GLUTARALDEHYDE toxicity, nevertheless, there ARE
people suffering and I think we should acknowledge that
fact and proceed with greater caution... we have been
warned.

For the full site see:
http://www.ncchem.com/snftaas/aldehydes.htm#SYMPTOMS%20ASSOCIATED

"SYMPTOMS ASSOCIATED WITH GLUTARALDEHYDE EXPOSURE /
DARKROOM DISEASE

Glutaraldehyde-sensitised people will have many of the
following symptoms (most common symptoms from top). The
list of symptoms is compiled from...
<several sources... see site for details>

-headache
-sore throat, constant hhumph, catarrh
-voice change or loss (eg loss of upper register singing
mentioned; "my voice goes down" is often the first
indication of an exposure reaction)
-unexpected fatigue/exhaustion (most of us find the energy
to do the things we want to do but with this fatigue you
can
$B!G(Bt. Constantly falling asleep and sleeping for huge
amounts of time is common )
-sore/watery eyes
-mood changes: depression, anxiety, irritability,
personality changes, emotional lability (inappropriate
talking, crying, rapidly changing emotions)
-concentration difficulties, reduced ability to learn new
things, memory loss, (all extremely frustrating in
intelligent people who have held professional positions
and good jobs which they like doing), spaced out feeling
-tinnitus
-blocked nose
-rhinitis
-bad/metallic taste in mouth, mouth ulcers, lip sores,
-chest tightness, shortness of breath, chest pains, asthma

-sinusitis
-nasal discharge, nose bleeds (epistaxis), ulceration of
nasal mucosa
-skin irritation, itchy burning skin, rashes, dermatitis
-aching joints and muscles, uncontrollable twitching,
fibromyalgia
-cross sensitivity to other chemicals
-heart arrythmias, palpitations, Raynaud$B!G(Bs Syndrome
-menstrual irregularities
-gastrointestinal symptoms incuding nausea, diarrhoea,
abdominal pain
-difficulty urinating/prostatitis
-earache, ear infection
-pins and needles or numbness in fingers, toes or limbs
-bruising
-irritant associated vocal chord dysfunction"

In another section:

"Good information is beginning to emerge in this area of
glutaraldehyde damage. Professor Des Gorman states that
research conducted in Adelaide, Australia by the Faculty
of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Auckland,
shows that glutaraldehyde removes the surfactant lining of
cerebral endothelium and hence damages the blood-brain-
barrier. "Any agent that impairs the BBB can cause both
direct and secondary (by allowing the ingress of other
toxins) brain damage. Hence glutaraldehyde is a plausible
cause of neurotoxicity." (Letter to Dr John Monigatti, ACC
Workwise, 8 Aug, 1997)."

Anyway, and in any case, my only point is we need to be
aware and be careful.

What ever it is you have, Katharine, I wish you a complete
recovery. You know, I STILL develop with my fingers in the
soup!

When will I ever learn?

Ray

--- Katharine Thayer <kthayer@pacifier.com> $B$+$i$N%a%C%;(B
$B!<%8!'(B
> Well, heck, I guess I don't mind making myself look
> like an idiot as
> long as it serves the "integrity of data," and now I
> have some new
> information to share.
>
> To recapitulate, a couple of months ago I shared an
> experience that
> seemed to be related to glutaraldehyde exposure.
> Last week I had another
> episode, not related to glutaraldehyde, that while
> different in some of
> its details (I didn't have any memory lapse, for
> example) felt so much
> like the earlier one that I felt that it was likely
> that I'd had a
> similar attack coincidentally with the
> glutaraldehyde, which had
> probably been wrongly attributed to the chemical.
>
> But my doctor, after hearing my descriptions of both
> episodes, said that
> he truly believes that the first attack was due to
> toxic exposure and
> not related to the second attack, even though they
> felt very similar to
> me. He believes, in other words, that I was right
> the first time and
> that I was poisoned by glutaraldehyde. One of the
> clues is that bad
> taste I had in my mouth, and other differences that
> he says point to
> toxic exposure, like that parts of my memory banks
> were temporarily
> erased.
>
> I don't know what you're all going to do with this
> conflicting
> information; as for me and my house we won't be
> using glutaraldehyde
> again regardless.
> Katharine Thayer

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Received on Thu May 27 11:53:00 2004