Carbon disulfide encephalopathy: cerebral microangiopathy

Maternal residential exposure to solvents from industrial sources during pregnancy and childhood cancer risk in California

BACKGROUND

Maternal solvent exposure has been suspected to increase offspring cancer risk. The study aimed to evaluate the associations between maternal residential exposure to solvents from industrial pollution during pregnancy and childhood cancer.

METHODS

The present study included 15,744 cancer cases (aged 0-19 years at diagnosis) identified from California Cancer Registry and 283,141 controls randomly selected from California Birth Registry (20:1 frequency-matched by birth year: 1998-2016). We examined industrial releases of tetrachloroethylene and 1,1,1-trichloroethane within 3 km of the birth address, while we used a 5 km buffer for carbon disulfide. We calculated the total exposure from all linked Toxic Release Inventory sites during each index pregnancy and assigned "ever/never" and "high/low exposed/unexposed" exposure, using median values. We performed quadratic decay models to estimate cancer risks associated with maternal solvent exposure in pregnancy.

RESULTS

1,1,1-Trichloroethane was associated with rhabdomyosarcoma (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR): 1.96; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.16, 3.32) in the "ever exposed" group. Ever exposure to carbon disulfide was associated with increased risks of medulloblastoma (OR = 1.85, 95% CI 1.01, 3.40) and ependymoma (OR = 1.63, 95% CI 0.97, 2.74).

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, our findings suggested maternal residential exposure to solvents from industrial sources might be associated with elevated childhood cancer risks.

Renal injury following long-term exposure to carbon disulfide: analysis of a case series

Background

To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of renal damage caused by long-term exposure to carbon disulfide (CS2) in nine patients.

Methods

All the patients underwent ultrasound-guided renal biopsy. All specimens were examined by light microscopy and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Samples form one patient were further analyzed using transmission electron microscopy.

Results

Similar pathological changes were observed in all patients, but the degrees of lesions were different. All cases had moderate to severe nodular mesangial hyperplasia; among these, type “Kimme1stie1-Wi1son” (K-W nodule for short) was observed in four cases, type “K - W nodule” refer to nodular hyperplasia of mesangial membrane like letter K or W. four cases had proliferative extracapillary glomerulonephritis (GN), while there were no concomitant changes in one patient. Besides, six cases had diffuse basement membrane thickening, focal segmental sclerosis or bulbar sclerosis; two cases had diffuse glomerular sclerosis, and one case had focal segmental capillary hyperplasia. Moreover, all patients had renal tubular atrophy/interstitial fibrosis with less to moderate chronic inflammatory cell infiltration, as well as renal arteriosclerosis. IHC showed that the depositions of IgA, IgM, C3d, C4d, C1q and Fib were not specific; while IgG, type III collagen, Fibronectin, Amyloid A, Igκ, Igλ, HBsAg and HBcAg were all negative.

Conclusion

Diffuse nodular mesangial hyperplasia/sclerosing glomerular nephropathy is characterized by nodular mesangial hyperplasia with type “K-W nodules” formation, which we speculate is a special pathological manifestation of renal damage caused by carbon disulfide (CS2).

Carbon disulfide exposure estimate and prevalence of chronic diseases after carbon disulfide poisoning-related occupational diseases

Background

In Korea, Carbon disulfide (CS₂) toxicity was an important social problem from the late 1980s to the early 1990s but there have been few large-scale studies examining the prevalence of diseases after CS₂ exposure discontinuance. So we investigated past working exposure to CS₂ characteristics from surviving ex-workers of a rayon manufacturing plant including cumulative CS₂ exposure index. Furthermore, we studied the prevalence of their chronic diseases recently after many years.

Methods

We interviewed 633 ex-workers identified as CS₂ poisoning-related occupational diseases to determine demographic and occupational characteristics and reviewed their medical records. The work environment measurement data from 1992 was used as a reference. Based on the interviews and foreign measurement documents, weights were assigned to the reference concentrations followed by calculation of individual exposure index, the sum of the portion of each time period multiplied by the concentrations of CS₂ during that period.

Results

The cumulative exposure index was 128.2 ppm on average. Workers from the spinning, electrical equipment repair, and motor repair departments were exposed to high concentrations of ≥10 ppm. Workers from the maintenance of the ejector, manufacturing of CS_2, post-process, refining, maintenance and manufacturing of viscose departments were exposed to low concentrations below 10 ppm. The prevalence for hypertension, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, arrhythmia, psychoneurotic disorder, disorders of the nervous system and sensory organ were 69.2%, 13.9%, 24.8%, 24.5%, 1.3%, 65.7%, 72.4% respectively.

Conclusions

We estimated the individual cumulative CS₂ exposure based on interviews and foreign measurement documents, and work environment measurement data. Comparing the work environment measurement data from 1992, these values were similar to them. After identified as CS₂ poisoning, there are subjects over 70 years of average age with disorders of the nervous system and sensory organs, hypertension, psychoneurotic disorder, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and arrhythmia. Because among ex-workers of the rayon manufacturing plant, only 633 survivors recognized as CS₂ poisoning were studied, the others not identified as CS₂ poisoning should also be investigated in the future.

Oxidative Stress Mediated Hippocampal Neuron Apoptosis Participated in Carbon Disulfide-Induced Rats Cognitive Dysfunction

Occupational exposure to carbon disulfide (CS₂) exhibits central nervous systems toxicity. But the mechanism is unclear. The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between the CNS damage and cognitive dysfunction caused by CS₂, and eventually reveal the possible oxidative-related mechanism of hippocampus pathological changes in CS₂ exposed rats. Male Wistar rats were administrated with CS₂ at dosage of 200, 400 and 600 mg/kg for consecutive 20 days, respectively. Cognitive performances were evaluated by Morris water maze tests. Thionin and immunohistochemical analysis were used to investigate the hippocampal neuron damage, and the expression of apoptosis related proteins (cleaved-caspase 3, Bax and Bcl-2) were detected to explore the possible mechanisms of neuronal loss. Oxidative stress parameters were checked by commercial assay kits. Rats exposed to CS₂ displayed cognitive dysfunction manifested as decreased spatial learning ability and memory lesion. Pathological changes and significant neuron loss were observed in hippocampus, especially in CA1 and CA3 sub-regions. Mitochondria-dependent apoptosis pathway was implicated in the CS₂-induced neuronal loss which was demonstrated by the up-regulation of cleaved-caspase 3 and Bax accompanied with down-regulation of Bcl-2. Furthermore, extensive oxidative stress induced by CS₂ was also revealed by the measurement of ROS, RNS, MDA, GSH&GSSG and antioxidant enzymes (CAT, T-SOD, and GSH-Px). Our study suggested that oxidative stress mediated hippocampal neuron apoptosis might play an important role in CS₂ induced CNS damage and cognitive dysfunction.

Reaction-Driven Self-Assembled Micellar Nanoprobes for Ratiometric Fluorescence Detection of CS2 with High Selectivity and Sensitivity

The detection of highly toxic CS2, which is known as a notorious occupational hazard in various industrial processes, is important from both environmental and public safety perspectives. We describe here a robust type of chemical-reaction-based supramolecular fluorescent nanoprobes for ratiometric determination of CS2 with high selectivity and sensitivity in water medium. The micellar nanoprobes self-assemble from amphiphilic pyrene-modified hyperbranched polyethylenimine (Py-HPEI) polymers with intense pyrene excimer emission. Selective sensing is based on a CS2-specific reaction with hydrophilic amino groups to produce hydrophobic dithiocarbamate moieties, which can strongly quench the pyrene excimer emission via a known photoinduced electron transfer (PET) mechanism. Therefore, the developed micellar nanoprobes are free of the H2S interference problem often encountered in the widely used colorimetric assays and proved to show high selectivity over many potentially competing chemical species. Importantly, the developed approach is capable of CS2 sensing even in complex tap and river water samples. In addition, in view of the modular design principle of these powerful micellar nanoprobes, the sensing strategy used here is expected to be applicable to the development of various sensory systems for other environmentally important guest species.

Occupation and the risk of chronic toxic leukoencephalopathy

Among the hundreds of environmental insults capable of inducing nervous system injury, a small number can produce clinically significant damage to the brain white matter. The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in affected individuals has greatly illuminated this previously obscure area of neurotoxicology. Toxic leukoencephalopathy has acute and chronic forms, in both of which cognitive dysfunction is the major clinical manifestation. Chronic toxic leukoencephalopathy (CTL) has been most thoroughly described in individuals with intense and prolonged exposure to leukotoxins, but the consequences of lesser degrees of exposure are not well understood. Rare cases of CTL have been reported in workers exposed to culpable leukotoxins, but study of this syndrome is hindered by many confounds such as uncertain level of toxin exposure, the presence of multiple toxins, vague dose-response relationship, comorbid medical or neurologic disorders, psychiatric illness, and legal issues. The risk of CTL in workers is low, although it is not possible to determine quantitative risk estimates. More knowledge can be expected with the application of advanced MRI techniques to the assessment of workers who may have been exposed to known or potential leukotoxins. Preventive measures for avoiding workplace CTL will be informed by clinical assessment involving the use of advanced neuroimaging and neuropsychologic evaluation in combination with accurate measurement of leukotoxin exposure.

Simple and Excellent Selective Chemiluminescence-Based CS2 On-Line Detection System for Rapid Analysis of Sulfur-Containing Compounds in Complex Samples

To study the interesting chemical reaction phenomenon can greatly contribute to the development of an innovative analytical method. In this paper, a simple CL reaction cell was constructed to study the chemiluminescence (CL) emission from the thermal oxidation of carbon disulfide (CS2). We found that the CL detection of CS2 exhibits unique characteristics of excellent selectivity and rapid response capacity. Experimental investigations together with theoretical calculation were performed to study the mechanism behind the CL reaction. The results revealed that the main luminous intermediates generated during the thermal degradation of CS2 are SO2* and CO2*. Significantly, this CL emission phenomenon has a wide application due to many sulfur-containing compounds that can convert to CS2 under special conditions. On the basis of this scheme, a CS2-generating and detection system was developed for rapid measurement of CS2 or other compounds that can convert to CS2. The usefulness of the system was demonstrated by measuring dithiocarbamate (DTC) pesticides (selected mancozeb as a representative analyte) based on the evolution of CS2 in spiked agricultural products. Results showed that the system allows online and large volume detection of CS2 under nonequilibrium condition, which greatly reduces the analytical time. The concentrations of mancozeb in the spiked samples were well-quantified with satisfied recoveries of 76.9-97.3%. The system not only addresses the urgent need for rapid in-field screening of DTC residues in foodstuffs but also opens a new opportunity for the fast, convenient, and cost-effective detection of CS2 and some other sulfur-containing compounds in complex samples.

Quantitative mapping of trimethyltin injury in the rat brain using magnetic resonance histology

The growing exposure to chemicals in our environment and the increasing concern over their impact on health have elevated the need for new methods for surveying the detrimental effects of these compounds. Today's gold standard for assessing the effects of toxicants on the brain is based on hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)-stained histology, sometimes accompanied by special stains or immunohistochemistry for neural processes and myelin. This approach is time-consuming and is usually limited to a fraction of the total brain volume. We demonstrate that magnetic resonance histology (MRH) can be used for quantitatively assessing the effects of central nervous system toxicants in rat models. We show that subtle and sparse changes to brain structure can be detected using magnetic resonance histology, and correspond to some of the locations in which lesions are found by traditional pathological examination. We report for the first time diffusion tensor image-based detection of changes in white matter regions, including fimbria and corpus callosum, in the brains of rats exposed to 8 mg/kg and 12 mg/kg trimethyltin. Besides detecting brain-wide changes, magnetic resonance histology provides a quantitative assessment of dose-dependent effects. These effects can be found in different magnetic resonance contrast mechanisms, providing multivariate biomarkers for the same spatial location. In this study, deformation-based morphometry detected areas where previous studies have detected cell loss, while voxel-wise analyses of diffusion tensor parameters revealed microstructural changes due to such things as cellular swelling, apoptosis, and inflammation. Magnetic resonance histology brings a valuable addition to pathology with the ability to generate brain-wide quantitative parametric maps for markers of toxic insults in the rodent brain.

Occupational neurotoxic diseases in taiwan

Occupational neurotoxic diseases have become increasingly common in Taiwan due to industrialization. Over the past 40 years, Taiwan has transformed from an agricultural society to an industrial society. The most common neurotoxic diseases also changed from organophosphate poisoning to heavy metal intoxication, and then to organic solvent and semiconductor agent poisoning. The nervous system is particularly vulnerable to toxic agents because of its high metabolic rate. Neurological manifestations may be transient or permanent, and may range from cognitive dysfunction, cerebellar ataxia, Parkinsonism, sensorimotor neuropathy and autonomic dysfunction to neuromuscular junction disorders. This study attempts to provide a review of the major outbreaks of occupational neurotoxins from 1968 to 2012. A total of 16 occupational neurotoxins, including organophosphates, toxic gases, heavy metals, organic solvents, and other toxic chemicals, were reviewed. Peer-reviewed articles related to the electrophysiology, neuroimaging, treatment and long-term follow up of these neurotoxic diseases were also obtained. The heavy metals involved consisted of lead, manganese, organic tin, mercury, arsenic, and thallium. The organic solvents included n-hexane, toluene, mixed solvents and carbon disulfide. Toxic gases such as carbon monoxide, and hydrogen sulfide were also included, along with toxic chemicals including polychlorinated biphenyls, tetramethylammonium hydroxide, organophosphates, and dimethylamine borane. In addition we attempted to correlate these events to the timeline of industrial development in Taiwan. By researching this topic, the hope is that it may help other developing countries to improve industrial hygiene and promote occupational safety and health care during the process of industrialization.

Toxic encephalopathy

This article schematically reviews the clinical features, diagnostic approaches to, and toxicological implications of toxic encephalopathy. The review will focus on the most significant occupational causes of toxic encephalopathy. Chronic toxic encephalopathy, cerebellar syndrome, parkinsonism, and vascular encephalopathy are commonly encountered clinical syndromes of toxic encephalopathy. Few neurotoxins cause patients to present with pathognomonic neurological syndromes. The symptoms and signs of toxic encephalopathy may be mimicked by many psychiatric, metabolic, inflammatory, neoplastic, and degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Thus, the importance of good history-taking that considers exposure and a comprehensive neurological examination cannot be overemphasized in the diagnosis of toxic encephalopathy. Neuropsychological testing and neuroimaging typically play ancillary roles. The recognition of toxic encephalopathy is important because the correct diagnosis of occupational disease can prevent others (e.g., workers at the same worksite) from further harm by reducing their exposure to the toxin, and also often provides some indication of prognosis. Physicians must therefore be aware of the typical signs and symptoms of toxic encephalopathy, and close collaborations between neurologists and occupational physicians are needed to determine whether neurological disorders are related to occupational neurotoxin exposure.

Occupational neurologic disorders in Korea

This article presents a schematic review of the clinical manifestations of occupational neurologic disorders in Korea and discusses the toxicologic implications of these conditions. Vascular encephalopathy, parkinsonism, chronic toxic encephalopathy, cerebellar dysfunction, peripheral neuropathy, and neurodegenerative diseases are common presentations of occupational neurotoxic syndromes in Korea. Few neurotoxins cause patients to present with pathognomic neurologic syndrome. Detailed neurologic examinations and categorization of the clinical manifestations of neurologic disorders will improve the clinical management of occupational neurologic diseases. Physicians must be aware of the typical signs and symptoms of possible exposure to neurotoxins, and they should also pay attention to less-typical, rather-vague symptoms and signs in workers because the toxicologic characteristics of occupational neurologic diseases in Korea have changed from typical patterns to less-typical or equivocal patterns. This shift is likely to be due to several years of low-dose exposure, perhaps combined with the effects of aging, and new types of possibly toxicant-related neurodegenerative diseases. Close collaboration between neurologists and occupational physicians is needed to determine whether neurologic disorders are work-related.