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Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

121–130 of 165 posts

Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity

#121
post #3

Benzene is everywhere, particularly in trace amounts in otherwise harmless products. Benzene is a building block for the production of many chemicals, including plastics, synthetic fibers, rubber, resins, dyes and pharmaceuticals, and residual amounts may remain in the final products. Benzene is used as a solvent and cleaning agent in printing, paint manufacturing, electronics, etc. Benzene contributes to the overall…

Things i wish i knew before buying a fixer upper car is all the chemicals involved. Just one sniff of the brake cleaner and the rest of the day is gone. Probably some IQ ponis down the drain too. Should've just bought a tesla and be done with it...

Just use the non chorinated stuff, way less harsh.

Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity

#122
post #96
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My father used to change the car oil on the lawn rather than the driveway. He would do this less than 100 ft from the well that supplied our drinking water. At some point he stopped but it certainly lasted through multiple vehicles.

That well is probably contaminated still. Bought a new house in a semi-rural area, had only ever been farms, zero petrol stations ever existed within at least a 4-mile radius, and mostly downhill. Yet the water test found MTBE [0], Methyl tert-butyl ether, a gasoline additive. Had to maintain and replace an activated carbon filter in the water system ever since. The only possibility is some farmer decades ago dumping…

How deep are your wells there? It seems difficult for serious contamination to happen where I live outside of an poorly maintained well letting surface water down.

Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity

#123
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's because it's a terribly designed study. Their lowest dose shows maximum effect, they should have also tested 0.1 mg/kg. And 1mg/kg of body weight is way more than any person would be exposed to unless you like drinking gasoline.

If you read carefully through the study, the lowest dose does not show anything close to maximum effect in several of the most interesting metrics they were testing (shrinking of white adipose tissue cells, serum levels of leptin indicating endocrine dysfunction). Basically they tested a ton of stuff, and actually selected a pretty good range to get a decent picture. If they wanted to zoom on on one of these, then ma…

Yes but "the dose makes the poison". Unless you're showing direct cumulative, irreparable damage, then it is not possible to extrapolate by poisoning something with a large amount of chemical that the small amount is just as bad.

Pure water - i.e. Milli-Q ultrapure water - is in fact a toxin in moderate quantities due to osmotic effects.

Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity

#124
post #65
post #21

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All of these studies come to the very obvious conclusion that a good hood fan, that vents outdoors, isn’t optional. The scary numbers, as in this study, come from not using a hood fan, with “good hood fan” numbers being somewhat negligible. I think a good middle ground (since you can’t ask everyone to rewire their homes for electric) would be some sponsored program to install heat detecting hood fan switch, so they c…

I looked at a brand new house last year with a big gas stove, and it had a big extraction fan over it. I asked where it vented to. “Oh it’s just a carbon filter and recirculates the air”. I couldn’t believe it.

Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity

#125
post #124
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of these studies come to the very obvious conclusion that a good hood fan, that vents outdoors, isn’t optional. The scary numbers, as in this study, come from not using a hood fan, with “good hood fan” numbers being somewhat negligible. I think a good middle ground (since you can’t ask everyone to rewire their homes for electric) would be some sponsored program to install heat detecting hood fan switch, so they c…

I looked at a brand new house last year with a big gas stove, and it had a big extraction fan over it. I asked where it vented to. “Oh it’s just a carbon filter and recirculates the air”. I couldn’t believe it.

That's not legal, in my county.

Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity

#126

When I was taking organic chemistry my (mid-to-late 60s at the time in ~20010) teacher told us an anecdote about benzene when we started learning about aromatic molecules. She told us that they used to clean their lab bench with benzene solvent to make it sparkling clean. Of course, she also told us it was carcinogenic and then finished by saying a lot of her contemporary colleagues that went into organic chemistry r…

It used to be the way to decaffeinate coffee

https://www.landryswarr.com/did-you-know-decaf-coffee-used-t...

In general if you drink decaffeinated coffee I'd check how it's decaffeinated. Even newer processes that use dichloromethane, ethyl acetate or triglycerides are dicey imho. The supercritical CO2 processes seem safe though.

Truth be told I'd encourage anyone drinking decaf to really think about the benefits here.

Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity

#127
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And we let teenagers do this, with no personal protective equipment and no basic supervision. Gas pumps have mandatory vapor recovery systems for decades now. That problem is long solved.

At least in the US, vapor recovery seems to be implemented differently by state. In California I notice fumes when pumping gas far less than in New York. There seems to be various types of nozzles and legislation (some with rubber boots and some without). Since 2006 cars were apparently required to have vapor recovery systems built in, so the EPA has dropped requirements for systems at the pump. California (not surpr…

Yea I was just thinking the other day how I haven’t actually smelled gas in a long time. I used to love the smell as a kid, but I’m happy it doesn’t seem like my children will get the same exposure.

Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity

#128
post #35
post #21

[flagged]

Induction stoves are better in every possible regard, except price. Well that and they can get too hot, I warped the bottom of my carbon steel wok because my induction stove heated it up too fast! Not a problem I had with any previous gas stoves!

They’re pretty good, but their low heat performance leaves a lot to be desired. Rather than provide a consistent level of low heat, they tend to turn off and on. That’s not what I want. But overall they are decent. Cleaning the glass is annoying though.

Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity

#129
post #21

[flagged]

[flagged]

The bud light boycott is great. It's exactly how people should respond to things they don't like. This isn't even cancel culture, it's just people no longer wanting to consume a product because of the association.

People who never used a product or watched a show going out of their way to make a 3rd party take away something other people like is what's annoying.

Re: Benzene Exposure Alters Endocrine Activity

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

The bud light boycott is great. It's exactly how people should respond to things they don't like. This isn't even cancel culture, it's just people no longer wanting to consume a product because of the association. People who never used a product or watched a show going out of their way to make a 3rd party take away something other people like is what's annoying.

you're such a laugh
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