The quantity of toxic wood preservatives and their substitutes on offer is almost unmanageable. Of particular environmental medical importance are the following wood preservatives:
- Central substances are lindane and pentachlorophenol (PCP). PCP is a substance that is not only used as a wood preservative. Since 1991, PCP has been banned from manufacture, but not from use. Therefore, PCP can be found in emulsion paints, rubber mattresses, hygiene products, adhesives, cooling water systems, glues, sanitary and industrial cleaners, hoses, shoe linings, boots, stockings, and tents, depending on the manufacturing method and country.
- PCP is absorbed via inhalation or through the skin. The highest concentrations can be detected in the liver and kidney. The substances are also detectable in endocrine glands. In some cases, contamination of foodstuffs occurs via the outer packaging, which contains PCP. Under the influence of formaldehyde, PCP can have a 5-fold increased effect. For the analytics is aggravating that in all people is now a certain basic load in blood and urine detectable.
- Particularly high levels can be detected after periods of fasting by dissolving the PCP’s from the fat depots of the patient. Increased intake of dioxins leads to a reduction in PCP levels, but at the same time may feign a lower burden of the organism than is actually given.
- PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls) is a group of substances under which 209 individual substances are hidden. They have a low volatility and water solubility, but dissolve well in fats, oils or organic solvents. PCBs are found in paints, flame retardants, permanently elastic joint compounds, adhesives, lamp capacitors, lubricants, plasticizers and transformers.
- PCBs can also be detected in clean air areas. The concentration in the outdoor air increases accordingly in urban areas with industrial settlement.
- The highest concentration of PCBs we take in through food. Because of the good fat solubility PCBs can also be transferred to the infant with breast milk. Storage reservoir in humans is the fatty tissue. Diagnosis of chronic PCB intoxication is difficult. The ingested doses are usually ingested as mixed exposures, and the suspected diagnosis can often only be made by taking a very detailed history with recording the handling of materials containing PCBs. Fatigue, tiredness, nervousness or susceptibility to infections are not primary symptoms for an exclusive PCB intoxication. Note: Polychlorinated biphenyls belong to the endocrine disruptors (synonym: xenohormones), which can damage health even in the smallest amounts by altering the hormonal system.
- The pollution of the interiors of a house includes, in addition to PCP, PCB, asbestos, formaldehyde, if necessary, microbiologically produced hydrocarbons from fungi.
- Diseases arising from indoor pollution are summarized under the term sick building syndrome. The causes of these forms of illness are becoming increasingly important as we spend about 80% of our time indoors. Mold in the home used to be noted as a moisture feature. It is now known that molds can also release hydrocarbons, which can then lead to a significant impairment of general well-being. The immediate impact of mold on the patient can be determined in the form of allergy testing or the determination of antibodies in the blood.
- Even so-called environmentally friendly natural products (building materials, etc.) can trigger health problems. Increasingly, terpenes are also used in ecological construction.
- Terpenes are natural products obtained from the resin of trees. In nature, they have a protective function of trees against insects and pests, which are killed by them. If terpenes are introduced into an indoor space in high concentrations can cause headaches, allergies or nausea.
- Even with eco building materials, differentiated considerations must be made when using them – long-term assessment standards are still lacking, even if they are primarily safe to prefer.
Low concentrations of individual substances, for example, with the exercise of certain hobbies in the domestic area in the leisure time are taken, can thereby feign a non-existent exposure at work. Only in the context of a systematic survey and inspection of the work and home sites, the actual causes are clarified.
