Now more to worry about:
As someone who works around organic chemicals, this isn’t raising many red flags for a couple of reasons:
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Before the invention of instrumentation for synthetic organic chemists to determine the structure of compounds, they would “guess” if they got their compound from tasting it. Many of them are alive and well. Yes, the chemicals being produced are harmful, but enough to cause permanent damage? I’m not convinced from this – I see no difference right now between when someone is walking by a smoker or when someone is walking behind a car with the exhaust on.
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The article doesn’t say that the “higher concentrations” are necessarily at unsafe levels, and if they are, how long one needs to be exposed to them to suffer damage.
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2-Methylpyridine has no known toxicity, Diethyl phthalate is rated only “slightly harmful” to humans with no known long-term damage in the chemistry world (more below), and trimethyl disulfide doesn’t even exist (I’m assuming this is a typo in the article, but there are too many other options this could be for me to speculate.)
If you would like to see the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet – it’s what chemists use as a reference for the safety of chemicals), here you go:
Toluene: http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9927301
Benzene: http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9927339
Lye: http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9924999
I’m posting lye for the following reason (and I want to clarify now that this is in NO WAY to bash electrolysis in any way shape or form, but I want us to have something to compare it to.) As you can tell from a chemistry standpoint, sodium hydroxide receives a higher “unsafe” rating in the chemistry world than either toluene or benzene. Additionally, when electrologists destroy hair, are organic chemicals being released in the air? I don’t know the answer to that question.
This article raises some interesting questions, but that’s all. I see no reason for people to start going crazy (there’s another word I really wanted to use, but alas, I think I would get banned for posting it.)
As the article states: more of a risk for people doing the procedures over a long time period. Of course, when OSHA gets hold of something it often “over-reacts.”
I worked with a company (Edge Systems) for a bit of time and they make smoke-evacuators for laser use. At least these should be more widespread in the industries that use medical lasers. I’m sure that Edge Systems is happy to see this article on the “hazards!”
Living in the “modern world” it’s impossible to avoid “dangerous” chemicals of all kinds. Compounds are everywhere in the environment and we all have elevated levels of all sorts of “chemical goodies.”
I have a friend that’s an “über-pure organic food nut,” and she wouldn’t drink something I offered her, because it had a tiny bit of (natural) sugar in it. I think if she did a blood test to find the various “toxins” in her body, it would “send her over the edge!”
The best way to avoid environmental toxins: don’t eat, drink or breathe! Then, you will be just fine!
Allow me to print the full article in case the link that Michael shared disappears someday:
From OB.GYN.com
Toxins detected in laser hair removal plume
By: NEIL OSTERWEIL, Ob.Gyn. News Digital Network
05/03/13
BOSTON – Performing laser hair removal might be hazardous to your health.
Laser plumes emitted during the procedure contain “a cocktail of volatile organic compounds,” at least 13 of which are known to be hazardous to human health, Dr. Gary S. Chuang, of the department of dermatology at Tufts Medical Center, Boston, said at the annual meeting of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery.
Dr. Gary Chuang
The findings further highlight the potential for harm that have already been demonstrated in association with laser procedures in the absence of safeguards such as adequate ventilation, smoke evacuators, and adequate personal protection.
Dr. Chuang and his colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard School of Public Health, and Boston University subjected donor hair samples to a single pulse from a diode or Alexandrite laser, captured the plumes produced, and examined them with gas chromatography. They detected the presence of approximately 300 distinct chemical compounds, 40 of which occurred in higher concentrations and 13 of which have been shown to be harmful in human and animal studies.
The compounds included:
• Benzene, toluene, and ethylbenzene (commonly found in car exhaust, cigarette smoke, glue, paint, wax and detergents, and linked to leukemia and bone marrow abnormalities.
• 2-Methylpyridine, which can cause headache and nausea.
• Diethyl phthalate, used in cosmetics and fragrances, has been shown to cause birth defects in pregnant rats.
• Trimethyl disulfide, which is primarily responsible for the foul odor from singed hair.
• Various soap and perfume components of unknown toxicity.
The researchers also collected dust samples over time to look for the concentration of particles smaller than 1 micron with and without a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) equipped smoke evacuator.
Normal street-level concentrations of ultrafine particles are about 4,000/cm3 per cubic centimeter, Dr. Chuang noted. When the investigators took the dust counter into the laser center waiting room, the level jumped to about 16,000/cc. During a laser procedure, the levels rose to nearly 450,000/cc. The levels slowly declined over the next 20 minutes, but still remained about fourfold higher than normal concentrations, he said.
“The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health recommends that with any surgical procedure that produces a plume, you want a capture velocity of about 100-150 ft/minute, and hopefully, (the evacuator) will have a HEPA filter or ultralow penetrance filter that can remove about 99.97% of airborne particulates up to 0.3 microns or greater,” he said.
Additionally, the vacuum must be no farther than 2 inches from the source, because the suction velocity decreases at greater distances. All personnel in the treatment room should wear surgical masks with a NIOSH rating of N95 or greater, he recommended.
“With chemicals, most masks are useless, so hopefully you will get an evacuator that has a chemical cartridge impregnated with charcoal, and that’s able to take out the majority of the [chemicals],” Dr Chuang said.
The study was internally supported. Dr. Chuang reported having no relevant financial disclosures.
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