Carbon Monoxide

Carbon Monoxide, also called Carbon Monooxide or Carbonic Oxide, has a molecular weight of 28.01g/mol and is a colorless, odorless, tasteless (when converted to a cryogenic liquid) gas that can cause serious short term health effects or even kill you within a few hours of constant exposure. 

 Due to its ‘transparent’ physical characteristics, CO is highly dangerous. Since it is undetectable without proper equipment, it is subsequently referred to as the ‘silent killer’. Carbon Monoxide has a higher affinity to the hemoglobin (the oxygen carrying molecules found in blood) than oxygen does. As a result, a complex called carboxyhemoglobin is created which blocks the hemoglobin sites thereby depleting oxygen levels in the body.

CO is normally Labelled using the following WHMIS Symbols:

• - Acute Toxicity
• - Flammable
• - Compressed Gas
• - Health Hazard

Carbon Monoxide is a byproduct of the incomplete combustion of carbon compounds. Common day to day exposure is usually from fires, stoves or BBQ grills and cars/ buses/ trucks. A more recent concern comes from the common consumption of Hookah amongst the youth.

Hookah emits 35x more CO than an average cigarette and produces smoke equivalent to that of 100 cigarettes!

According to research conducted by Ontario’s Air Quality Control Index, Carbon Monoxide concentrations are 89x higher inside Hookah cafes.

But Carbon isn’t all bad, it was discovered that carbon monoxide can be used in packaging meat to help them retain their ‘fresh’ color without proving any health hazards to those consuming that CO infused meat.

What are your Thoughts?

References:

Blachman-Braun, R., Del Mazo-Rodríguez, R., López-Sámano, G., & Buendía-Roldán, I. (2014). Hookah, is it really harmless?. Respiratory Medicine, 108(5), 661-667. doi:10.1016/j.rmed.2014.01.013

Carbon monoxide. (2019). Retrieved from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/281#section=TopCarbon Monoxide - MeSH - NCBI.

Carboxyhemoglobin. (2019). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carboxyhemoglobin

Carbon Monoxide - MeSH - NCBI. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/68002248

Carbon monoxide. (2019). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide

Carbon Monoxide. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ToxProfiles/tp201-c4.pdf

Carbon monoxide - DrugBank. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.drugbank.ca/drugs/DB11588

Facts about Carbon Monoxide - PuroClean. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.puroclean.com/blog/facts-about-carbon-monoxide/

Lide, D.R. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics 88TH Edition 2007-2008. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis, Boca Raton, FL 2007, p. 3-88

Man finds wife and 'lover' dead 'after they had sex in the car'. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5940039/Man-finds-wife-lover-dead-carbon-monoxide-poisoning-sex-car.html

O'Neil, M.J. (ed.). The Merck Index - An Encyclopedia of Chemicals, Drugs, and Biologicals. Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck and Co., Inc., 2006., p. 294

WHMIS Classifications: Carbon monoxide. (2019). Retrieved from http://ccinfoweb2.ccohs.ca/whmis/records/57E.html

Zhang, B., Haji, F., Kaufman, P., Muir, S., & Ferrence, R. (2013). ‘Enter at your own risk’: a multimethod study of air quality and biological measures in Canadian waterpipe cafes. Tobacco Control, 24(2), 175-181. doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2013-051180

100+ Pollution Pictures | Download Free Images on Unsplash. (2019). Retrieved from  https://unsplash.com/search/photos/

(2019). Retrieved from https://www.mayo.edu/research/documents/hookah-from-the-middle-east-to-western-countries-mdash-hawari/doc-20003070

Propylene Glycol

Are you consuming poison by eating products with Propylene Glycol?

Image from:https://draxe.com/propylene-glycol/

Frist least begin by telling you a little about what Propylene Glycol is.  The IUPAC name is Propane-1,2-diol, and it has many common names such as; 

• 1,2-dihydroxypropane 
• 1,2-propanediol 
• Methyl glycol 
• Trimethyl glycol.

It is produced as a byproduct of fossil fuel, and it can also be manufactured by hydration of propylene oxide. Propane-1,2-diol is tasteless, odorless, transparent oily liquid and, it has a molecular formula of C3H8O2, a molecular weight of 76.095 g/mol. The melting point of  -59°C, and a boiling point of 189°C.

This compound can be found in many cosmetic products because it is soluble in water making it a top chemical for topical products such as cream.  Other places you would see it is in food, tobacco, and pharmaceuticals products. The fundamental reason why propylene glycol is used in many products is that the body can easily absorb it. 

So what happens, if you were to eat some of this chemical?

When the body ingests the chemical, it is converted to lactic acid by ADH then further to pyruvate and ending with glucose. This chemical is not toxic to the body, but like any other product, it can do damage if a large dosage of it is consumed. Some common symptoms are nausea, and it can also damage the liver. 

Alternative: 

The alternative to propylene glycol is propane-1,3-diol, and it is produced from fermentation of corn making it more sustainable and renewable than propylene glycol. 

References: 

• Environmental Health and Medicine Education. https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/csem.asp?csem=12&po=14 (accessed Feb 25, 2019). 

• Ingredient Database. http://thetoxicfreefoundation.com/database/ingredient/13-propanediol (accessed Feb 22, 2019). 

• Ingredient Database. http://thetoxicfreefoundation.com/database/ingredient/13-propanediol (accessed Feb 25, 2019). 

• Propanediol: An alternative to Propylene Glycol. https://library.essentialwholesale.com/propylene-glycol-alternative-propanediol/ (accessed Feb 25, 2019). 

• Propylene Glycol. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/propylene-glycol (accessed Feb 25, 2019). 

• PROPYLENE GLYCOL. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=2ahUKEwjJn4rZ0NfgAhVGo54KHWMJCkYQFjAFegQIARAC&url=https://tobacco-information.hpa.gov.tw/common/Download.ashx?t=CLI8001&f=28413544_335/28413544_335_A0242.PDF&usg=AOvVaw0oU9LKOzTNeIcUz5u002B- (accessed Feb 25, 2019). 

• Propylene oxide. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/propyleneoxide#section=Probable-Routes-of-Human-Exposure (accessed Feb 25, 2019).

Interesting facts about Vanillin

 https://cen.acs.org/articles/94/i36/problem-vanilla.html

I bet a lot of you have consumed at least one thing that has vanilla as its flavouring. Vanilla ice-cream, cake, vanilla syrup in your ice coffee, French vanilla latte, vanilla flavoured lotions, etc. It is such a common flavour used excessively in a lot of industries. Personally, I used to think it was only used in food products, but after some research on the compound 'Vanillin' (the chemical comprising vanilla) I learnt that it can be more than a flavouring compound. It is a source of L-dopa, which is a very important drug used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease (4). It can also be used as a starting material for production of methyldopa, another important drug that is commonly used to lower blood pressure (7). It is also widely used as a preservative and has shown to increase shelf life upto 60 days (3). Furthermore, it has some industrial uses and used in insecticides to attract insects due to its sweet smell.

Its consumption in humans is safe (the most dangerous effect being eye irritations), hence it is still being used in production of food products, cosmetics and drugs (5). Some people can be allergic to Vanillin (1). Some studies showed that small doses of vanillin can be lethal in mouse and rats if inhaled (6).

Despite its many uses, the availability of organic vanilla is scarce: vanilla bean or ferulic acid in rice and oats. Although there are many other sources that can be used to produce artificial vanilla. These are available from cloves in the form of eugenol oil, ylang ylang plant (tropical plant) that produces isoeugenol, and turmeric with curcumin extracts (2). These extracts can undergo chemical processes to give synthetic vanillin and hence, synthetic vanilla extracts (2). You must have noticed that all these extracts whether organic or inorganic come from plants. Thus, a huge controversy surrounding vanillin is in regards to "What's 'natural' and what's 'artificial'".

References: 

1. Bingham, E., Cohrssen, B., & Powell, C.H. (2001). Patty's Toxicology (5th ed.). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

2. Burdock, G.A. (2001). Fenaroli's Handbook of Flavor Ingredients (6th ed.). Boca Raton, FL

3. Cerrutti P et al. (1997). J of Food Science, 62(3), 608-610.

4. Lewis, R.J. Sr. (2007). Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary (15th ed.). Inc. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

5. Lewis, R.J. (1996). Sax's Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials (9th ed.). New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold

6. Tamai K et al. (1992). Mutat Res, 268(2), 231-7.

7. Vidal J.P. (2006) Vanillin. Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology (1999-2015). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.