8/12/2019 Common toxins found at Superfund sites

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Lead 1,272 (Number of sites

the chemical is found at)

What it's used for: Producingbatteries, ammunition, metalproduct and X-ray shields. Oncewas used commonly in paints andceramic products. Health effects: Can affectalmost every system in the body.Long-term can result in decreasedbrain function; can cause weak-ness in fingers, wrists or ankles.

Also can cause increases in bloodpressure and anemia. Exposure tohigh levels cans severely damagethe brain and kidneys. Can causemiscarriages in pregnant women.

Arsenic 1,149

What it's used for: Pressuretreating wood, pesticide on cottonplants Health effects: Large dosescan cause death; swallowing lowerlevels can cause nausea, vomitingand diarrhea. Over time, exposurecan cause decreased production

of blood cells, which can causefatigue, abnormal heart rhythms,blood-vessel damage andimpaired nerve function. Cancause cancer.

Chromium 1,127

What it's used for: Makingsteel, chrome plating, dyes andpigments, leather tanning andwood preserving. Health effects: Breathing highlevels can cause irritation to noseand breathing problems like asth-ma, shortness of breath or wheez-

ing. Can cause cancer.Cadmium 1,014

What it's used for: Producingbatteries, metal coatings andplastics. Health effects: Breathing highlevels can severely damage thelungs. Consuming high levelsseverely irritates the stomach,leading to vomiting and diarrhea.Long-term exposure to low levelscan cause kidney disease, lungdamage and fragile bones. Cancause cancer.

Benzene 1,000

What it's used for: Used tomake other chemicals, make plas-tics, resins, nylon and synthetic cfibers. Also used in rubbers, lubri-cants, dyes, detergents, drugs andpesticides. Health effects: Breathing highlevels of benzene can result indeath. Breathing lower levels cancause drowsiness, dizziness, rapidheart rate, headaches, tremors,confusion and unconsciousness.Consuming benzene can cause

vomiting, dizziness, sleepiness,convulsions, rapid heart rate anddeath. Can cause cancer.

Zinc 985

What it's used for:Manufacturing paint, rubber, dyes,wood preservatives and oint-ments. Health effects: Ingesting largedoses can cause stomachcramps, nausea and vomiting.Long-term exposure can causeanemia and decrease in choles-terol.

Toluene 959

What it's used for: Makingpaints, fingernail polish, lacquers,adhesives and rubber. Also usedin leather tanning. Health effects: Low to moder-ate levels can cause tiredness,confusion, weakness, memoryloss, nausea, loss of appetite andhearing and color vision loss.Inhaling high levels can causeunconsciousness or death and

may also affect kidney function.

Trichloroethylene 852

What it's used for: Ingredientin adhesives, typewriter correc-tion fluids and spot removers. Health effects: Breathing smallamounts can cause headaches,lung irritation, dizziness, poorcoordination and difficulty con-centrating. Consuming or breath-ing large amounts may causeimpaired heart function, nerve,kidney and liver damage, uncon-sciousness and death. Can cause

cancer.

Nickel 882

What it's used for: Nickel plat-ing, coloring ceramics, batteriesand to help quicken chemicalreactions. Health effects: Skin rash atsite of contact, asthma attacks.Chronic exposure can causechronic bronchitis and reducedlung function. Causes cancer.

Methylene Chloride 882

What it's used for: Paint strip-

per, aerosol and pesticide prod-ucts. Health effects: Breathinglarge amounts can cause dizzi-ness, nausea and numbness infingers and toes. May cause can-cer.

Barium 798

What it's used for: Creatingdrilling muds for oil and gas indus-try. Also used to make paint,bricks, ceramics, glass and rub-ber. Health effects: Can effectdigestion and cause muscularweakness Consuming smallamounts of barium can causevomiting, abdominal cramps, diar-rhea, difficulty breathing, kidneydamage, problems with bloodpressure and numbness aroundthe face. Consuming largeamounts of barium can changeheart rhythms, cause paralysisand possibly death.

Tetrachloroethylene 771

What it's used for: Dry clean-ing and metal decreasing. Health effects: Exposure tohigh concentrations can causedizziness, headaches, sleepiness,confusion, nausea.

Chloroform 717

What it's used for: Once usedas an anesthetic, now used tomake other chemicals. Health effects: Inhaling it overa short period of time can causedizziness, fatigue and headache.Breathing high levels for long peri-ods of time may cause liver andkidney damage. Skin contact cancause sores. May also be a car-

cinogen.

Mercury 714

What it's used for: Producingchlorine gas and caustic soda,also used in thermometers, dentalfillings and batteries. Health effects: Exposure tohigh levels can permanently dam-age the brain, kidneys and devel-oping fetus. Effects on brain canresult in irritability, shyness,tremors, changes in vision orhearing and memory problems.

May cause cancer.

Naphthalene 687

What it's used for: Ingredientin mothballs, moth flakes and toi-let deodorant blocks. Health effects: Can damage ordestroy red blood cells, causinganemia. Exposure to largeamounts may cause nausea, vom-iting, diarrhea, blood in urine andyellow color to the skin. Maycause cancer.

Vinyl Chloride 616

What it's used for:Manufacturing Polyvinyl chloride(PVC) for pipes, wire and cablecoatings. Health effects: Breathing highlevels can cause dizziness andsleepiness as well as loss of con-sciousness and death. Long-termexposure to lower levels candevelop nerve and liver damageas well as changes in blood circu-lation. Can cause cancer.

Polycyclic AromaticHydrocarbons 600

What it's used for: Byproductsof burning coal, oil and gas,garbage and other substances. Health effects: Can cause cancer.

Acetone 572

What it's used for:Manufacturing plastic, fibers,drugs and other chemicals. Health effects: Moderateexposure can result in eye andrespiratory irritation and dizzi-ness. High exposure may causeconfusion, shortening of menstru-al cycle, increased pulse rate andloss of consciousness.

1,2-Dichloroethane 570

What it's used for: Producingvinyl products, furniture and auto-mobile upholstery. Also used toremove lead from gasoline. Health effects: Ingesting orinhaling large amounts can causenervous system disorders, liverand kidney disease and lungeffects. May cause cancer.

1,1-Dichloroethene 515

What it's used for:Manufacturing plastics like food

wrap and packaging material. Alsomakes flame-retardant coatings forfiber and carpet backings, and foundin coatings for piping and steel. Health effects: Breathing lowerlevels can damage nervous sys-tem, liver and lungs. Can causecancer.

Polychlorinated Biphenyls

(PCBs) 500

What it's used for: Used ascoolants and lubricants in trans-formers, capacitors and otherelectrical equipment such as light

fixtures. Manufacturing PCBs wasbanned in 1977. Health effects: Chronic expo-sure can cause blood changes andliver effects. Can cause cancer.

2-Butanone 472

What it's used for: Ingredientin paints and coatings as well asglues and cleaning agents. Health effects: Low exposurecan irritate nose, throat, skin andeyes. Cannot cause death on itsown, but if it is breathed withother chemicals, 2-Butanone canincrease the amount of damagethat occurs.

Cyanide 471

What it's used for: Producingchemicals, photographic develop-ing, manufacturing plastics, fumi-gation of ships and some miningprocesses. Health effects: Exposure tohigh levels for a short time harmsbrain and heart and can causeconvulsions, coma and death.Inhaling low levels over a period ofyears can cause breathing difficul-ties, chest pain, vomiting, bloodchanges, headaches and enlarge-ment of the thyroid gland.

DDT, DDE, DDD 441

What it's used for: Similarchemicals used as pesticides. Health effects: Swallowinglarge amounts can cause tremorsand seizures. Women with largeamounts of exposure over timecan be unable to breastfeedbabies or can have an increasedchance of delivering prematurebabies. May cause cancer.

Carbon Tetrachloride 425

What it's used for: Producing

refrigeration fluid and propellantsfor aerosol cans.Also used as a pes-ticide, cleaning fluid and degreasingagent. Most uses now banned. Health effects: High exposurecan cause liver, kidney and centralnervous system (including thebrain) damage. Can also causecomas and death. Effects aremost severe in people who drinklarge amounts of alcohol. Maycause cancer.

Pentachlorophenol 313

What it's used for: Used as apesticide and wood preservative.No longer available to the generalpublic but still used by industry. Health effects: High levels ofexposure can cause fever, sweat-ing and difficulty breathing. Bodytemperature can increase to dan-gerous levels causing injury tovarious organs and even death.Chronic exposure can cause liverand immune system damage. Cancause cancer.

Aldrin/Dieldrin 287/207

What it's used for:Insecticides, now banned. Health effects: Ingestion canresult in convulsions and death.Moderate levels of air exposurecan result in headaches, dizziness,vomiting and uncontrolled musclemovements. May cause cancer.

Chlordane 171

What it's used for: All usesnow banned. Once was used as apesticide. Health effects: High exposurecan cause headaches, irritability,confusion, weakness, vision prob-lems, vomiting, stomach cramps,

diarrhea and jaundice. Consuminglarge amounts can cause convul-sions and death.

Ariel Wittenberg

COMMON CHEMICALS FOUND AT SUPERFUND SITES

(Sources: Toxins included in this list come from the EPA's list of Superfund "chemicals of concern." Information on the toxins comes from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.)