Vapor and Gas Hazard Essay Example

Introduction

A vapor or gas hazard is any substance that can be present in the air in sufficient quantity to cause effects to human health. It is therefore clear that these hazards affect human health when inhaled. Diisocyanates which is a compound which is made up of two isocyanate groups is an example of a gas hazard (Swierczynska-Machura et al., 2015). Once inhaled, the mixture leads to adverse effects on human health whereby individuals can develop inflammation of the respiratory system, cancer as well as asthma.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Diisocyanates are a chemical hazard because it is made up of Isocyanates generated from amines. Isocyanates are also reactive to various nucleophiles because they are electrophiles themselves. The chemical aspect of this compound occurs when they react with, and an intermediary of carbamoyl chloride is realized (Swierczynska-Machura et al., 2015). Additionally, if a mixture with two hydroxyl groups gets treated with diisocyanates, a polyurethane polymer is formed.

The compound has molecular weight which is low due to the isocyanate group that is very reactive. Diisocyanates have chemical reactivity which is very high, and this contributes to the toxicity associated with this compound leading to effects on human health. Humans exposure to diisocyanates is through inhalation, and this leads to the respiratory system being sensitive (Swierczynska-Machura et al., 2015). Only some evidence shows human respiration system is susceptible due to skin contacts. Due to the low molecular weight, the components of diisocyanates can move faster when inhaled and thus can significantly affect the human respiratory system. The contribution of the compound chemical properties to the consequences that human health is through inflammation of the respiratory system and the development of conditions like asthma. Finally, the way the substance finds its way into the body system is through following the dermal route. The dermal route is crucial because once inhaled; the chemical attaches on the skin services where they get absorbed into the body. Thus the way is a significant pathway for the substances to have affected the body.

An aerosol hazard

These refer to hazard particles that are in solid or liquid state and gets suspended in air. These hazard in aerosol form can at times have infectious agents. The aerosol form hazard can penetrate deep inside the respiratory system once they are inhaled thereby affecting human health. Aerosols from E-cigarettes are an example of the danger in this form (Kimber et al., 2018). The E-cigarette aerosols are forms of chemical hazards because they contain chemicals like nicotine, glycerol, and glycol. These substances increase the risk of human health being affected.

Reasonably, since the e-cigarette aerosols are mainly in the present in air, the respiratory system and the skin are the exposure routes where the chemical find their way in the body. Among the two, the respiratory system route is the most important route through which most of these chemical compounds find their way in the body (Kimber et al., 2018). Notably, when the harmful particles in aerosols find their way into the body after an individual gets exposed to the hazard substance, then chemicals like nicotine and carcinogens usually attach themselves on the skin and later penetrates the blood system presenting an individual into a potential risk of developing health disorders. Thus, the dermal route is also another important route of exposure.

Arguably, once the aerosols inhaled, they are likely to be deposited in the upper part of the respiratory tract. It has been shown that the turbulent flow causes aerosols to mix. Thus, due to the low density of the gas; the levels of turbulence of the gas are likely to cause the deposition to take place in the upper part of the respiratory system (Kimber et al., 2018).

A biological hazard

These are the hazards that result from substances which are biological and tend to affect the health status of a living thing especially human beings. Therefore, these substances can be the substances from living things or the tiny living things themselves. It, thus shows that this is biological hazards since they are the living things or materials from living things (Lehto et al., 2007). The chosen biological danger for this category is bacteria. The bacteria are of relatively small size and are of different molecular weight depending on the type of bacteria that is hazardous.

Since bacteria are in contaminated surfaces, then the critical route of exposure is through the dermal when one gets into contact with contaminated surfaces. Moreover, due to their small size bacteria are able to attach themselves on the surfaces of human skin where they later penetrate into the body (Lehto et al, 2007). However, some bacteria may find their way in the collection by being in contaminated air. Thus, once inhaled, the pathogens in the air attach themselves on the services of the track where they start to multiply and cause infections of an individual.

The dermal route is essential for the bacteria since humans easily come into contact with objects and surfaces which are the source of these hazards. In this case, those people who work in laboratories and microorganism culture area are likely to be more affected by this biological hazard in a greater extent compared to other people (Lehto et al., 2007).

References

Lehto, M. R., Landry, S. J., & Buck, J. (2007). Introduction to human factors and ergonomics for engineers.2nd.ed. CRC Press.

Swierczynska-Machura D., Brzeznicki, S., Nowakowska-Swirta, E., Walusiak-Skorupa, J., Wittczak, T., Dudek, W., & Palczynski, C. (2015). Occupational exposure to diisocyanates in polyurethane foam factory workers. International journal of occupational medicine and environmental health.

Kimber, I., Poole, A., & Basketter, D. A. (2018). Skin and respiratory chemical allergy: confluence and divergence in a hybrid adverse outcome pathway. Toxicology Research.