Handbook of Solvents - George Wypych - ChemTech - Ventech!

1380 Nachman Brautbar
Figure 20.7.1. The phases of detoxification. [Adapted, by permission, from DS Jones, Institute for Functional
Medicine, Inc., 1999]
1. Occupational: Either through a routine daily inhalation or skin absorption of solvents
which have been shown to be toxic to the liver (accidental exposure).
2. Domestic during either accidental or intentional suicidal exposure, ingestion in
foods or as a toxic contaminant of food, exposure to toxic agents such as in the form of glue
sniffing.
3. Environmental, most commonly exposure through contaminated water with solvents
(drinking water contamination) or through atmospheric pollution such as release to
the environment from plants utilizing solvents.
Historically the first cases attributing chloroform to liver toxicity were described in
1887, 1889 and 1904. 2,3,4 The role of carbon tetrachloride and liver injury has been originally
described in 1967 and 1973. 5,6 In general, the understanding of hepatotoxicity is extremely
complex, and the reader is referred to the outstanding text by Hyman J.
Zimmerman. 7 A typical example of how metabolism and toxicity of a water takes place is
the aromatic chemical such as benzene attached to bromine. The effect on the liver has been
originally studied by Mitchell in 1975 8 who have shown that a change in the rate of the metabolism
of this compound is required to create its toxic products. While bromobenzene and
carbon tetrachloride share a similar place of metabolism in the liver, the toxicity of
bromobenzene and carbon tetrachloride are different, since the bromobenzene toxicity is related
to the metabolic capacity of the liver, while that of carbon tetrachloride is not.
Several factors contribute to the handling of the solvents by the liver and affect the final
toxicity, including species differences. For instance, rats are vulnerable to a wide variety
of toxic agents such as carbon tetrachloride and bromobenzene due to the ability of the liver