CHEMICAL DANGERS - HMP MAGHABERRY -- Stormont Watch

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Date Posted: Wed, Sep 26 2012, 15:16:43 PDT
Author: Civil Rights Network ALERT
Subject: CHEMICAL DANGERS - HMP MAGHABERRY

Toxic Chemicals Report
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Toxic Chemicals used in industrial cleaning and their effects on the Human body. A report by Nollaig Connolly BSc.Hons. ODP.

In the past few days the disturbing news about prisoners in HMP Maghaberry being deliberately exposed to toxic chemicals and being enclosed for up to 24 hours a day in confined spaces where such chemicals are active has prompted the Civil Rights Network to commission this study/report into the effects of such toxic chemicals on the Human body in both the short term and in a more protracted timescale of indefinite duration.
Sources of this study/report include University of Durham, Yale University (Science & Engineering Department), Trinity College Dublin (Microbiology, Pathology & Biomedical Sconces) Et. Al.

The key issue, bodily contact, refers to the three chief routes through which a chemical can enter the human body: inhalation, skin contact, or ingestion. In the workplace, the most common are skin absorption and inhalation.
Our bodies were not "designed" to protect us from hazardous chemicals. We were designed with an immune system to protect us from pathogens (infecting agents) and from intrusion by foreign substances. Reflexes (such as vomiting) and sensation (such as itching or burning) support the body's effort to protect itself from harm.

Inhalation
Odour, a property of nearly all chemicals and certainly solvents commonly used in industrial cleaning is the first line of defence for humans. Normally, humans can smell the presence of solvent at levels well below the point at which the solvent can start to produce harm. The cardinal rule: If you can smell a chemical, use protective equipment to prevent yourself from being exposed to it.
Skin Contact
The skin consists of two layers, the relatively thin outer epidermis and a thicker layer, the dermis. The epidermis consists of several layers of tightly packed epithelial cells that are dead and filled with keratin, a waterproof protein. The epidermis acts as the primary barrier to entry of hazardous chemicals through the skin.
Sebaceous glands in the skin produce an oily secretion called sebum, which consists of a number of organic acids that maintain the pH of the skin between three and five. With its low pH, intact skin not only prevents the intrusion of hazardous chemicals but also inhibits the growth of most pathogenic bacteria due to its low pH.
Ingestion
Taste is a third critical indicator, whether or not solvent has been ingested. One who has accidentally or intentionally ingested solvent must take notice and seek appropriate aid.
TOXICOLOGY
The following, which briefly summarizes the effects of industrial chemicals�chiefly cleaning chemicals�on the human body, is not meant to be a substitute for the advice of an industrial toxicologist or physician. Nor is it an argument against chemical-based cleaning. Rather, it is a realistic list of problems which have been overcome by others who are safely doing cleaning and other work with chemicals.
Peripheral Nervous System
While the central nervous system consists of the spinal cord and the brain, the peripheral nervous system controls other organs and systems such as the heart, lungs, gastrointestinal system, and muscles, as well as the senses: vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. There is evidence of varying quality that several cleaning solvents can affect the peripheral nervous system. The solvent of most concern is hexane. Also of concern are the cleaning solvents toluene, methyl butyl ketone, and xylene.
Hexane-related peripheral neuropathy, a debilitating nerve disease, has been reported in such workplaces as printing plants, leather shops, and furniture factories throughout the world. In 2000, three workers using hexane-based brake cleaner were found to have peripheral neuropathy.
Recognition that certain straight-chain (aliphatic) organic chemicals have the potential to cause peripheral neuropathy is longstanding. Recently it was established that aromatic (ring-structure) chemicals also have this property.
Central Nervous System
Chemicals can have major acute (short time or short exposure) toxic effects on the central nervous system. Organic chemicals usually act as anaesthetics, producing loss of sensation with or without loss of consciousness. The function of the central nervous system is depressed and the subject is greatly disoriented and possibly intoxicated to coma. Subjects have been noted to develop tolerance for this exposure to chemicals.

* Suggested supplementary reading to enhance this study/report
'' Toxic Chemicals in the workplace: A managers guide to recognition, evaluation and control'' (ISBN 0884158713.

* Note that ''managers'' (in the case of HMP Maghaberry i.e.: the governor and consequentially his superiors at Stormont and Whitehall) who deliberately and with potentially ''Malice Aforethought'' expose the prisoners in ''their care'' to toxic and potentially fatal chemicals would in my opinion be acting contrary to the law. As law is not my specialised field I shall seek the advice of colleagues whose field it is with a view to collating the information in a manner that it reads easily to the lay person, so that it can be made available to the prisoners & their families who may wish to act further upon such information

DISTRIBUTED TO CIVIL RIGHTS �MEDIA CONTACTS� P.M. WED. SEPT. 26th 2012
N.B. SEND US �UNSUBSCRIBE� MESSAGE IN YOUR E-MAIL �SUBJECT� BOX IF YOU DO NOT DESIRE ANY FURTHER COMMUNICATIONS ON THIS SUBJECT MATTER �THANK YOU!!! Go raibh maith agat !!!!

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