Journal
BIOTECHNIC & HISTOCHEMISTRY
Volume 84, Issue 3, Pages 95-100Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/10520290902879730
Keywords
benzidine; Chicago blue 6B; chlorazol black E; Congo red; dyes; Evans blue; trypan blue
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
One of the most sweeping changes in the dye industry since the advent of synthetic dyes grew out of the health risks associated with benzidine. Dyes made from benzidine and its derivatives were used around the world until adverse health effects become incontrovertible. Workers and family members of workers involved in production and use of benzidine-based dyes had a high incidence of bladder cancer. Following publication of several reports documenting this health hazard, dye makers in the USA, Europe, and Japan phased these dyes out of production in the 1970s. Government regulations lent legal support for these voluntary initiatives. Two strategies subsequently evolved to compensate: developed nations brought alternative substances to market while emerging countries increased production of carcinogenic dyes and sold them at discount prices around the world. Nearly all dye manufacturing now has moved away from nations whose costs of production and compliance rendered them unable to compete. The purpose of this brief review is to publicize the health risks associated with dyes made from benzidine and its congeners, and to alert all companies and end users handling these dyes for biomedical applications that composition of the product and lot-to-lot variability may be problematic because of the manufacturing and distribution practices of the countries where they are produced.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available