If it is glycolic acid then why doesn't the ingredient list say that. Okay, lets say it is glycolic acid then. I will say that you and Dupont (the world's largest manufacturer of glycolic acid) think that it is a relatively non toxic chemical. Personally I don't trust Dupont. See next post for one of many reasons why. Also, many toxicologists and certainly detox specialists along with environmental medicine Docters would disagree with Dupont's status of non toxicity.

Here is an exerpt of data from a medical poisoning center on Ethylene Glycol. Pay particular attention to metabolites formed as the liver attempts to break it down.

Synonyms, Key Words, and Related Terms: EG, radiator fluid, antifreeze, glycolic acid, GA

Background: Several toxic alcohols are of medical importance. Principal ones include ethanol, ethylene glycol (EG), methanol, and isopropanol. This article discusses EG, the common component of radiator fluid.
EG is the major ingredient of almost all radiator fluid products in the US. It is used to increase the boiling point and decrease the freezing point of radiator fluid, which circulates through the automotive radiator. These changes to the boiling and freezing points result from the colligative properties of the solute (ie, they are dependent on the number of particles in solution). Hence, ethylene glycol is added to prevent the radiator from overheating or freezing, depending on the season. Fluorescein dye also is added to radiator fluid to help identify the source of a leak. The fluorescein in the fluid fluoresces when viewed under ultraviolet light.

Ethylene glycol is sweet tasting, which accounts for the attraction that some animals have toward it. Most veterinarians are very familiar with ethylene glycol toxicity, particularly when dogs are exposed to radiator fluid.

Ethylene glycol is not an uncommon cause of overdose in American EDs (553 cases were reported to the American Association of Poison Control Centers in 1994), and rapid intervention often makes an important difference in the outcome of EG toxicity.


Pathophysiology: Each of the toxic alcohols mentioned above (parent compounds) exert most of their toxicity by conversion to metabolites. While the parent compound, EG, may cause some alteration of mental status, it is a relatively nontoxic compound unmetabolized. The metabolites cause the distinctive toxicity associated with this compound.

Knowing the pathway of ethanol metabolism is necessary to properly understand EG toxicity. Ethanol is metabolized by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) pathway, which is located in the liver and gastric mucosa, and the cytochrome P-450 mixed function oxidase (MFO) system in the liver. The MFO component is subject to greater inducibility than ADH.

As with ethyl alcohol and methanol, EG is metabolized via ADH to form glycoaldehyde. Through interaction with aldehyde dehydrogenase, EG is then metabolized to glycolic acid (GA). A profound acidosis often ensues and is attributable to the GA in circulation. The patient may develop hyperventilation resulting from acidemia. The glycolate is transformed into glyoxylic acid. At this point, the molecule may be transformed into to the highly toxic oxalate or into the safer glutamate or alpha-ketoadipic acid metabolites. Formation of these safer metabolites may be promoted by the administration of particular vitamins. With the formation of oxalate crystals in the urine, calcium oxalate crystals form and accumulate in blood and other tissues. Precipitation of calcium oxalate in the renal cortex results in decreased glomerular filtration and renal insufficiency. Calcium is consumed in circulation, and hypocalcemia may occur.

The rate-dependent step for EG metabolism is the ADH-catalyzed step. Ethyl alcohol binds much more easily to ADH than ethylene glycol or methanol do. Because ethanol is the preferential substrate for ADH, metabolism of EG may be essentially blocked by the presence of ethanol. This is the basis of one therapy used in the US (see Emergency Department Care).

Group says DuPont withheld risk of toxic chemical



Tuesday, April 15, 2003
By Christopher Doering, Reuters



WASHINGTON — DuPont Co., the second-largest U.S. chemical company, withheld from the government an internal study linking a toxic chemical in Teflon to birth defects in some children, an advocacy group charged recently.
The Environmental Working Group claimed that DuPont violated federal law by failing to turn over a document in 1981 showing the risks of perfluorooctanoic acid, or C8, a chemical used to manufacture Teflon.

Teflon is a widely available household product used to keep clothing such as jackets dry or to prevent food from sticking to pots and pans.

"They obviously had no intention of ever turning this over to the EPA," said Richard Wiles, a vice president of the advocacy group. "This is very damning evidence. It's not surprising to us that they withheld it, and who knows what else they've withheld?"

The group asked the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate and determine if the company broke federal law by failing to immediately disclose the health impacts of the chemical.

The EPA said it was reviewing the document and did not have an immediate comment.

Wilmington, Del.–based DuPont denied the allegations by the Environmental Working Group that the company violated the Toxic Substance Control Act by not reporting information about C8.

The environmental group cited a 1981 internal study by DuPont that measured the blood levels of seven women who worked at the company's Teflon plant in West Virginia. All had detectable levels of the chemical in their bodies, according to the document.

CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT

The DuPont study also said one woman gave birth to a child with an eye and tear-duct defect, and another employee bore a child with nostril and eye defects. That same year, DuPont reassigned 50 women from the plant to reduce their exposure to the chemical, the Environmental Working Group said.

Residents near the West Virginia plant have filed a class-action lawsuit against DuPont over contamination of area water supplies. The DuPont report on C8 came to light in the course of that lawsuit.

"There is no evidence or data that demonstrates (C8) causes adverse human health effects, including developmental or reproductive effects, in any segment of the human population," said Robert Rickard, director of DuPont's Haskell Laboratory for Health and Environmental Sciences.

DuPont said the company recorded the women's low-level exposure but did not conduct a formal study evaluating C8 or its effect on human health.

The federal Toxic Substance Control Act only requires companies to report information when the public is at risk, DuPont said, and it added there were no adverse effects to humans exposed to the chemical.

DuPont said its records showed one birth defect but added there was "no indication" it was linked to exposure to C8.

The Teflon chemical C8 is part of a broader family called perfluorochemicals. Tests have shown that C8 and similar chemicals can cause liver damage and reproductive problems in rats, according to scientists.

The Environmental Working Group said laboratory studies have linked exposure to perfluorochemicals to cancer, hypothyroidism, and brain damage.

In 2000, 3M Corp. pulled its stain repellent Scotchgard from the market after the EPA expressed concern that a sister chemical to C8 posed serious health risks. 3M has since stopped making all perfluorochemicals.

The EPA last September began a priority review of C8 under the Toxic Chemicals Control Act, which can be used to ban chemicals that can lead to health problems or defects.

An EPA official said the agency planned to release a final version of its report on Monday. In a draft copy released last month, the EPA found that C8 accumulates in the blood system and has toxic chemicals that pose a risk for childbearing women. The agency urged further study of the chemical's impact on humans.

For its part, DuPont said that the EPA document was a preliminary draft and that data recently shared with the government support the chemical's safety.


Reuters