Dinitrotoluenes

DINITROTOLUENES (1, 2, 4 and 1, 2, 5), C₆H₃CH₃(NO₂)₂. A mixture of dinitrotoluenes is included in certain explosives and serves as an intermediate product in the production of trinitrotoluene (TNT—one of the most important explosives) and corresponding amines in the dye industry. All these substances can cause occupational poisoning. The objects of investigation are urine and the air of work premises. With acetone and caustic alkali, dinitrotoluenes produce a blue-violet coloration (as does dinitrobenzene). Therefore, detection and quantitative determination in urine and air are performed as with dinitrobenzene (see). DINITROCHLOROBENZENE, C₆H₃Cl(NO₂)₂, is a solid crystalline substance of a yellowish color, poorly soluble in water, but highly soluble in alcohol and fats. It is obtained in aniline factories by the nitration of para-nitrochlorobenzene. Workers involved in its production and in the production of dyes (mainly sulfur black) and explosives are exposed to the danger of occupational poisoning by dinitrochlorobenzene. Poisoning arises both from contact with dinitrochlorobenzene and from the dust of dinitrochlorobenzene getting onto the skin and mucous membranes (more frequently). The clinical picture of dinitrochlorobenzene poisoning is generally similar to aniline poisoning, but due to the presence of oxygen in its chemical composition, the effect of dinitrochlorobenzene on the cardiovascular system and especially on the integument, mainly the skin, is more pronounced. Negligible doses, which do not cause a general effect, cause the development of severe dermatoses. At one Moscow chemical plant, 105 cases of dermatosis were registered within 4 months; 52 cases of dermatosis from dinitrochlorobenzene were found among the glazers of a porcelain factory (nitric acid contaminated with dinitrochlorobenzene had been added to the glaze in which they immersed the dishes). Several cases (on the same grounds) were registered among zincographers, lithographers, refiners, and others. In cases of dinitrochlorobenzene poisoning observed over the last 2–3 years at Moscow chemical plants among workers in the production of sulfur black dye, the effect of the poison was almost always limited to dermatoses alone. The primary lesion manifests as a limited papulo-vesicular dermatitis with slight edema and subsequent infiltration of the skin, with a tendency for papules to turn into vesicles; sometimes the lesion resembles erythema exsudativum multiforme, and quite often, in predisposed individuals, universal erythroderma develops. Subjective sensations are quite distressing: severe itching, burning, pain, insomnia; patients are forced to leave work for a long period. In severe cases, the vesicular rash turns into a pustular one—with the discharge of pus, the merging of pustules, the peeling of skin in patches, etc. Localization: exposed and frequently perspiring areas (hands, forearms, face, shins, anterior surface of the abdomen). Skin diseases from dinitrochlorobenzene occur mainly in the summer months. Newly hired and temporary workers fall ill more often. Old workers develop a certain habituation. Prevention: preliminary medical examinations and subsequent periodic examinations of workers, wearing special clothing during certain processes associated with the release of dust and splashes of dinitrochlorobenzene; wearing proper respirators, sealing of equipment, mechanization of transport, packing of dinitrochlorobenzene in impermeable, preferably metal, containers, etc.