| Reply to - What Conditions, etc |
| Type 2 Diabetes risk is
clearly correlated to age and obesity. As such, a chemical that act
simply as a teratogen is an unlikely candidate for being a major causal
factor (unless it compromises Glucose metabolism, or Insulin
production/sensitivity, in which case, you would expect to see earlier
onset Type 2 Diabetes, and weaker correlation with the associated risk
factors). If 2-butoxyethanol is a causal agent of Diabetes, then I
suspect that it would be via direct toxicity, rather than teratogenicity. The development of Type 2 Diabetes associated conditions such as renal conditions, neurological problems, and eyesight impairment have well established mechanisms related to hyperglycaemia, and insulinaemia. I can't see any reason to suppose that they are caused by anything other than Type 2 Diabetes; there is good correlation between proper glucose control via medication and diet, and reduced risk of development of associated conditions. As far as I can tell, 2-butoxyethanol has not been classified as a human teratogen (although evidence of teratogenicity exists in rats) or carcinogen. There are no available studies showing that the compound causes cancer in humans. There are studies showing carcinogenicity in mouse models (but not rats), but there is a suggestion that the cancers are not caused by the chemical, but are secondary to haemolysis. For review see, Gift JS. U.S. EPA's IRIS assessment of 2-butoxyethanol: the relationship of noncancer to cancer effects. Toxicol Lett. 2005 Mar 28;156(1) Cogliano VJ, Grosse Y, Baan RA, Straif K, Secretan MB, El Ghissassi F; Working Group for Volume 88.Meeting report: summary of IARC monographs on formaldehyde, 2-butoxyethanol, and 1-tert-butoxy-2-propanol.163-78; Environ Health Perspect. 2005 Sep;113(9):1205-8. There are exposure limits for humans working with 2-butoxyethanol that are based on direct exposure studies Jakasa I, Mohammadi N, Kruse J, Kezic S. Percutaneous absorption of neat and aqueous solutions of 2-butoxyethanol in volunteers. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2004 Feb;77(2):79-84. Epub 2003 Aug 12. Jones K, Cocker J. A human exposure study to investigate biological monitoring methods for 2-butoxyethanol. Biomarkers. 2003 Sep-Oct;8(5):360-70. To be sure, there are noxious and toxic effects of 2-butoxyethanol, but I can see no evidence for your claims, either biological or epidemiological. It is right, cautious, and prudent, to avoid overexposure to any noxious agent, but I can't find any studies that support your fairly specific claims. |
| First off they don't test
2-butoxyethanol for exposure route of the eyes. Dermal? Respiratory?
only secondary, minor harm. No wonder they don't credit with all it
does.
"In the last 10 years, the incidence of diabetes in North America has risen by one third to 6.5 percent of the adult population, with the sharpest rise of 76 percent in 30 to 40 year olds. Diabetes causes nerve damage which leads to blindness, deafness, heart attacks, strokes, burning foot syndrome, amputations and kidney failure." http://www.drmirkin.com |
12-15-05