The chemical Vinyl Chloride has been historically known to create a number of health problems for decades even before it was known to cause angiosarcoma. The federal government was aware of the risk of Vinyl Chloride and had regulated workers to only be exposed to 500 ppm (part per million) a day. Because Angiosarcoma takes decades to fully develop, the initial studies of vinyl chloride were observing more obvious conditions like liver disease and degenerative bone disorders. In the late 1960’s the connection between Vinyl Chloride and Angiosarcoma presented itself as B.F. Goodrich workers were exposed to above average rates of the chemical. These workers had much higher rates of developing liver angiosarcoma. More studies were conducted after this initial discovery because it seemed strange that such a large number of workers in one plant could suffer from such a rare disease by coincidence.
Scientists have struggled to pinpoint the exact methods by which vinyl chloride causes liver angiosarcoma, but most thought that it was inhaled first, and then transferred into the bloodstream where the liver attempts to filter it. When the liver fails to filter the chemical, it causes serious mutations to the liver cells, resulting in angiosarcoma. Like the B.G. Goodrich cases, numerous more cases were seen in the hairdressing industry. It was later learned that these beauty shop workers used aerosol cans that have vinyl chloride acting as a propellant for the spray. As a result, the government revised the original protective measures to limit vinyl chloride to one ppm per day.
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