Respiratory and Lung Disease List and the Likely Chemical Causes

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Respiratory and Lung Disease Chemical Causalities

Lung disease affects children and elderly people the most. Asthma, allergies, bronchitis, and sinusitis are just some of the more common respiratory diseases cause by air pollution

There are many types of lung disease and respiratory disease and also many potentially toxic chemicals and toxic substances which have shown evidence of playing a part in the development of these diseases in Humans. The chart below lists many of these respiratory and lung diseases and links to lists of toxic chemicals and substances which have a likely causal link.

Respiratory Disease and Lung Disease Chart - with links to likely Toxic Chemical causes

Bronchiolitis obliterans

Bronchitis - acute

Bronchitis - chronic

Brown lung disease (byssinosis)

COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)

Flock workers disease

Nasal septal perforation

Nasopharyngeal/Sino-Nasal cancer

Oral cancer

Pleural disease (effusions, plaques, thickening)

Pneumoconiosis

Pneumonia

Pneumonitis (hypersensitivity)

Polymer Fume Fever

Pulmonary disease-anemia syndrome

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

Conclusive causal relationships are difficult to establish because chemical exposure is variably manefest in lung disease or respiratory disease symptoms based on many interconnected physical, environmental, and genetic factors which are hard to quantify, predict, or define. Some examples, are genetic makeup, quantity of dose exposure, duration of exposure, route of exposure, concurrent or previous exposures to other chemicals (such as from cigarette smoke), age, and lifestyle factors like diet, level of activity, alcohol consumption, smoking, or UV exposure.

Since the Industrial Revolution over 100,000 additional industrial and household chemicals have been manufactured, distributed, used, and dispersed into our environment. Detectable amounts of many of these chemicals now exists in the air, water, food, and consequently OUR BLOOD! However, less than 6% of all chemicals have been tested for toxic health effects. Consequently, many of us are being exposed to multiple toxic chemical contaminants on a daily basis yet have little understanding of the dangers of those exposures such as from the above listed lung diseases or respiratory diseases.

While we do not understand the potential toxic effects of most chemicals by themselves, worse yet is our understanding of how different chemicals may interact to affect our health. The chemical cocktails we take into our bodies may have opposing, additive, or synergistic health affects. For example, someone who was exposed to Asbestos Fibers or high levels of Radon and also smokes cigarettes can be up to 25 times more likely to develop lung cancer. This risk is far greater than the sum of the individual chemicals' health risks. This is probably because cancer is a two step process of initiation of genetic damage and promotion of cell division incorporating that genetic damage into new cells before that damage can be repaired. The cigarette smoke damages the lungs cells and genetic contents while the asbestos lodged inside the lungs continuously stimulate the immune system and cell division in an attempt to repair and remove the fixed particles. The end result is uncontrolled cancerous cell division or lung disease.

The following information about chemicals which may cause lung disease was obtained primarily from the following sources:

Klaassen CD, Ed. Casarett and Doull's Toxicology: The Basic Science of Poisons, 6th edition. (2001) McGraw-Hill publishing, New York.
LaDou J. Ed. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 3rd edition (2004), Lange Medical/McGraw-Hill, New York.
Rom WM, Ed. Environmental and Occupational Medicine, 3rd edition (1998). Lippincott-Raven, Philadelphia, PA.

Chemicals linked to the below respiratory diseases and lung diseases have been catergorized as follows: