September 1995 |
ToxFAQs™ |
for |
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Vanadium and Compounds |
(Vanadio) |
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This fact sheet answers the most frequently
asked health questions about vanadium. For more information,
you may call the ATSDR Information Center at 1-888-422-8737.
This fact sheet is one in a series of summaries about hazardous
substances and their health effects. This information is important
because this substance may harm you. The effects of exposure
to any hazardous substance depend on the dose, the duration,
how you are exposed, personal traits and habits, and whether
other chemicals are present.
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SUMMARY: Everyone is exposed
to low levels of vanadium in air, water, and food; however,
most people are exposed mainly from food. Breathing high
levels of vanadium may cause lung irritation, chest pain,
coughing, and other effects. This chemical has been found
in at least 385 of 1,416 National Priorities List sites
identified by the Environmental Protection Agency. |
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What
is vanadium? |
Vanadium is a compound that occurs in
nature as a white-to-gray metal, and is often found as crystals.
Pure vanadium has no smell. It usually combines with other
elements such as oxygen, sodium, sulfur, or chloride. Vanadium
and vanadium compounds can be found in the earth's crust and
in rocks, some iron ores, and crude petroleum deposits.
Vanadium is mostly combined with other
metals to make special metal mixtures called alloys. Vanadium
in the form of vanadium oxide is a component in special kinds
of steel that is used for automobile parts, springs, and ball
bearings. Most of the vanadium used in the United States is
used to make steel. Vanadium oxide is a yellow-orange powder,
dark-gray flakes, or yellow crystals. Vanadium is also mixed
with iron to make important parts for aircraft engines.
Small amounts of vanadium are used in
making rubber, plastics, ceramics, and other chemicals.
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What
happens to vanadium when it enters the environment? |
- Vanadium mainly enters the environment from natural sources
and from the burning of fuel oils.
- It stays in the air, water, and soil for a long time.
- It does not dissolve well in water.
- It combines with other elements and particles.
- It sticks to soil sediments.
- Low levels have been found in plants, but it is not likely
to build up in the tissues of animals.
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How
might I be exposed to vanadium? |
- Exposure to very low levels in air, water, and food.
- Eating higher levels of it in certain foods.
- Breathing air near an industry that burns fuel oil or
coal; these industries release vanadium oxide into the air.
- Working in industries that process it or make products
containing it.
- Breathing contaminated air or drinking contaminated water
near waste sites or landfills containing vanadium.
- Vanadium is not readily absorbed by the body from the
stomach, gut, or contact with the skin.
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How
can vanadium affect my health? |
Exposure to high levels of vanadium can
cause harmful health effects. The major effects from breathing
high levels of vanadium are on the lungs, throat, and eyes.
Workers who breathed it for short and long periods sometimes
had lung irritation, coughing, wheezing, chest pain, runny
nose, and a sore throat. These effects stopped soon after
they stopped breathing the contaminated air. Similar effects
have been observed in animal studies. No other significant
health effects of vanadium have been found in people.
We do not know the health effects in
people of ingesting vanadium. Animals that ingested very large
doses have died. Lower, but still high levels of vanadium
in the water of pregnant animals resulted in minor birth defects.
Some animals that breathed or ingested vanadium over a long
term had minor kidney and liver changes.
The amounts of vanadium given in these
animal studies that resulted in harmful effects are much higher
than those likely to occur in the environment.
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How
likely is vanadium to cause cancer? |
The Department of Health and Human Services,
the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) have not classified vanadium as to
its human carcinogenicity.
No human studies are available on the
carcinogenicity of vanadium. No increase in tumors was noted
in a long-term animal study where the animals were exposed
to vanadium in the drinking water.
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Is
there a medical test to show whether I've been exposed to vanadium? |
There are medical tests available to
measure levels of vanadium in urine and blood. These tests
are not routinely performed at doctors' offices because they
require special equipment, but your doctor can take samples
and send them to a testing laboratory. These tests can't determine
if harmful health effects will occur from the exposure to
vanadium.
Another indicator of high vanadium exposure
in people is that their tongues may have a green color on
top.
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Has the federal government made recommendations to protect human health? |
The EPA requires discharges or spills
of 1,000 pounds or more of vanadium into the environment to
be reported.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) has set an exposure limit of 0.05 milligrams per cubic
meter (0.05 mg/m³) for vanadium pentoxide dust and 0.1
mg/m³ for vanadium pentoxide fumes in workplace air for
an 8-hour workday, 40-hour workweek.
The American Conference of Governmental
Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) has recommended an occupational
exposure limit of 0.05 mg/m³ for vanadium pentoxide.
The National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH) has recommended that 35 mg/m³
of vanadium be considered immediately dangerous to life and
health. This is the exposure level of a chemical that is likely
to cause permanent health problems or death.
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Glossary |
Carcinogenicity: Ability to cause cancer.
Ingesting: Taking food or drink into
your body.
Long-term: Lasting one year or longer.
Milligram (mg): One thousandth of a gram.
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References |
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry (ATSDR). 1992. Toxicological Profile for vanadium. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, Public Health Service.
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Where can I get more information? |
ATSDR can tell you where to find occupational
and environmental health clinics. Their specialists can recognize,
evaluate, and treat illnesses resulting from exposure to hazardous
substances. You can also contact your community or state health
or environmental quality department if you have any more questions
or concerns. For more information, contact:
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Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Division of Toxicology
1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop F-32
Atlanta, GA 30333
Phone: 1-888-42-ATSDR (1-888-422-8737)
FAX: (770)-488-4178
Email: ATSDRIC@cdc.gov
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