Workplace

Acrylamide is a chemical that forms naturally in starchy foods during high-temperature cooking — frying, roasting, baking, or toasting. It was first detected in food in 2002 and has since become one of the most studie…

Cabin air on commercial aircraft is supplied by "bleed air" drawn from the jet engine compressor — it passes through the engine's hot sections before being cooled and delivered to the cabin, and is never independently…

School art rooms concentrate volatile organic solvents from paints, varnishes, adhesives, and cleaning fluids into an enclosed space used by children for hours at a time. Toluene and xylene are the principal VOCs of c…

Asbestos is a group of naturally occurring fibrous silicate minerals — primarily chrysotile (white asbestos), crocidolite (blue asbestos), and amosite (brown asbestos) — used extensively in construction, insulation, a…

The UK has more asbestos in its domestic housing stock than almost any other country — estimated 1.5 million domestic properties still contain asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) from the construction boom of the 195…

Asbestos is a group of naturally occurring fibrous silicate minerals — not a synthetic chemical, but categorised here alongside microplastic fibres because its harm mechanism is identical: microscopic inhalable fibres…

Azo dyes are the largest class of synthetic colorants used in textile manufacturing, responsible for 60–70% of all textile dyeing globally. The health concern with textile azo dyes is their reductive cleavage under ce…

Benzene is an aromatic hydrocarbon that is a natural constituent of crude oil and a component of petrol. It is also produced during combustion processes including cigarette smoking, vehicle exhaust, and burning of woo…

A lightweight metal valued for its exceptional stiffness and thermal properties in electronics whose dust causes berylliosis — an irreversible and potentially fatal chronic lung disease — primarily in manufacturing an…

Bisphenol A (BPA) has been used as a colour developer coating on thermal paper since the 1960s — the same BPA that concerns toxicologists in plastics is present in very high concentrations (up to 3% by weight) on the …

Vehicle brakes generate fine metallic dust every time they are applied — friction between brake pads and rotors ablates microscopic metal particles from both components. Brake dust is a chemically distinctive urban ai…

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are a group of chemicals added to plastics in consumer electronics, printed circuit boards, and casings to slow fire spread. The most significant groups are polybrominated diphenyl e…

Cadmium is a heavy metal that accumulates in the kidneys and bone, causing kidney damage and bone demineralisation with chronic exposure. Cadmium pigments — cadmium yellow, cadmium orange, and cadmium red — produce in…

Cadmium is used in nickel-cadmium (NiCd) rechargeable batteries, as a stabiliser and pigment in plastics used in electronic casings, and in thin-film cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar panels. It is an IARC Group 1 carcin…

Hexavalent chromium — a potent carcinogen and the most common cause of occupational contact dermatitis globally — forms in leather goods tanned using chromium salts, with shoes, belts, watch straps, and bags creating …

A critical component of lithium-ion batteries in smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles, cobalt creates serious health risks for artisanal mining communities in the DRC and e-waste recycling workers, with environ…

D4 (cyclotetrasiloxane) and D5 (cyclopentasiloxane) are silicone-based compounds used to give personal care products their characteristic silky, smooth feel. Both are persistent environmental pollutants — D4 is classi…

Dichloromethane (DCM, methylene chloride) is the most effective solvent paint stripper available — it dissolves virtually any coating in minutes and requires no heat or mechanical effort. It was the active ingredient …

Diesel exhaust particles are the dominant source of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in UK urban air. Each particle is a carbon-rich core formed during incomplete diesel combustion, coated with dozens of adsorbed organ…

Expanding polyurethane foam — sold under brands including Soudal, Würth, and Great Stuff — is used by DIY renovators to fill gaps around pipes, window frames, loft hatches, and structural voids. The "A" component of t…

Formaldehyde is an IARC Group 1 confirmed human carcinogen present in many environments — from flat-pack furniture off-gassing to keratin hair straightening treatments. In personal care products it appears directly or…

Formaldehyde-releasing resins applied to clothing to create wrinkle-resistant, anti-shrink, and permanent-press finishes off-gas formaldehyde during wear and washing, causing skin sensitisation, respiratory irritation…

Glycol ethers are a family of solvents widely used in cleaning products, paints, varnishes, inks, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical formulations. They fall into two groups: the E-series (ethylene glycol-based, including 2…

HEMA is a monomer used in gel, acrylic, and shellac nail products to bond the coating to the nail. Repeated skin contact causes progressive sensitisation — once sensitised, the immune response is lifelong and can be t…

Portland cement — the basis of concrete, mortar, and render — naturally contains low levels of hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) derived from the raw materials and kiln linings used in manufacture. Cr(VI) in wet cement is so…

Leather tanning converts raw animal hides into durable material, and approximately 80% of global leather production uses chromium(III) sulphate as the tanning agent. Chromium(III) is relatively non-toxic, but it can b…

The transparent conducting coating on virtually every touchscreen and LCD display, indium tin oxide dust causes a severe and progressive occupational lung disease in screen manufacturing workers, with growing concern …

Isocyanates are highly reactive industrial chemicals used to manufacture polyurethane products — foams, coatings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers. Toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MD…

Lead-tin solder was the standard method of attaching electronic components to circuit boards for decades. While the EU RoHS Directive phased out lead solder in most consumer electronics from 2006, exempt categories (m…

Lead has been used in electronics for decades — primarily as tin-lead solder on circuit boards, as lead oxide in cathode ray tube (CRT) glass, and in lead-acid batteries. Although RoHS restrictions have largely elimin…

Dental amalgam has been used as a tooth filling material for over 150 years and is composed of approximately 50% mercury by weight, alloyed with silver, tin, and copper. Once set, amalgam is stable, but it continuousl…

Mercury sealed inside fluorescent tubes, energy-saving bulbs, and LCD backlights poses a significant contamination and inhalation risk when broken or improperly disposed of, with particular hazard in enclosed spaces a…

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a large family of organic compounds formed during incomplete combustion of organic material — particularly fossil fuels, biomass, and tobacco. In urban transport settings, t…

Perchloroethylene (PERC, tetrachloroethylene) is the dominant solvent used in dry cleaning — an estimated 80% of UK dry cleaners still use PERC as their primary cleaning agent. PERC dissolves grease, oils, and many or…

School photocopiers, laser printers, and inkjet printers collectively emit a cocktail of volatile organic compounds, ultrafine particles, and ozone that can significantly degrade indoor air quality in staff rooms, pri…

Phthalates — particularly DEHP, DBP, and DINP — are widely used as plasticisers in PVC cable insulation and sheathing, making it flexible for the extreme bending and heat cycles cables endure. They are also found in s…

Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs or "quats") are a large family of synthetic antimicrobial chemicals used as disinfectants, preservatives, and surfactants. They are found in kitchen sprays, bathroom disinfectants, …

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas produced by the decay of uranium and radium in rocks and soil. It is colourless, odourless, and tasteless — entirely undetectable without a test. Radon seeps from the gro…

Respirable crystalline silica (RCS) consists of microscopic particles of quartz or cristobalite — the crystalline forms of silica — small enough to reach the deepest parts of the lung. It is released when construction…

SLS and SLES are the most widely used foaming surfactants in personal care products. SLS directly disrupts the skin barrier. SLES is milder but carries a separate concern: it can be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane — a p…

Every time a room is painted or wood is varnished with solvent-based products, a significant quantity of volatile organic compounds is released into the indoor air. Solvent-based gloss paints, oil-based undercoats, va…

Styrene is a colourless, oily liquid with a distinctive sweet smell used to manufacture polystyrene plastics, synthetic rubber, resins, and fibreglass. It is classified as a possible human carcinogen (IARC Group 2B) a…

Aircraft cabin air is typically drawn from hot compressed air bled from jet engines — a system known as the "bleed air" system. If engine oil seals develop small leaks, engine oil (which contains tricresyl phosphate (…

Thiurams and carbamates are chemical accelerants used in the vulcanisation of natural and synthetic rubber — they are essential to the manufacturing process that gives rubber its elasticity and durability. They are pr…

Trichloramine is the compound responsible for the characteristic "pool smell" — a smell most people associate with cleanliness. It is not the smell of clean water. It is the smell of chlorine reacting with urine, swea…

Triclosan is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent once ubiquitous in soaps, toothpastes and kitchen products. It was banned from rinse-off products in the US in 2016 and from most EU cosmetics in 2014, but remains in …

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are carbon-based chemicals that evaporate readily at room temperature, releasing vapours into indoor air. Paints, varnishes, wood stains, adhesives, and new furniture are the primary …