Toxic industrial chemicals

Industrial poisons include: alcohol, Columbia spirit and fusel oil; cleansing and polishing agents, for example, car wax, carbon tetrachloride, silver polish, shampoo, soap, synthetic detergents, and bleach; disinfectants not made for use on people, such as ammonium compounds, chlorine releasing agents, pine oil, creosol compounds and formalin; paints, lacquers and whitewashes; petroleum products such as kerosene, acetone, benzine, gasoline, naphtha, toluene, turpentine, white spirit and petroleum gases; pesticides, fertilizers, plant foods, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides and rodenticides; heavy metals and their fumes, namely manganese, beryllium, antimony, arsenic, lead, mercury and the compounds of these metals; various other gases and fumes, such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, hydrocarbon gases and freon; corrosive and caustic chemicals, such as acid, alkalis, carbolic acid, oxidizing and reducing agents, and lye; some cosmetics; some glues.

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people die every year from acute exposure to toxic chemicals but precise figures are not available. In some developing countries, poisoning is among the most frequent cause of mortality in hospital patients.