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Zinc
CAS ID #: 7440-66-6
Affected Organ Systems: Gastrointestinal (Digestive), Hematological (Blood Forming), Respiratory (From the Nose to the Lungs)
Cancer Classification: EPA: Inadequate information to assess carcinogenic potential. IARC: Not evaluated. NTP: Not evaluated
Please contact NTP, IARC, or EPA’s IRIS Hotline with questions on cancer and cancer classification.
Chemical Classification: Inorganic substancesSummary: Zinc is one of the most common elements in the earth's crust. It is found in air, soil, and water, and is present in all foods. Pure zinc is a bluish-white shiny metal. Zinc has many commercial uses as coatings to prevent rust, in dry cell batteries, and mixed with other metals to make alloys like brass, and bronze. A zinc and copper alloy is used to make pennies in the United States. Zinc combines with other elements to form zinc compounds. Common zinc compounds found at hazardous waste sites include zinc chloride, zinc oxide, zinc sulfate, and zinc sulfide. Zinc compounds are widely used in industry to make paint, rubber, dyes, wood preservatives, and ointments.
Community Members
Fact sheet that answers the most frequently asked questions about a contaminant and its health effects.
Summary about a hazardous substance taken from Chapter One of its respective ATSDR Toxicological Profile.
Isla de Vieques is part of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, located about 7 miles east-southeast of the main island of Puerto Rico. Until May 2003, the U.S. Navy owned approximately half of the island and conducted military exercises that included live bombing. The live bombing exercises were conducted until April 1999 in a 900-acre area known as the Live Impact Area. The Navy conducted exercises with practice bombs from May 2000 to May 2003.
Between 1995 and 2008, private citizens petitioned ATSDR about health concerns related to chemicals in the city's air, water, and soil. The petitions focused on
- Chemicals released to soil from a former smelter;
- Chemicals released to air, soil, and water from two landfills;
- Chemicals released to air from refineries and petrochemical companies; and,
- Whether high birth-defect rates in the Corpus Christi area were in any way related to activities at area industrial sites, or to releases from those sites.
Toxicological and Health Professionals
Succinctly characterizes the toxicologic and adverse health effects information for a hazardous substance.
Quick reference guide providing information such as chemical and physical properties, sources of exposure, routes of exposure, minimal risk levels, children's health, and health effects for a substance.
Prioritization of substances based on a combination of their frequency, toxicity, and potential for human exposure at National Priorities List (NPL) sites.
The MRL is an estimate of the daily human exposure to a hazardous substance that is likely to be without appreciable risk of adverse, non-cancer health effects over a specified duration of exposure. The information in this MRL serves as a screening tool to help public health professionals decide where to look more closely to evaluate possible risk of adverse health effects from human exposure.
Succintly characterizes the toxicologic and adverse health effects information for mixtures of hazardous substances.
- Page last reviewed: March 3, 2011
- Page last updated: March 3, 2011
- Content source: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
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