All rights reserved. The trade union press is hearby authorised to use this material. The news service is sponsored bySAK, the largest central tradeunion in Finland, and eleven of its 24 affiliated unions. Exposure to isocyanates is a more serious health hazard than has previously been realised, according to recent findings by scientists Gunnar Skarping, Marianne Dalene and their colleagues at Lund University Hospital in Sweden.
Isocyanates are basic chemicals.
They are mainly used in producing polyurethane foam, polyurethane elastomers, polyurethane adhesives and polyurethane varnish. The industrial manufacture of polyurethane or any processing of polyurethane products involving heating can cause exposure to isocyanates. The production and use of isocyanates has been increasing for many years. In Western Europe, polyurethane production increased from 994,000 tons in 1983 to 1,687,000 tons in 1992 and this increase has continued. It is difficult to estimate the number of people whose health is at risk in their workplaces because of isocyanates, but they can be counted by the thousand.