Abstract
Occupational exposure to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and the medical management of H2S-associated toxicity remains a problem in the sour gas industry and some other industrial settings. The acute effects of exposure to H2S are well recognized, but accurate exposure-response data are limited to acutely lethal effects, even in animal studies. Odor followed by olfactory paralysis and kerato-conjunctivitis are the characteristic effects of H2S at lower concentrations. H2S-induced acute central toxicity leading to reversible unconsciousness is a “knockdown”; it is controversial whether repeated or prolonged knockdowns are associated with chronic neurologic sequelae but the evidence is suggestive. Knockdowns can be acutely fatal as a consequence of respiratory paralysis and cellular anoxia. Pulmonary edema is also a well-recognized acute effect of H2S toxicity. Human studies of sublethal exposure with satisfactory exposure assessment are almost nonexistent. There are indications, poorly documented at present, of other chronic health problems associated with H2S exposure, including neurotoxicity, cardiac arrhythmia, and chronic eye irritation but apparently not cancer. Rigorous and comprehensive studies in the sour gas industry are difficult, in part because of confounding exposures and uncertain end points.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alberta Environment (1981) Sour-gas processing-plant applications — a guide to content. Energy Resources Conservation Board, Calgary, guide G-26
Ahlborg G (1951) Hydrogen sulfide poisoning in shale oil industry. Arch Ind Hyg Occup Med 3:247–266
Arnold IMF, Dufresne RM, Alleyne BC, Stuart PJW (1985) Health implications of occupational exposures to hydrogen sulfide. J Occup Med 27:373–376
Audeau FM, Gnanaharan C, Davey K (1985) Hydrogen sulphide poisoning associated with pelt processing. NZ Med J 93:145–147
Beauchamp RO Jr, Bus JS, Popp JA, Boreiko CJ, Andjelkovich DA (1984) A critical review of the literature on hydrogen sulphide toxicity. CRC Crit Rev Toxicol 13:25–97
Beck JF, Donini JC, Maneckjee A (1983) The influence of sulfide and cyanide on axonal function. Toxicology 26:37–45
Bensted J, Haynes PE, Henderson E, Jones A, Smallwood TB (1983) Chemical aspects of oilwell cementing. In: Ogden PH (ed) Chemicals in the oil industry. The Royal Society of Chemistry, London
Bessems E, Clemmit AF (1983) Quartemary ammonium compounds: evaluation and application in the control of sulphatereducing bacteria. In: Ogden PH (ed) Chemicals in the oil industry. The Royal Society of Chemistry, London
Bhambhani Y, Sing M (1991) Physiological effects of hydrogen sulfide inhalation during exercise in healthy men. J Appl Physiol 71:1872–1877
Burnett WW, King EG, Grace M, Hall WF (1977) Hydrogen sulfide poisoning: review of 5 years' experience. Can Med Assoc J 117:1277–1280
Cottle MKW, Guidotti TL (1989) Process chemicals in the oil and gas industry: potential occupational hazards. Toxicol Ind Health 6:41–56
Elovaara E, Tossavainen A, Savolainen H (1978) Effects of subclinical hydrogen sulfide intoxication on mouse brain protein metabolism. Exp Neurol 62:93–98
Evans H (1989) Occupational hygiene at an Alberta (Canada) natural gas processing plant. Ann Occup Hyg 47:221–224
Glass DC (1990) A review of the health effects of hydrogen sulphide exposure. Ann Occup Hyg 34:323–327
Goodwin LR, Francom D, Dieken FP, Taylor JD, Warenycia MW, Reiffenstein R, Dowling G (1989) Determination of sulfide in brain tissue by gas dialysis/ion chromatography: postmortem studies and two case reports. J Anal Toxicol 13:105–109
Gorman DF (1989) Problems and pitfalls in the use of hyperbaric oxygen for the treatment of poisoned patients. Med Toxicol Adverse Drug Exp 4:393–399
Graham DI (1977) Pathology of hypoxic brain damage in man. J Clin Pathol 30:170–180
Haider SS, Hasan M (1985) Neurochemical changes by inhalation of environmental pollutants sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide: degradation of total lipids, elevation of lipid peroxidation and enzyme activity in discrete regions of guinea pig brain and spinal cord. In Health 22:23–31
Harris CM, Mitchell SC, Waring RH, Hendry GL (1986) The case of the black-speckled dolls: an occupational hazard of unusual sulphur metabolism. Lancet I:492–493
Hurwitz LJ, Taylor GI (1954) Poisoning by sewer gas. Lancet I:1110–1112
Jäppinen P, Tenhunen R (1990) Hydrogen sulfide poisoning: blood sulphide concentration and changes in haem metabolism. Br J Ind Med 47:283–285
Jäppinen P, Vikka V, Marttila O, Haahtela T (1990) Exposure to hydrogen sulphide and respiratory function. Br J Ind Med 47:824–828
Kaipainen WJ (1954) Hydrogen sulfide intoxication — rapidly transient changes in the electrocardiogram suggestive of myocardial infarction. Ann Med Intern Fenniae 43:97–101
Kangas J, Savolainen H (1987) Urinary thiosulphate as an indicator of exposure to hydrogen sulfide vapour. Clin Chim Acta 164:7–10
Kelley JA (1983) The chemistry of corrosion inhibitors used in oil production. In: Ogden PH (ed) Chemicals in the oil industry. Royal Society of Chemistry, London
Kemper FD (1966) A near-fatal case of hydrogen sulfide poisoning. Can Med Assoc J 94:1130–1131
Khan AA, Schuler MM, Prior MG, Yong S, Coppock RW, Florence LZ, Lillie LE (1990) Effects of hydrogen sulfide exposure on lung mitochondrial respiratory chain enzymes in rats. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 103:482–490
Kosmider S, Rogala E, Pacholek A (1966) Untersuchungen über den toxischen Wirkungsmechanismus des Schwefelwasserstoffs. Int Arch Gewerbepathol Gewerbehyg 22:60–76
Lopez A, Prior MG, Reiffenstein RJ, Goodwin LR (1989) Peracute toxic effects of inhaled hydrogen sulfide and injected sodium hydrosulfide on the lungs of rats. Fund Appl Toxicol 12:367–373
Luck J, Kaye SB (1989) An unrecognized form of hydrogen sulfide keratoconjunctivitis. Br J Ind Med 46:478–479
MacFarland HN, Holdsworth GE, MacGregor JA, Call RW, Lane ML (1984) Advances in modern environmental toxicology, vol. 6. Applied Toxicology of Petroleum Hydrocarbons. Princeton Scientific, Princeton
Magladry R (1986) Shell Canada: the path of growth: 1911–1986. Shell Canada, Calgary
Milby TH (1962) Hydrogen sulfide intoxication. Review of the literature and report of unusual accident resulting in two cases of nonfatal poisoning. J Occup Med 4:431–437
Mitchell SC, Waring RH, Haley CS, Idle JR, Smith RL (1984) Genetic aspects of the polymodially distributed sulphoxidation of S-carboxymethyl-L-cysteine in man. Br J Clin Pharmacol 18:507–521
Niemann von R (1983) Psychosyndrome und Polyneuropathien infolge Vergiftungen durch Erstickungsgase, Lösungsmittel und Pestizide. Zbl Arbeitsmed 33:146–155
Parra O, Monso E, Gallego M, Morera J (1991) Inhalation of hydrogen sulphide: a case of subacute manifestations and long term sequelae. Br J Ind Med 48:286–287
Prior M, Green F, Lopez A, Balu A, De Sanctis GT, Fick G (1990) Capsaicin pretreatment modifies hydrogen sulphide-induced pulmonary injury in rats. Toxicol Pathol 18:279–288
Reiffenstein RJ, Hulbert WC, Roth SH (1992) Toxicology of hydrogen sulfide. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol 109–134
Robinson AV (1982) Effect of in vitro exposure to hydrogen sulfide on rabbit alveolar macrophages cultured on gas-permeable membranes. Environ Res 27:591–600
Rogers RE, Ferin J (1981) Effect of hydrogen sulfide on bacterial inactivation in the rat lung. Arch Envrion Health 36:261–264
Savolainen H, Tunhunen R, Elovaara E, Tossavainen A (1980) Cumulative biochemical effects of repeated subclinical hydrogen sulfide intoxication in mouse brain. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 46:87–92
Simson RE, Simpson GR (1971) Fatal hydrogen sulphide poisoning associated with industrial waste exposure. Med J Aust 1:331–334
Stenson F (1985) Waste to wealth: a history of gas processing in Canada. Canadian Gas Processors Association, Calgary
Tansy MF, Kendall FM, Fantasia J, Landin WE, Oberly R, Sherman W (1981) Acute and subehronic toxicity studies of rats exposed to vapors of methyl mercaptan and other reducedsulphur compounds. J Toxicol Environ Health 8:71–88
Turner RM, Fairhurst S (1990) Toxicology of substances in relation to major hazards: hydrogen sulphide. HMSO, London, pp 1–14
Tvedt B, Edland A, Skyberg K, Forberg O (1991) Delayed neuropsychiatric sequelae after acute hadrogen sulfide poisoning: affection of motor function, memory, vision, and hearing. Acta Neurol Scand 84:348–351
U.S. National Research Council, Committee on Medical & Biological Effects of Environmental Pollutants: Subcommittee on Hydrogen Sulfide (1979) Hydrogen sulfide. University Park Press, Baltimore
Public Health Service (I977) Criteria for a recommended standard..... occupational exposure to hydrogen sulfide. U.S. Department of Health Education, and Welfare. Centre for Disease Control [DHEW(NIOSH) Publication No. 77–158]
Warenycia MW, Reiffenstein RJ, Goodwin LR, Dieken FP (1989) Brain sulfide levels in anesthesia: a comparison with hydrogen sulfide intoxication. Toxicol Lett 47:221–224
Warenycia MW, Steele JA, Karpinski E, Reiffenstein RJ (1989) Hydrogen sulfide in combination with taurine or cysteic acid reversibly abolishes sodium currents in neuroblastoma cells. Neurotoxicology 10:191–200
Warenycia MW, Smith KA, Blashko CS, Kombian SB, Reiffenstein RJ (1989) Monoamine oxidase inhibition as a sequel of hydrogen sulphide intoxication: increases in brain catecholamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine levels. Arch Toxicol 63:131–136
Warenycia MW, Goodwin LR, Benishin CG, Reiffenstein RJ, Francom DM, Taylor JD, Dieken FP (1989) Acute hydrogen sulfide poisoning: demonstration of selective uptake of sulfide by the brainstem by measurement of brain sulfide levels. Biochem Pharmacol 38:973–981
Wasch H, Estrin WJ, Yip P, Bowler R, Cone JE (1989) Prolongation of the P-300 latency associated with hydrogen sulphide exposure. Arch Neurol 46:902–904
WHO International Programme on Chemical Safety. Environmental Health Cirteria 19:hydrogen sulphide. World Health Organization, Geneva
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Guidotti, T.L. Occupational exposure to hydrogen sulfide in the sour gas industry: some unresolved issues. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 66, 153–160 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380773
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380773