Chemicals that occur naturally or are created from industrial processes can have negative health effects if you are exposed for a short time or over a long period of time. The below list contains some chemicals we have been asked to identify in the past. If you can't find what you are looking for, check out the ATSDR's ToxFAQs, as they provide useful information on the exposure, standards, and health effects of chemicals.
Local Health Department Resources
- Chemical Release Toolkit provides general information and guidance for chemical releases.
- Assessing and Ordering Meth Lab Cleanup: A Guide for Local Health Departments provides information for local health after a meth lab has been seized by law enforcement.
'ppm' and 'ppt' Explained
One part per billion = 1 µg/L (microgram per liter)
This amount is equal to:
- One drop of ink in a backyard swimming pool.
- One grain of sand in a child's sandbox.
- One second in 32 years.
One part per trillion = 1 ng/L (nanogram per liter)
This amount is equal to:
- One drop of detergent in enough dishwater to fill a string of railroad tank cars 10 miles long.
- One square inch in 250 square miles.
- One second in 32,000 years.
Chemical concentrations such as parts per million (ppm), parts per billion (ppb), or parts per trillion (ppt) are ways of expressing very dilute concentrations of substances. It usually describes the concentration of something in water or soil.
- 1 part per million (ppm)
= 1 in 1,000,000 or 1 x 10-6 or 0.000001 - 1 part per billion (ppb)
= 1/1,000 times 1 ppm or 1 X10-9 or 0.000000001 - 1 part per trillion (ppt)
= 1/1,000 times 1 ppb or 1 x 10-12 or 0.000000000001
