Banned dinitrophenols still trigger both legal and forensic issues

• Published in: Environmental forensics Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 120 - 130
• Main Authors: Zaharia, Marius, Tudorachi, Lucia, Pintilie, Olga, Drochioi, Cristian, Gradinaru, Robert, Murariu, Manuela
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Taylor & Francis 02.01.2016; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: 2,4-dinitrophenol; accidents; Biological; death; diet; Dinitrophenols; dinoseb; Drugs; environmental forensics; environmental hazards; environmental health; Forensic engineering; Forensic sciences; groundwater; Hazardous substances; Ingredients; Internet; Legal; legal/illegal use; mechanism of action; metabolic inhibitors; Pesticides; Pills; polluted soils; Soils; Toxicity; toxicity mechanism; toxicology; toxins; weight loss
• ISSN: 1527-5930; 1527-5922; 1527-5930
• DOI: 10.1080/15275922.2015.1133735

Numerous hazardous chemicals from various industrial sources enter the environment daily; some of them can be used both as drugs and as toxins. Many of these compounds, including dinitrophenols, such as 2,4-dinitrophenol (2,4-DNP), 4,6-dinitrocresol (DNOC), and 2- sec -butyl-4,6-dinitrophenol (dinoseb), are widely used pesticides that persist in some contaminated soils. They have been found in groundwater, causing health and environmental hazards, and are subjects of forensic toxicology. Dinitrophenols have multiple biological and noxious effects based on a mechanism of action characteristic to metabolic inhibitors. Although banned, they have pharmaceutical activity and can be purchased on the Internet as ingredients of weight-loss pills. Many death cases have been reported as accidents in agriculture or as overdoses in weight-loss diets. In this article, we discuss legal aspects of dinitrophenol usage, as well as their biological effect and possible mechanisms of toxicity.