CURRENT PERSPECTIVES ON AEROSOL TOXICITY 279 making removal of the material difficult and increasing the likelihood of foreign body tissue reactions (5, 9). Spray keratitis, such as that just de- scribed, has been reported for hair sprays, insecticides, paint sprays, and de- odorants (5, 9). Furthermore, the cooling and drying action of the propellants and/or solvents in a product may aid in the penetration of aerosol particles into the eye (5). Predicting the toxicity of household aerosols in humans, as a result of screening studies in animals, is not easily accomplished. The anatomy and physiology of the respiratory structures in lower animals is different from man (34) also, diseased humans will often respond differently to a product than w,_'11 healtlay laboratory spedes. Another problem is tlae design of a suitable exposure chamber assuming that the environment can contribute to the po- tential hazards of a household aerosol product, there is little equivaleney be- tween the exposure chambers commonly used in the testing laboratories to evaluate the potential toxicity of aerosol products and the actual rooms that humans live in when using such products (34). In general, though, despite the millions of units of household aerosol products consumed each year in this country, few toxic reactions are reported and, of those that are reported, approximately half are probably due to consumer error in following the in- struetions for use printed on tlae package. TOXICITY AND HYPERSENSITIVITY Toxicity is a function of a chemical compound and its reaction with bio- logical tissues and can usually, but not always, be predicted from animal stu- dies. It is the responsibility of the manufacturer of cosmetic and household aerosols to market products with a low order of toxicity in general, this re- sponsibility has been adequately accomplished. Hypersensitivity, or allergic, responses only occur in a small percentage of users of aerosolized products and, in general, cannot be adequately predicted from animal investigation. It is known, however, that persons with certain allergic diseases and/or a heredi- tary tendency towards respiratory and skin diseases may be more likely to elicit allergic reactions to many types of products commonly used in the home, including aerosols. There is little a manufacturer can do to reduce such ad- verse reactions to commercial aerosols, except to use ingredients which have been shown, through years of use or extensive laboratory and clinical testing, to produce a low incidence of hypersensitivity reactions. Other suggestions to reduce the incidence of aerosol-related allergy would be: pooling of reported allergic responses to products and ingredients clinical testing on a wider scale to determine ingredients eausing allergic responses and limited market- ing of new cosmetic or household aerosols, containing new ingredients, until the allergy profile is well established. (Received May 4, 1073)

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