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Nephrotoxin
Definition
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A nephrotoxin is a toxic agent or substance that inhibits, damages or destroys the cells and/or tissues of the kidneys. This is an example of a cytotoxin. The adjective form is nephrotoxic.
Inflammation of the kidneys is called nephritis. Study of the kidneys is called nephrology. Something that pertains to the kidneys is called nephritic or renal. Disease of the kidneys is called nephropathy or renal disease.
Additional Info
Your kidneys are vital organs responsible for regulating the water content of your body, maintaining proper pH and for the excretion of bodily wastes as urine.
Besides causing direct damage to your kidneys, nephrotoxins can worsen or aggravate other conditions such as diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), and cardiovascular (heart) disease. They can also interfere with vitamin D metabolism and hormone synthesis.
Signs or symptoms of exposure to nephrotoxins may include proteinuria (protein in the urine), edema, kidney stones, and uremia (excess an excess of urea in the blood, characterized by headache, nausea and/or coma).
While a wide variety of chemicals cam cause kidney toxicity, there is no authoritative comprehensive list of such chemicals.
SDS Relevance
Always check Section 11 (toxicological information) of the Safety Data Sheet before you work with a new material for the first time. Both acute and chronic (long and short-term) exposure to certain organic chemicals can cause inflammation, injury or severe damage to the kidneys.
Treat nephrotoxins with great respect, particularly "heavy metals" such as lead, cadmium and mercury as well as chlorocarbons such as carbon tetrachloride and chloroform. If you must use such materials, Section 8 (exposure controls/personal protection) for the proper controls to minimize the number of exposed workers (such as fume hoods) as well as respirators, gloves etc. to protect individual workers. Make sure that all containers are properly labeled as well.
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A 2013 study in the International Journal of Renovascular Disease (see link under Further Reading) concluded that workers in certain occupations are at an increased risk for chronic kidney disease. The rates of various occupations compared to the control group were:
- 4.3 times higher for Building, Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance
- 4.4 times higher in Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
- 4.7 times higher in Transportation and Material Moving
- 4.7 times higher in Computer and Mathematical
- 4.8 times higher in Production
- 5.3 times higher in Food Preparation and Serving Related
- 6.1 times higher in Healthcare Support and in Legal.
Finally note that exposure to multiple nephrotoxins at moderate levels may have a greater than expected nephrotoxicity. For example, see Liu, J, et al. "Chronic combined exposure to cadmium and arsenic exacerbates nephrotoxicity, particularly in metallothionein-I/II null mice" Toxicology 2000, 147, 157-166. In addition, high stress behaviors/occupations as well as lower socioeconomic status have been linked to kidney disease.
Further Reading
Kidney health depends on staying properly hydrated. Get this and related heat stress prevention signs from Safety Emporium.
- Acute toxic kidney injury from Ren. Fail., 2019, 41(1), pp 576-594.
- Nephrotoxicity and Renal Pathophysiology: A Contemporary Perspective from Tox. Sci., 2018, 164(2), pp 379-390.
- OSHA's preamble to the Cadmium Standard discusses the nephrotoxic effects of cadmium in great detail. This seems to be missing, but an archived copy is available through the Internet Wayback Machine.
- OSHA Safety Sheet on Cadmium, including details on health effects with good discussion of the renal effects.
- An OSHA Brief on Medical Evaluation of Renal Effects of Cadmium Exposures, to help physicians understand the medical surveillance provisions of the Cadmium standard.
- Heavy Metal Nephropathy at the Merck Manual Professional version.
- Occupational risk and chronic kidney disease: a population-based study in the United States adult population from Int J Nephrol Renovasc Dis 2013, 6, pp 53-59.
- Occupational Renal Diseases.
- Nephrotoxicity (Renal Toxicity), a common side effect of chemotherapy, at Chemocare.com
See also: cytotoxin, hypertension, poison, systemic, toxic.