carcinogenic effects are thought to be associated with regenerative hyperplasia that is in response to cell death and the data suggest that human exposures do not cause hyperplasia, and therefore would not result in carcinogenesis (Bruckner and Warren, 2001).

FIGURE 4.2 Metabolic pathways of chloroform biotransformation.

SOURCE: ATSDR, 1997b.

Alcohols are widely used solvents that elicit the general solvent effects discussed earlier. Figure 4.3 shows the chemical structures of four representative alcohols: two primary aliphatic alcohols, methanol and ethanol; one secondary aliphatic alcohol, isopropanol; and one cyclic secondary alcohol, cyclohexanol.

In addition to CNS depression, methanol exposure in primates results in serious effects mediated by metabolites. Methanol can produce severe acidosis and retinal damage