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Toxicity

Thallium and its compounds are extremely toxic, with numerous recorded cases of fatal thallium poisoning. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set the legal limit (permissible exposure limit) for thallium exposure in the workplace as 0.1 mg/m skin exposure over an eight-hour workday. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) also set a recommended exposure limit (REL) of 0.1 mg/m skin exposure over an eight-hour workday. At levels of 15 mg/m, thallium is immediately dangerous to life and health.

Contact with skin is dangerous, and adequate ventilation is necessary when melting this metal. Thallium(I) compounds have a high aqueous solubility and are readily absorbed through the skin, and care should be taken to avoid this route of exposure, as cutaneous absorption can exceed the absorbed dose received by inhalation at the permissible exposure limit (PEL). Exposure by inhalation cannot safely exceed 0.1 mg/m in an eight-hour time-weighted average (40-hour work week). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states, "Thallium is not classifiable as a carcinogen, and it is not suspected to be a carcinogen. It is unknown whether chronic or repeated exposure to thallium increases the risk of reproductive toxicity or developmental toxicity. Chronic high level exposure to thallium through inhalation has been reported to cause nervous system effects, such as numbness of fingers and toes." For a long time thallium compounds were readily available as rat poison. This fact and that it is water-soluble and nearly tasteless led to frequent intoxication caused by accident or criminal intent.

One of the main methods of removing thallium (both radioactive and stable) from humans is to use Prussian blue, a material which absorbs thallium. Up to 20 grams per day of Prussian blue is fed by mouth to the patient, and it passes through their digestive system and comes out in their stool. Hemodialysis and hemoperfusion are also used to remove thallium from the blood serum. At later stages of the treatment, additional potassium is used to mobilize thallium from the tissues.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), artificially-made sources of thallium pollution include gaseous emission of cement factories, coal-burning power plants, and metal sewers. The main source of elevated thallium concentrations in water is the leaching of thallium from ore processing operations.