Ethylene & ethylene oxide

["Bjorn Cedervall" <bcradsafers@hotmail.com>]

>	No I think it's ethylene (not ethylene oxide).  I believe it's a plant 
>hormone that hastens ripening.  I'm not aware that it's a carcinogen.
>
>	Ethylene OXIDE, like organic peroxides, is a *radiomimetic*
>substance, in that it has very similar biological effects to radiation. I 
>suspect this is because it causes free-radical formation.
----
If you get ethylene into your body, I would expect it to oxidize to ethylene 
oxide. Ethylene oxide is a very nasty chemical - it was shown already about 
40-45 years ago by L. Ehrenberg and others that it causes mutations in 
plants (same DNA as in humans).

My own reflections only,

Bjorn Cedervall  bcradsafers@hotmail.com

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