INDICES> Trifluoracetamide (2)

[Joel Lexchin <joel.lexchin@utoronto.ca>]

INDICES> Trifluoracetamide (2)
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I?m afraid that information about trifluoracetamide poisoning may be
very difficult to come by.  I just did a Medline search from 1966 to the
present including all language groups and got back only four articles
none of which had any direct clinical relevance.  A search of some
toxicology web pages was also unsuccessful.  Good luck.

Joel Lexchin

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Joel Lexchin MD
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Tel:  +61 8 8338 0151
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[Thanks, Joel, for trying to help. 
Maybe we can use this case to develop a "methodology" for finding info on
strange chemicals. I checked the following sources:
- Merck Index
- Martindale
- UN List of banned substances
None of them listed trifluoroacetamide.

Why not ask the producers?
I found 5 suppliers of trifluoracetamide.
See http://www.sourcerer.co.uk/chempages/0967700P.HTM
This www.sourcerer.co.uk website is excellent for finding chemicals.

Is TFAA really the correct abbreviation for trifluoroacetamide? 
Does TFAA not stand for trifluoroacetic anhydride (CAS number 407-25-0), wheras
trifluoroacetamide has CAS number 354-38-1 ?

Often chemicals have different names for the same product. Anybody who knows the synonyms
for trifluoroacetamide?

I checked Internet (using my favourite search engine www.google.com)
for trifluoroacetamide  poisoning or toxicity, but only found one descriptive report 
of the Viernam problem (and no toxicology or poisoning information):

http://www.intox.org/sing.html

"Professor Nguyen Thi Du (Vietnam) presented information on the use of chemicals and associated
poisonings in Vietnam, a country with a population of 77 million people. Nearly 80% of the population are
farmers. She noted that pesticide importation had increased from 30,000 tones in 1994 to more than 600,000
tones in 1998. Poisonings have increased in recent years because of the black market importation of
pesticides with foreign labeling. Suicides have also increased. In 1998 a survey was undertaken of poisonings
handled by 39 provincial hospitals from 1996 through to the first trimester of 1998. Poisoning with agricultural
chemicals was the most prevalent (26%) and had the highest morality rate (6.2%). Rodenticide
(trifluoroacetamide) and organophosphate poisonings were notable. Recently poisoning with CS has become
common due to the unearthing of a supply of this agent hurried buried by departing US army personnel."

Anybody with suggestions for other sources or search techniques?

Wilbert Bannenberg, temporary moderator
WilbertBannenberg@compuserve.com
]
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