Chloracne from manufacture of a new herbicide

Forty-one chemical company workers had chloracne as a result of exposure to 3,4,3',4'-tetrachloroazoxybenzene (TCAB), an extraneous intermediate produced during the manufacture of a new herbicide. There was no laboratory evidence of significant hepatotoxicity or porphyria during the short time the herbicide was produced. An acnegenic when applied to the rabbit ear, TCAB is also a potent inducer of the microsomal enzyme aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase. Prevention of chlorance is a difficult industrial engineering task and treatment of the disease is even more perplexing.