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Phossy jaw, formally phosphorus necrosis of the jaw, is an occupational disease of those who work with white phosphorus, also known as yellow phosphorus, without proper safeguards. It was most commonly seen in workers in the match industry in the 19th and early 20th century. Modern occupational hygiene practices have eliminated the working conditions which caused this disease.
Those with phossy jaw would begin suffering painful discharge.
White phosphorus was the active ingredient of most matches from the 1840s to the 1910s and exposure to the vapour from this caused a deposition of phosphorus in the jaw bones[3] of workers in the industry. Concern over phossy jaw contributed to the London matchgirls strike of 1888, and although this strike did not end the use of white phosphorus, William Booth and The Salvation Army opened a match-making factory in 1891 which used the much safer, though more expensive, red phosphorus.[4] The Salvation Army also campaigned with local retailers to get them to sell only red phosphorus matches.[4]
However it was not until the use of white phosphorus was prohibited by the international Berne Convention in 1906, and these provisions were implemented in national laws over the next few years, that industrial use ceased.[5]
A related condition, bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw (BON), has been described as a side-effect of amino-bisphosphonates, a class of phosphorus-based drugs that inhibit bone resorption and are used widely for treating osteoporosis, bone disease in cancer and some other conditions.[6] BON, sometimes called "bis-phossy jaw",[7] is primarily associated with the use of intravenous bisphosphonates in the treatment of cancer. The percentage incidence of BON from this use is approximately 1000 times higher than the incidence of BON caused by the use of oral bisphosphonates.[8]
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