[Gritty]

They issued a short statement reiterating that infection rates are not notably higher than would typically be expected

Hydraulic fluid usually has toxic chemicals in it. Infection may be the least of long-term worries.

[OXENinFLA]

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts99.html

ToxFAQs™
for
Hydraulic Fluids

How can hydraulic fluids affect my health?

Little is known about how hydraulic fluids can affect your health. Since hydraulic fluids are actually mixtures of chemicals, some of the effects seen may be caused by additives in the hydraulic fluids.

In people, the effects of breathing air with high levels of hydraulic fluids are not known. Drinking large amounts of some types of hydraulic fluids can cause pneumonia, intestinal bleeding, or death in humans. Weakness of the hands was seen in a worker who touched a lot of hydraulic fluids.

Rabbits that inhaled very high levels of one type of hydraulic fluid had trouble breathing, congested lungs, and became drowsy. The nervous systems of animals that swallowed or inhaled other hydraulic fluids were affected immediately with tremors, diarrhea, sweating, breathing difficulty, and sometimes several weeks later with weakness of the limbs, or paralysis. The immediate effects are caused because hydraulic fluids stop the action of certain enzymes, called cholinesterases, in the body. There are no reports of people swallowing or breathing the types of hydraulic fluids that cause these effects. When certain types of hydraulic fluids were put into the eyes of animals or allowed to touch the skin of people or animals for short periods of time, redness and swelling occurred. It is not known whether hydraulic fluids can cause birth defects or reproductive effects.