1.1 What is 1,3-butadiene? |
1.2 How might I be exposed to 1,3-butadiene? |
1.3 How can 1,3-butadiene enter and leave
my body? |
1.4 How can 1,3-butadiene affect my health? |
1.5 Is there a medical test to determine
whether I have been exposed to 1,3-butadiene? |
1.6 What recommendations has the federal
government made to protect human health? |
1.7 Where can I get more information? |
References |
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July 1992 |
Public Health Statement |
for |
1,3-Butadiene |
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This Public Health Statement is the
summary chapter from the Toxicological
Profile for 1,3-butadiene. It is one in a series of Public
Health Statements about hazardous substances and their health
effects. A shorter version, the ToxFAQs™,
is also available. This information is important because this
substance may harm you. The effects of exposure to any hazardous
substance depend on the dose, the duration, how you are exposed,
personal traits and habits, and whether other chemicals are
present. For more information, call the ATSDR Information
Center at 1-888-422-8737.
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This Statement was prepared to give you information about
1,3-butadiene and to emphasize the human health effects that
may result from exposure to it. The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has identified 1,177 sites on its National Priorities
List (NPL). 1,3-Butadiene has been found at 3 of these sites.
However, we do not know how many of the 1,177 NPL sites have
been evaluated for 1,3-butadiene. As EPA evaluates more sites,
the number of sites at which 1,3-butadiene is found may change.
The information is important for you because 1,3-butadiene
may cause harmful health effects and because these sites are
potential or actual sources of human exposure to 1,3-butadiene.
When a chemical is released from a large area, such as an
industrial plant, or from a container, such as a drum or bottle,
it enters the environment as a chemical emission. This emission,
which is also called a release, does not always lead to exposure.
You can be exposed to a chemical only when you come into contact
with the chemical. You may be exposed to it in the environment
by breathing, eating, or drinking substances containing the
chemical or from skin contact with it.
If you are exposed to a hazardous substance such as 1,3-butadiene,
several factors will determine whether harmful health effects
will occur and what the type and severity of those health
effects will be. These factors include the dose (how much),
the duration (how long), the route or pathway by which you
are exposed (breathing, eating, drinking, or skin contact),
the other chemicals to which you are exposed, and your individual
characteristics such as age, sex, nutritional status, family
traits, lifestyle, and state of health.
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1.1
What is 1,3-butadiene? |
1,3-Butadiene is a colorless gas with
a mild gasoline-like odor. 1,3-Butadiene is almost always
found at low levels in urban air samples, but it breaks down
quickly in the air. In sunny weather, half of 1,3-butadiene
goes away from the air in about 2 hours. Sunlight is not necessary
for the removal of 1,3-butadiene from air, but it helps. In
the winter time when the days are short or if it is not sunny,
about half of it would still be gone in a few days.
Because we do not have enough information, we are not sure
exactly what happens to 1,3-butadiene in soil or water. We
do not know how often 1,3-butadiene is found in soil or water
samples because we do not have reliable methods of looking
for it there. If 1,3-butadiene were spilled on water or soil,
based on its properties, we expect it to evaporate quickly
into the air. We do not expect 1,3-butadiene to collect in
plants or fish or to be found in the sediment of rivers and
lakes. We also don't expect 1,3-butadiene to be found in soil
or underground water sources, but we don't know this for sure.
We also don't know how long it takes for 1,3-butadiene to
break down in soil or in water because these types of studies
have not been done.
Very large amounts of 1,3-butadiene are produced every year
from petroleum. 1,3-Butadiene is used to make man-made rubber,
which is then used mostly for car and truck tires. It is also
used to make other kinds of rubber and plastics. 1,3-Butadiene
is also found in small amounts in gasoline. Some plastics
or man-made rubbers may have very small amounts of 1,3-butadiene
trapped in them. These levels are not expected to be high
enough to cause health problems. Small amounts are found in
the exhaust of automobiles and trucks at approximately 10
parts in 1 billion parts of air (ppb) and in gasoline vapors
at 4 ppb. 1,3-Butadiene is also found in cigarette smoke,
and it may also be found in the smoke of wood fires.
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1.2
How might I be exposed to 1,3-butadiene? |
You can be exposed to 1,3-butadiene by
breathing air, drinking water, or eating food contaminated
with it. Also, people most likely to be exposed to 1,3-butadiene
are workers in the production of rubber, plastics, and resins.
1,3-Butadiene has been found at three hazardous waste sites.
It has been detected in gases coming from soil. We do not
have enough information to know exactly how people near hazardous
waste sites may be exposed to 1,3-butadiene.
Because 1,3-butadiene is a gas, you are most likely exposed
to it by breathing contaminated air. Large amounts of 1,3-butadiene
in the air come from leaks or intentional releases at manufacturing
plants. Because it is found in the exhaust of cars and trucks,
and in the smoke from wood fires and cigarettes, it is always
present at very low levels in the air around cities and towns.
The average amount of 1,3-butadiene in the air is 0.3 parts
of 1,3-butadiene per billion parts of air (ppb) in cities
and suburban areas. These levels are not expected to cause
any health problems. The amount of 1,3-butadiene in the air
may be much higher near polluted cities or near oil refineries,
chemical manufacturing plants, and plastic and rubber factories
where this chemical is made or used. The amount in the air
can also be very high if 1,3-butadiene is accidentally spilled
during shipment from one place to another. 1,3-Butadiene has
been measured at very low levels (1-10 ppb) in the plastic
or rubber of food containers, but it has not often been found
in food samples. These amounts are not expected to cause any
health problems. The manufacture of food containers is closely
regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the
United States. 1,3-Butadiene has been found in drinking water,
but we do not know what the concentration was or where it
came from.
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1.3
How can 1,3-butadiene enter and leave my body? |
1,3-Butadiene can enter your body through
your lungs if you breathe air contaminated with it. 1,3-Butadiene
may also enter your body through the skin if you come into
contact with it, but we do not know how much enters this way.
We do not know if 1,3-butadiene is present in ground or surface
waters near hazardous wastes sites or what happens to it after
you drink water contaminated with this compound. Although
1,3-butadiene has been found at only three NPL waste sites,
people at or near these waste sites may be exposed by breathing
1,3-butadiene that evaporates into the air. The amount of
1,3-butadiene that enters the body depends on the amount in
the environment and the length of time a person comes into
contact with it. Animal studies have shown that the breakdown
products of 1,3-butadiene leave the body in the urine and
in the air breathed out. We don't know what happens to 1,3-butadiene
in the body if it is found in water that people drink.
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1.4
How can 1,3-butadiene affect my health? |
Short-term exposure to high levels of
1,3-butadiene causes eye, nose, and throat irritation. Exposure
to very high levels could occur during accidental release
and could lead to symptoms like drunkenness and unconsciousness,
or even to death. However, no such accidental releases have
been reported so far. We do not know the exact levels in air
that cause these effects in humans. Studies of rubber industry
workers suggested possible harmful effects such as more cases
of heart diseases, blood diseases, lung diseases, and even
cancer from the long-term exposure to low levels of 1,3-butadiene.
These rubber industry workers were also exposed to other chemicals
along with 1,3-butadiene, so we do not know for sure which
chemical (or a combination of them) caused these effects.
In addition, the effect of harmful habits like smoking was
not considered in the evaluation of health risks of occupational
exposure to 1,3-butadiene. 1,3-Butadiene has a gasoline-like
odor, which some people can smell at a concentration as low
as 1.6 ppm. Skin contact with liquid 1,3-butadiene can cause
irritation and frostbite in humans.
Laboratory animals that breathed in high levels of 1,3-butadiene
for a short time died. Mice that survived exposure to 1,3-butadiene
longer than 14 days had damage in the organs that make blood
cells and damage to nose tissues. Pregnant mice that breathed
in low amounts of 1,3-butadiene had miscarriages. Birth defects
were found in offspring of rats and mice exposed to 1,3-butadiene
during pregnancy. Rats that breathed in lower levels of 1,3-butadiene
for more than 1 year had kidney disease and damaged lungs;
some of them died. Mice that breathed in lower levels of 1,3-butadiene
for more than 1 year had harmful effects in their reproductive
organs and damaged livers. Rats and mice that breathed in
small amounts of 1,3-butadiene for a long time period developed
cancer in many organs.
There is no information on human or animal health effects
from eating food or drinking water containing 1,3-butadiene.
There is no information on animal health effects from skin
contact with 1,3-butadiene.
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1.5
Is there a medical test to determine whether I have been exposed
to 1,3-butadiene? |
We have no reliable
medical test to determine whether you have been exposed to
1,3-butadiene at this time, but scientists are trying to find
a way to test blood to see if 1,3-butadiene attaches to certain
compounds such as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or proteins
that are found in the blood.
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1.6
What recommendations has the federal government made to protect
human health? |
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires industries
to report spills of 1 pound or more of 1,3-butadiene. EPA
also intends to add 1,3-butadiene to the list of hazardous
air pollutants.
1,3-Butadiene levels in the workplace are controlled by the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The
previous limit in workplace air was 1,000 ppm, averaged over
an 8-hour workday in a 40-hour workweek. However, the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommended
that OSHA consider lowering this limit because 1,3-butadiene
has caused cancer in animals. OSHA is in the process of lowering
it.
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1.7
Where can I get more information? |
If you have any more questions or concerns, please contact
your community or state health or environmental quality department or:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Division of Toxicology
1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop F-32
Atlanta, GA 30333
Information line and technical assistance:
Phone: 888-422-8737
FAX: (770)-488-4178
ATSDR can also tell you the location of occupational and environmental health
clinics. These clinics specialize in recognizing, evaluating, and treating illnesses
resulting from exposure to hazardous substances.
To order toxicological profiles, contact:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Phone: 800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000
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References |
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry (ATSDR). 1992. Toxicological
profile for 1,3-butadiene. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service.
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