1.1 What is acetone? |
1.2 What happens to acetone when it enters
the environment? |
1.3 How might I be exposed to acetone? |
1.4 How can acetone enter and leave my
body? |
1.5 How can acetone affect my health? |
1.6 Is there a medical test to determine
whether I have been exposed to acetone? |
1.7 What recommendations has the federal
government made to protect human health? |
1.8 Where can I get more information? |
References |
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May 1994 |
Public Health Statement |
for |
Acetone |
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This Public Health Statement is the
summary chapter from the Toxicological
Profile for acetone. 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 public health statement tells you
about acetone and the effects of exposure. This information
is important because this chemical may harm you. The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified 1,350
hazardous waste sites as the most serious in the nation. These
sites make up the National Priorities List (NPL) and are targeted
for long-term federal clean-up. Acetone has been found in
at least 560 NPL sites. However, it's unknown how many NPL
sites have been evaluated for this substance. As EPA
tests more sites, the sites with acetone may increase. This
is important because exposure to acetone may harm you and
because these sites are or may be sources of exposure.
When a large industrial plant or a small
container releases a substance, it enters the environment.
This release does not always lead to exposure. You are exposed
to a substance only when you come in contact with it by breathing,
eating, touching, or drinking.
If you are exposed to acetone, many factors
determine if you'll be harmed and how badly. These factors
include the dose (how much), the duration (how long), and
how you're exposed. You must also consider the other chemicals
you're exposed to and your age, sex, nutritional status, family
traits, lifestyle, and state of health.
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1.1
What is acetone? |
Acetone is a chemical that is found naturally
in the environment and is also produced by industries. Low
levels of acetone are normally present in the body from the
breakdown of fat; the body can use it in normal processes
that make sugar and fat. Acetone is a colorless liquid with
a distinct smell and taste. People begin to smell acetone
in air at 100 to 140 parts of acetone in a million parts of
air (ppm), though some can smell it at much lower levels.
Most people begin to detect the presence of acetone in water
at 20 ppm. Acetone evaporates readily into the air and mixes
well with water. Most acetone produced is used to make other
chemicals that make plastics, fibers, and drugs. Acetone is
also used to dissolve other substances.
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1.2
What happens to acetone when it enters the environment? |
Acetone enters the air, water, and soil
as a result of natural processes and human activities. Acetone
occurs naturally in plants, trees, volcanic gases, and forest
fires. People and animals breathe out acetone produced from
the natural breakdown of body fat. Acetone is also released
during its manufacture and use, in exhaust from automobiles,
and from tobacco smoke, landfills, and certain kinds of burning
waste materials. The levels of acetone in soil increase mainly
because of acetone-containing wastes being buried in landfills.
Acetone is present as a gas in air. Some acetone in air is
lost when it reacts with sunlight and other chemicals. Rain
and snow also remove small amounts of acetone from the atmosphere
and, in the process, deposit it on land and water. About half
the acetone in a typical atmosphere at any time will be lost
in 22 days. Microbes (minute life forms) in water remove some
acetone from water. Some acetone in water will evaporate into
air. About half the acetone in a stream will be removed from
water in less than a day. Fish do not store acetone from water
in their bodies. Microbes in soil remove part of the acetone
in soil. Some is lost from soil by evaporation. Acetone molecules
do not bind tightly to soil. Rainwater and melted snow dissolve
acetone and carry it deeper into the soil to groundwater.
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1.3
How might I be exposed to acetone? |
Your body makes small amounts of acetone. You can be exposed
to a small amount of acetone by breathing air, drinking water,
and eating food with acetone. You can also be exposed by contact
with household chemicals with acetone. Several consumer products,
including certain nail polish removers, particle board, some
paint removers, many liquid or paste waxes or polishes, and
certain detergents or cleansers, contain acetone. You can
also be exposed to acetone if you are exposed to isopropyl
alcohol, because isopropyl alcohol changes to acetone in the
body. The level of acetone in air and water is generally low.
The amount of acetone in the air of cities is generally higher
than in remote and rural areas. The typical level of acetone
in the air of cities in the United States is about 7 parts
of acetone per billion parts of air (ppb). The level of acetone
in air inside homes is usually slightly higher than in outside
air (8 ppb versus 7 ppb). This is because of household chemical
use inside homes. Acetone in drinking water is so low that
its levels have not been measured in many samples. In a national
survey, the acetone level in drinking water from Seattle,
Washington, was 1 ppb. Acetone occurs naturally in many fruits
and vegetables. The amount of acetone in food does not increase
because of processing or packaging. The average amount of
acetone an adult in the United States gets from food is not
known.
People who work in certain industries that process and use
acetone can be exposed to higher levels than the general populace.
These industries include certain paint, plastic, artificial
fiber, and shoe factories. Professional painters and commercial
and household cleaners are also likely to breathe or touch
higher acetone concentrations than the general population.
As a member of the general public, you may be exposed to higher
than normal levels of acetone if you smoke cigarettes, frequently
use acetone nail polish removers, live near landfill sites
that contain acetone, live near busy roadways (because automobile
exhaust contains acetone), or live near other facilities that
are known to release acetone, such as incinerators. The exposure
from these sources will be mainly from breathing air that
contains acetone or by direct skin contact with it. In addition,
children can be exposed to acetone by eating dirt or by placing
dirty hands in their mouths after exposing their skin to dirt
from landfill sites.
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1.4
How can acetone enter and leave my body? |
Your body normally contains some acetone because it's made
during the breakdown of fat. Your body will make more acetone
from body fat if you are on a low-fat diet. In addition to
the acetone that your body makes from normal processes, acetone
can enter your body if you breathe air that contains acetone,
drink water or eat food that contains acetone, or if you touch
liquid acetone or soil that contains acetone.
The bloodstream absorbs acetone rapidly and completely from
the lungs and stomach. The bloodstream can also absorb acetone
from the skin, but less rapidly than from the lungs and stomach.
Blood carries acetone to all body organs, but it does not
stay there very long.
The liver breaks down acetone to chemicals that are not harmful.
The body uses these chemical to make glucose (sugar) and fats
that make energy for normal body functions. The breakdown
of sugar for energy makes carbon dioxide that leaves your
body in the air you breathe out. These are normal processes
in the body.
Not all the acetone that enters your body from outside sources
is broken down. The amount that is not broken down leaves
your body mostly in the air that you breathe out. You also
breathe out more carbon dioxide than normal if you are exposed
to acetone from sources outside the body because more carbon
dioxide is made from the extra acetone.
Only a small amount of acetone that is not broken down leaves
the body in the urine. The acetone that is not used to make
sugar leaves your body within a few days in the air you breathe
out and in the urine. The amount of acetone that enters and
leaves your body depends on how much you're exposed to and
for how long. The higher the level of acetone and the longer
that you are exposed will cause acetone to leave your body
more slowly, but almost all the acetone will leave your body
within 3 days after your exposure stops. If you exercise or
work while exposed to acetone in air, more will enter your
lungs because you breathe faster and more deeply during exercise.
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1.5
How can acetone affect my health? |
Low levels of acetone are normally present in the body from
the breakdown of fat. The body uses acetone in normal processes
that make sugar and fats that make energy for normal body
functions. Many conditions can lead to higher-than-average
amounts of acetone in the body. For example, babies, pregnant
women, diabetics, and people who exercise, diet, have physical
trauma, or drink alcohol can have higher amounts of acetone
in their bodies. These higher amounts of acetone usually don't
cause health problems. In addition, acetone can prevent convulsions.
Most of the information on how acetone affects human health
comes from medical exams of workers on a single workday; from
lab experiments in humans exposed to acetone in air for a
few days; and from cases of people who swallowed acetone-based
glue or fingernail polish remover.
Workers and people exposed to acetone in the lab complained
that acetone irritated their noses, throats, lungs, and eyes.
Some people feel this irritation at levels of 100 ppm acetone
in the air, and more people feel the irritation as the level
in air increases. The workers who complained of irritation
were exposed to levels of 900 ppm or more. Workers exposed
to acetone at 12,000 ppm or higher also complained of headache,
lightheadedness, dizziness, unsteadiness, and confusion depending
on how long they were exposed (from 2 minutes to 4 hours).
Two workers exposed for 4 hours became unconscious.
In addition, some people who had casts applied with acetone
were exposed to acetone that evaporated into air during and
after the casts were applied. These patients became nauseous,
vomited blood, and became unconscious. These cases happened
many years ago; modern hospitals have different methods that
don't use acetone when casts are applied. Some people exposed
to acetone in the air at about 250 ppm for several hours in
the lab had headaches and lacked energy, and they also had
some mild behavioral effects. These effects showed up in tests
of how long it takes to react to a visual stimulus or the
ability to hear different sounds. Some people exposed to 500
ppm in the air for several hours in the lab had effects on
the blood, but other studies showed no effects on the blood
at even higher exposure levels.
Some women exposed to 1,000 ppm for about 8 hours in a lab
said that their periods came earlier than expected. Workers
are not usually exposed to levels higher than 750 ppm anymore
because of current government regulations. The regulation
says workroom air should contain no more than an average of
750 ppm. Most people can smell acetone in the air at 100 to
140 ppm; that means you will probably smell acetone before
you feel effects like headache and confusion. Levels of acetone
in air in rural areas and in cities (less than 8 ppb) are
generally lower than this.
People who swallowed acetone or substances that contained
acetone became unconscious, but they recovered in the hospital.
The amount of acetone that these people swallowed was not
always known, but one man swallowed about 2,250 milligrams
of pure acetone per kilogram of body weight (2,250 mg/kg).
In addition to becoming unconscious, he had tissue damage
in his mouth and he later developed a limp, which eventually
cleared up, and symptoms similar to diabetes (excessive thirst,
frequent urination). The amount of acetone in water or food
would never be high enough to cause these effects, but people,
especially children, could accidentally swallow enough acetone
in nail polish remover or some household cleaners to cause
such effects.
In a lab experiment, people who had liquid acetone applied
directly on their skin and held there for a half hour developed
skin irritation. When the skin was looked at under a microscope,
some of the skin cells were damaged.
Animals briefly exposed to high levels of acetone in the
air also had lung irritation and became unconscious; some
died. Exposure at lower levels for short periods also affected
their behavior. Pregnant animals that were exposed to high
levels of acetone in air had livers that weighed more than
usual and had fewer fetuses. The fetuses weighed less than
normal and had delayed bone development. We do not know how
exposure to acetone in air for longer than 2 weeks affects
animals.
Animals given large amounts of acetone to swallow or drink
for short periods had bone marrow hypoplasia (fewer new cells
being made), degeneration of kidneys, heavier than normal
livers and bigger liver cells, and collapse and listlessness.
Pregnant mice that swallowed acetone had lower body weights
and produced fewer newborn mice. More of the newborns of mice
that had swallowed acetone died than newborns of mice that
were not given acetone.
Male rats that swallowed or drank even small amounts of acetone
for long periods had anemia and kidney disease. The female
rats did not have anemia, but they had kidney disease when
they swallowed a much larger amount of acetone than the male
rats swallowed. The female rats had livers and kidneys that
weighed more than normal, and so did the male rats, but only
when they swallowed larger amounts of acetone than the females
swallowed. The male rats also had abnormal sperm. The female
rats did not have any effects in their reproductive organs.
Rats also had signs that acetone caused effects on their nervous
systems.
Acetone is irritating to the skin of animals when it is placed
directly on their skin, and it burns their eyes when placed
directly in their eyes. One kind of animal (guinea pigs) even
developed cataracts in their eyes when acetone was placed
on their skin.
We do not know whether many of the effects seen in animals
would occur in humans. People exposed to acetone were not
examined for some effects or could not be examined for effects
that can be seen only by looking at internal organs under
a microscope. The findings in animals show that male rats
are more likely than female rats to get blood and kidney disease
and effects on reproductive organs after exposure to acetone.
This suggests that men might be more likely to have effects
of exposure to acetone than women.
One effect of acetone seen in animals is an increase in the
amount of certain enzymes (chemicals in the body that help
break down natural substances in the body and chemicals that
enter the body). The increase in these enzymes caused by acetone
exposure can make some chemicals more harmful. This is one
reason that people should be concerned about being exposed
to acetone; exposure is very likely to mixtures of chemicals
in the environment, near hazardous waste sites, or in the
workplace is very likely.
Acetone does not cause skin cancer in animals when it is
applied to their skin. We don't know whether acetone would
cause cancer after breathing or swallowing it for long periods,
because no tests have been done. The Department of Health
and Human Services and the International Agency for Research
on Cancer have not classified acetone for carcinogenic effects.
The EPA has determined that acetone is not classifiable as
to its human carcinogenicity.
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1.6
Is there a medical test to determine whether I have been exposed
to acetone? |
Acetone can be measured in the air you
breathe out, in the blood, and in the urine. Methods for measuring
acetone in breath, blood, and urine are available at most
modern testing labs. Doctors' offices may not have the necessary
equipment, but your doctor can take blood and urine samples
and send them to a testing lab. The measurement of acetone
in breath, blood, and urine can determine whether you have
been exposed to acetone if the levels are higher than those
normally seen. They can even predict how much acetone you
were exposed to. However, normal levels of acetone in breath,
blood, and urine can vary widely depending on many factors,
such as infancy, pregnancy, lactation, diabetes, physical
exercise, dieting, physical trauma, and alcohol. The odor
of acetone on your breath can alert a doctor that you have
been exposed to acetone. An odor of acetone on your breath
could also mean that you have diabetes. Because acetone leaves
your body within a few days after exposure, these tests can
tell only that you have been exposed to acetone within the
last 2 or 3 days. These tests cannot tell whether you will
experience any health effects related to your exposure.
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1.7
What recommendations has the federal government made to protect
human health? |
EPA requires that spills of 5,000 pounds
or more of acetone be reported. To protect workers, the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set a legal limit
of 750 ppm of acetone in workroom air. The regulation means
that the workroom air should contain no more than an average
of 750 ppm of acetone over an 8-hour working shift or over
a 40-hour workweek.
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1.8 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). 1994. Toxicological
profile for acetone. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, Public Health Service.
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