| Agent Name |
Diacetyl |
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| CAS Number |
431-03-8 |
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| Formula |
C4H6O2 |
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| Major Category |
Solvents |
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| Synonyms |
2,3-Butadione; 2,3-Butanedione; 2,3-Diketobutane; 2,3-Dioxobutane; Biacetyl; Butadione; Butanedione; Diacetyl (natural); Dimethyl diketone; Dimethyl glyoxal; Dimethylglyoxal; Glyoxal, dimethyl-; UN2346; [ChemIDplus] |
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| Category |
Ketones |
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| Description |
Clear liquid with a chlorine-like odor; [CAMEO] |
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| Sources/Uses |
Used to carry aroma of butter and other food flavors; [Hawley] |
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| Comments |
"Little is currently known about which chemicals used in flavorings have the potential to cause lung disease and other health effects, and what workplace exposure concentrations are safe. As part of ongoing investigations into airways disease in microwave popcorn workers, NIOSH has recently undertaken animal experiments to evaluate individual butter flavoring chemicals. Results of an animal study indicate that exposure to vapors from diacetyl, a chemical used to impart butter-like flavor, causes airway injury, though perhaps to a smaller extent than that caused by exposure to vapors from the intact butter flavoring mixture itself." [Reference #1] In the original 8 cases, there was no history of acute toxic exposure as is typical for other causes of bronchiolitis obliterans (BO). The disease developed over a longer period of time. [Reference #2] BO also reported in two flavor-manufacturing workers in California; [MMWR 2007 Apr 27;56(16): 389-93] Inhalation of high concentrations can cause headache, drowsiness, and loss of coordination. [NJ-HSFS] "Exposure to high concentrations (>190 ppm) of diacetyl-containing butter flavor and to pure diacetyl resulted in necrosis of nasal and airway epithelium in rats exposed in a whole-body inhalation chamber for 6 hr. . . . Our data suggest that diacetyl levels in small- to medium-sized flavor manufacturing facilities are widely variable, ranging from the limit of detection (<0.01 ppm) to as high as 60 ppm, with a mean of 1.80 ppm and a median of 0.10 ppm. These ranges are lower than those reported in the microwave popcorn plant with the index cases of BO, where diacetyl levels ranged from less that 0.01 ppm to 98 ppm, with a mean of 8.1 ppm. [PMID 18720288] |
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| Restricted |
See Reference #2 for the OSHA National Emphasis Program--Microwave Popcorn Processing Plants. |
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| Reference Link |
NIOSH Alert: Preventing Lung Disease in Workers |
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| Exposure Assessment |
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| Vapor Pressure |
56.8 mm Hg |
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| Explanatory Notes |
A highly flammable liquid that is soluble in water; b.p. = 88 degrees C; [CAMEO] mp = -2.4 degrees C; [ChemIDplus] |
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| Reference Link |
OSHA Direction--Microwave Popcorn Processing Plants |
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| Flammability (NFPA) |
3: may ignite at ambient temperature |
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| Adverse Effects |
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| Fibrogenic |
Yes |
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| Neurotoxin |
CNS Solvent Syndrome |
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| Links to Other NLM Databases |
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| Health Studies |
Human Health Effects from Hazardous Substances Data Bank: DIACETYL
|
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