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Warning:
This site is being maintained for historical purposes, but has had no new entries since October 1998. To find more recent articles, please visit the following:
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Notices to Readers Availability of NIOSH Criteria Document on Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether and Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether Acetate
MMWR 40(14);241
Publication date: 04/12/1991
Table of Contents
POINT OF CONTACT FOR THIS DOCUMENT:
Article
CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently published Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Exposure to Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether and Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether Acetate (1).* In this document, NIOSH recommends occupational exposure limits for ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (EGBE) and its acetate, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether acetate (EGBEA). The publication also examines the occupational health risks of exposure to these chemicals and presents criteria for eliminating or minimizing these risks during the manufacture and use of EGBE and EGBEA. These criteria include recommendations for preventing dermal contact, sampling and analytical methods, medical monitoring, biological monitoring, engineering controls and work practices, and protective clothing and equipment. Because limited data are available from studies in humans, NIOSH based its recommended exposure limit for EGBE and EGBEA on data from studies in animals. The data were adjusted to allow for uncertainties in the extrapolation from animals to humans.In humans and animals, the principal health effects of exposure to EGBE and EGBEA involve the blood and hematopoietic system, the central nervous system (CNS), the kidneys, and the liver. In animals, effects on the CNS, liver, and kidneys occur at higher EGBE exposures than do hematotoxic effects. Thus, limiting exposures to prevent hematotoxic effects will prevent CNS, kidney, and liver effects.
NIOSH therefore recommends that exposure to EGBE and EGBEA in the workplace be limited to 5 parts per million parts of air. Dermal contact should be prohibited since both compounds are readily absorbed through the skin. The same exposure limit is recommended for EGBE and EGBEA because any effects of EGBEA are likely to occur after it is metabolized to EGBE.
Reported by: Div of Standards Development and Technology Transfer, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC.
* Single copies are available without charge from Publications Dissemination, DSDTT, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226; telephone (513) 533-8287.
References
- NIOSH. Criteria for a recommended standard: occupational exposure to ethylene glycol monobutyl ether and ethylene glycol monobutyl ether acetate. Cincinnati, Ohio: US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, CDC, 1990; DHHS publication no. (NIOSH)90-118.
POINT OF CONTACT FOR THIS DOCUMENT:
To request a copy of this document or for questions concerning this document, please contact the person or office listed below. If requesting a document, please specify the complete name of the document as well as the address to which you would like it mailed. Note that if a name is listed with the address below, you may wish to contact this person via CDC WONDER/PC e-mail.
For single issue purchase 800-843-6356
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH State/Fed Gov:For free copies,
write to:CDC, MMWR MS(C-08)
Atlanta,, GA 30033
