Notices to Readers
Availability of NIOSH Criteria Document on Ethylene Glycol
Monobutyl Ether and Ethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether Acetate
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.
Reference
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.
foots
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.
Disclaimer
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**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to mmwrq@cdc.gov.
