Neurobehavioural effects of short duration exposures to acetone and methyl ethyl ketone

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dick, Robert B. ; Setzer JV ; Shukla R ; Taylor BJ
• Description:
  The neurobehavioral effects of short term exposure to acetone (67641) and methylethylketone (78933) (MEK) were studied in humans. The study group consisted of 129 university students (66 females), 18 to 32 years old. They were exposed to 250 parts per million (ppm) acetone, 200ppm MEK, or 125ppm acetone plus 100ppm MEK twice for 4 hours in an environmental chamber. A cocktail containing 95 percent ethanol (64175) at 0.84ml/kg was administered for comparison. Two placebo groups were also used. During exposure subjects completed a test battery containing four psychomotor tests, a sensorimotor test, and a profile of moods scale. Breath (alveolar) and blood samples were collected during and 90 minutes and 20 hours after exposure and analyzed for acetone, MEK, and ethanol. Acetone caused slight, but statistically significant impairments in performance on an auditory tone discrimination task in the psychomotor battery. Acetone caused a 29 percent significant decrease in performance of the male subjects on the profile of moods test. The changes in performance paralleled the blood acetone concentrations. Neither MEK alone or MEK plus acetone exerted a significant effect in performance on any of the tests. Ethanol significantly impaired performance on auditory tone discrimination and tracking tests in the psychomotor battery and marginally significantly affected visual vigilance in the psychomotor battery and postural sway in the sensorimotor test. These effects were produced by blood ethanol concentrations of 0.07 to 0.08 percent. The authors conclude that 4 hours' exposure to acetone at a concentration corresponding to the current NIOSH recommended exposure limit induces mild decrements in performance on some behavioral measures. MEK neither potentiates the effects of acetone nor causes such effects itself. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Behavior Blood Butanones Hematologic Tests Nervous System Occupational Health Respiratory System Safety Sex Characteristics Solvents
• Keywords:
  Alcohols Behavioral-testing Blood-samples Inhalation-studies Ketones Neurotoxicity NIOSH-Author Organic-solvents Sex-factors Task-performance
• ISSN:
  0007-1072
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DBBS - Division of Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  111-121
• Volume:
  46
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00186650
• Citation:
  Br J Ind Med 1989 Feb; 46(2):111-121
• CAS Registry Number:
  Acetone (CAS RN 67-64-1) ; Ethanol (CAS RN 64-17-5) ; Methyl ethyl ketone (CAS RN 78-93-3)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1989
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  British Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f07f46509db25cb5e7ff92df4587699a984eaddd56163af835ab68b79c85684d47df3a5521ac7fe59126a26d843adca856486098b93ee03084146784b94e034c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/205186/cdc_205186_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.60 MB ]