Current Intelligence Bulletin 22 – Ethylene Thiourea

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Occupational hazards associated with ethylene-thiourea (96457) are reviewed. NIOSH recommends that ethylene-thiourea be handled in the workplace as though it were a human carcinogen and teratogen. Ethylene-thiourea is a white crystalline solid used as an accelerator in the curing of neoprene and other elastomers. Approximately 3,500 workers may be potentially exposed in the rubber industry. In addition, exposure to ethylene-thiourea results from the widely used ethylene bisdithiocarbamate fungicides. In humans, exposure can cause drying and thickening of the skin, goiter, or other effects related to decreased output of thyroid hormone. Marked teratogenic effects have been demonstrated in laboratory rats. When 50 milligrams per kilogram were applied to the skin of pregnant Sprague-Dawley-rats, malformations were observed in all fetuses. Dose and day of gestation were critical in other studies. Ethylene-thiourea has been shown to cause cancer in Charles-River-CD- rats. Thyroid carcinomas were reported and some solid cell adenomas were seen. Suggested guidelines for minimizing employee exposure to ethylene-thiourea include substitution of less hazardous products, employee isolation, control of the sources of contamination, and the use of personal protective equipment. The last step should not be the only measure used and should be relied on only for brief periods. The authors conclude that occupational exposure should be minimized, being limited to as few employees as possible under the lowest exposure conditions possible. Alternatives should be investigated. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Animals Carcinogens Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Skin Workplace
• Keywords:
  Animal-studies Carcinogenesis Exposure-levels Industrial-hazards Neurological-system NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Current-Intelligence-Bulletin-No-22 Skin-irritants Workplace-studies
• Series:
  NIOSH Numbered Publications
• Subseries:
  Current Intelligence Bulletin
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHPUB78144
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Handout/Flyer
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DCDSD - Division of Criteria Documents and Standards Development
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00152417
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB85-119238
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHEW (NIOSH) Publication No. 78-144, (CIB 22), 1978 Apr; :1-11
• CAS Registry Number:
  Ethylenethiourea (CAS RN 96-45-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1978
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:397a235be3955e72116e02c9013f52671a578c41d691080bcaa34bf4ab46acb4f994b2bec54b2215efdc777c2181cb0c9924abe7b33977735671082de81223da
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/209464/cdc_209464_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 73.42 KB ]