Acute Exposures to Acetone and Developing an Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health (IDLH) Value in Occupational Settings

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chittiboyina S ; Edmondson M
• Description:
  Acetone is a colorless water-soluble liquid that is used as an industrial solvent in chemical production. The primary route of exposure to acetone in occupational settings is inhalation. Acute exposures to acetone have been reported to elicit neurological effects, irritation, and respiratory effects, which could impair a worker's ability to escape from a contaminated environment. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) develops immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH) values to identify air concentration levels that cause severe irreversible adverse health effects, impairment of escape from the exposure environment, and in extreme cases, death. NIOSH guidelines for deriving IDLH values include an evaluation of toxicological data from human and animal studies, including dose-response information, if available. At exposure levels of several thousand parts per million (ppm), acetone is associated with neurological effects like dizziness, headache, and loss of coordination in human studies, and narcosis and decreased visual vigilance in animal studies. Acetone has a current IDLH value of 2,500 ppm. NIOSH-sponsored human experimental studies reported that exposure to a concentration of 1,000 ppm acetone for 4 to 8 hours did not result in neurobehavioral effects in humans. However, these studies identified mild irritation of the eyes and upper respiratory tract. Animal studies have reported loss of reflex, ataxia, decreased response, and narcosis at exposure concentrations greater than 10,000 ppm for 3-8 hours. Certain studies reported a 50% decrease in respiration rate (RD50) in mice exposed to concentrations ranging from 77,500 ppm for 10 minutes to >84,000 ppm for 4 hours. These data are a measure of respiratory irritation. Lethal concentration in 50% (LC50) of rats exposed to acetone for 4-8 hours ranged from 16,000 ppm to 50,000 ppm. NIOSH will continue to evaluate these data in the development of a draft updated IDLH value for acetone based on neurological and irritation endpoints from findings from both animal and human studies. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Acetone Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory System Safety Solvents Toxicology
• Keywords:
  Dose Response IDLH Immediately Dangerous To Life Or Health Neurological System Occupational Exposure Respiratory Irritants
• ISSN:
  1096-6080
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSI - Division of Science Integration
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  192
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20067226
• Citation:
  Toxicologist 2023 Mar; 192(S1):442
• CAS Registry Number:
  Acetone (CAS RN 67-64-1)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  The Toxicologist. Society of Toxicology 62nd Annual Meeting & ToxExpo, March 19-23, 2023, Nashville, Tennessee
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:98a03fa385fbd1d6a2d6470255ae994b1b1efdc39936bebeffb28c21436f301231e123a1199c05cf351e8c97314f846f12e1833f1fdd5116a5c1db402abaa824
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/231351/cdc_231351_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.09 MB ]