Acetone

May 1994

Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health Concentrations (IDLH)

CAS number: 67-64-1

NIOSH REL: 250 ppm (590 mg/m3) TWA

Current OSHA PEL: 1,000 ppm (2,400 mg/m3) TWA

1989 OSHA PEL: 750 ppm (1,800 mg/m3) TWA, 1,000 ppm (2,400 mg/m3) STEL

1993-1994 ACGIH TLV: 750 ppm (1,780 mg/m3) TWA, 1,000 ppm (2,380 mg/m3) STEL

Description of substance: Colorless liquid with a fragrant, mint-like odor.

LEL: 2.5% (10% LEL, 2,500 ppm)

Original (SCP) IDLH: 20,000 ppm

Basis for original (SCP) IDLH: There is no evidence in the available toxicological data that acetone presents an IDLH hazard below the lower explosive limit (LEL) of 25,000 ppm. Because Patty [1963] reported that a 1.5-hour exposure to 20,256 ppm is narcotic for mice, 20,000 ppm has been chosen as the IDLH.

Existing short-term exposure: National Research Council [NRC 1984] guideline

Emergency Exposure Guidance Levels (EEGLs):
1-hour EEGL: 8,500 ppm
24-hour EEGL: 1,000 ppm

ACUTE TOXICITY DATA

Lethal concentration data:

					Adjusted
		LC50	LCLo		0.5-hr	Derived
Species	Reference	(ppm)	(ppm)	Time	LC (CF)	Value
Mouse	Flury and Wirth, 1933	—–	45,455	1 hr	56,818 ppm (1.25)	5,682 ppm
Rat	Pozzani et al. 1959	20,702	—–	8 hr	51,755 ppm (2.5)	5,176 ppm

Lethal dose data:

			LD50	LDLo		Derived
Species	Reference	Route	(Mg/kg)	(mg/kg)	Adjusted LD	Value
Rat	Freeman and Hayes 1985	oral	5,800	—–	16,777 ppm	1,678 ppm
Mouse	Molodykh et al. 1980	oral	3,000	—–	8,678 ppm	868 ppm
Rabbit	WHO 1980	oral	5,340	—–	15,446 ppm	1,545 ppm

Other animal data: RD50 (mouse), 77,516 ppm [Alarie 1981].

Human data: Volunteers experienced slight irritation at 300 ppm but 500 ppm was tolerated [Nelson et al. 1943]. Eye irritation, headache, lightheadedness, nasal irritation, and throat irritation were noted in workers exposed to concentrations considerably in excess of 1,000 ppm and perhaps as high as 6,500 ppm [Raleigh and McGee 1972]. No indications of toxicity were reported following exposures to 2,100 ppm for 8 hours/day [Haggard et al. 1944].

Revised IDLH: 2,500 ppm [LEL]Basis for revised IDLH: Based on health considerations and acute inhalation toxicity data in humans [Haggard et al. 1944; Raleigh and McGee 1972] and animals [Flury and Wirth 1933; Pozzani et al. 1959], a value of about 5,000 ppm would have been appropriate for acetone. However, the revised IDLH for acetone is 2,500 ppm based strictly on safety considerations (i.e., being 10% of the lower explosive limit of 2.5%).

References:

Alarie Y [1981]. Dose-response analysis in animal studies: prediction of human responses. Environ Health Perspect 42:9-13.
Flury F, Wirth W [1933]. Zur toxikologie der l”sungsmittel (Verschieden ester, aceton, methylalkohol). Arch Gewerbepath Gewerbehyg 5:1-90 (in German).
Freeman JJ, Hayes EP [1985]. Acetone potentiation of acute acetonitrile toxicity in rats. J Toxicol Environ Health 15:609-621.
Haggard HW, Greenberg LA, Turner Jmcc [1944]. The physiological principles governing the action of acetone together with determination of toxicity. J Ind Hyg Toxicol 26(5):133-151.
Molodykh ZV, Buzykin BI, Kudrina MA, Sysoeva LP, Gazetdinova NG, Neklesova ID, Kitaev YP [1980]. Antimicrobial activity of some acyl halide arylhydrazones and carboxylic acid arylhydrazides. Pharm Chem J 14:162-169.
Nelson K, Ege JF Jr, Ross M, Woodman LE, Silverman L [1943]. Sensory response to certain industrial solvent vapors. J Ind Hyg Toxicol 25(7):282-285.
NRC [1984]. Emergency and continuous exposure limits for selected airborne contaminants. Vol. 1. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, Committee on Toxicology, Board on Toxicology and Environmental Health Hazards, Commission on Life Sciences, National Research Council, pp. 5-25.
Patty FA, ed. [1963]. Industrial hygiene and toxicology. 2nd rev. ed. Vol. II. Toxicology. New York, NY: Interscience Publishers, Inc., p. 1788.
Pozzani UC, Weil CS, Carpenter CP [1959]. The toxicological basis of threshold limit values: 5. The experimental inhalation of vapor mixtures by rats, with notes upon the relationship between single dose inhalation and single dose oral data. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 20:364-369.
Raleigh RL, McGee WA [1972]. Effects of short, high-concentration exposures to acetone as determined by observation in the work area. J Occup Med 14(8):607-610.
WHO [1970]. Acetone: biological data. In: Toxicological evaluation of some solvents and certain other substances. Food and Agriculture Organization Nutrition Meetings Report Series 48A. Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations, World Health Organization, pp. 86-90.