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Chloropicrin
May 1994
Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health Concentrations (IDLH)
CAS number: 76–06–2
NIOSH REL: 0.1 ppm (0.7 mg/m3) TWA
Current OSHA PEL: 0.1 ppm (0.7 mg/m3) TWA
1989 OSHA PEL: Same as current PEL
1993-1994 ACGIH TLV: 0.1 ppm (0.67 mg/m3) TWA
Description of Substance: Colorless to faint-yellow, oily liquid with an intensely irritating odor.
LEL: . . Noncombustible Liquid
Original (SCP) IDLH: 4 ppm
Basis for original (SCP) IDLH: The chosen IDLH is based on the statement by Flury and Zernik [1931] cited in ACGIH [1971] and Patty [1963], and by Prentiss [1937] cited in ILO [1971] that a few seconds exposure to 4 ppm renders a man unfit for action. According to Patty [1963], a 10-minute exposure to 7.5 ppm is intolerable [Flury and Zernik 1931; Prentiss 1937]; therefore, a concentration this high might impede escape within 30 minutes.
Short-term exposure guidelines: None developed
ACUTE TOXICITY DATA
Lethal concentration data:
| Species | Reference | LC50(ppm) | LCLo(ppm) | Time | Adjusted 0.5-hrLC (CF) | Derivedvalue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HumanMouse
Cat Mouse Rat Rat |
Deichmann and Gerarde 1969Okada et al. 1970
Ritlop 1939 Sangyo Igaku 1973 Sine 1993 Yoshida et al. 1991 |
———-
—– 9.7 117 14.4 |
293340
117 —– —– —– |
10 min1 min
20 min 4 hr 20 min 4 hr |
202 ppm (0.69)109 ppm (0.32)
102 ppm (0.87) 19 ppm (2.0) 102 ppm (0.87) 29 ppm (2.0) |
20 ppm11 ppm
10 ppm 2 ppm 10 ppm 3 ppm |
Other animal data: RD50 (mouse), 7.98 ppm [Alarie 1981].
Other human data: It has been reported that 4 ppm for a few seconds renders a worker unfit for activity and that a 10-minute exposure to 7.5 ppm is intolerable [Flury and Zernik 1931].
| Revised IDLH: 2 ppmBasis for revised IDLH: The revised IDLH for chloropicrin is 2 ppm based on acute inhalation toxicity data in workers [Flury and Zernik 1931] and animals [Sangyo Igaku 1973]. |
REFERENCES:
1. ACGIH [1971]. Chloropicrin. In: Documentation of the threshold limit values for substances in workroom air. 3rd ed. Cincinnati, OH: American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, p. 54.
2. Alarie Y [1981]. Dose-response analysis in animal studies: prediction of human responses. Environ Health Perspect 42:9-13.
3. Deichmann WB, Gerarde HW [1969]. Chloropicrin (trichloronitromethane; nitrochloroform; picfume). In: Toxicology of drugs and chemicals. New York, NY: Academic Press, Inc., pp. 169-170.
4. Flury F, Zernik F [1931]. Schädliche gase dämpfe, nebel, rauch- und staubarten. Berlin, Germany: Verlag von Julius Springer, pp. 418-419 (in German).
5. ILO [1971]. Chloropicrin. In: Encyclopaedia of occupational health and safety. 2nd ed. Vol. I (A-K). Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Office, p. 294.
6. Okada E, et al. [1970]. A study of chloropicrin intoxication. Nippon Naika Gakkai Zasshi (Journal of the Japanese Society of Internal Medicine) 59(11):1214 (in Japanese). [From ACGIH [1971]. Chloropicrin. In: Documentation of the threshold limit values for substances in workroom air. 3rd ed. Cincinnati, OH: American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, p. 54.]
7. Patty FA, ed. [1963]. Industrial hygiene and toxicology. 2nd rev. ed. Vol. II. Toxicology. New York, NY: Interscience Publishers, Inc., pp. 2082-2083.
8. Prentiss AM [1937]. Chemicals in war. A treatise on chemical warfare. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., p. 140.
9. Ritlop B [1939]. Das todlicehkeitsprodukt des chlorpikrins. Zeit Ges Exp Med 106:296-302 (in German).
10. Sangyo Igaku (Japanese Journal of Industrial Health) [1973]. Inhalation toxicity of phosgene and trichloronitromethane (chloropicrin). 15:406-407 (in Japanese).
11. Sine C, ed. [1993]. Chloropicrin. In: Farm chemicals handbook ’93, p. C78.
12. Yoshida M, Murao N, Tsuda S, Shirasu Y [1991]. Effects of mode of exposure on acute inhalation toxicity of chloropicrin vapor in rats. Nippon Noyaku Gakkaishi (Journal of the Pesticide Science Society of Japan) 16:63-69.