1,2-Dichloroethane (Ethylene Dichloride) 107-06-2 Hazard Summary

EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Technology Transfer Network 17may01

CAUTION: Unless otherwise noted, the quantitative information on these fact sheets are from "EPA Health Effects Notebook for Hazardous Air Pollutants-Draft", EPA-452/D-95-00, PB95-503579, December 1994." Please conduct a current literature search and check the appropriate current online database for the most recent quantitative information.

• Acute (short-term) inhalation exposure of humans to 1,2-dichloroethane can induce neurotoxic, nephrotoxic, and hepatotoxic effects, as well as respiratory distress, cardiac arrhythmia, nausea, and vomiting. Similar effects have been reported in animals exposed by inhalation. Clouding of the cornea and eye irritation have been observed in humans and animals.
• Chronic (long-term) inhalation exposure to 1,2-dichloroethane produced effects on the liver and kidneys in animals. Some studies have reported changes in the liver and kidneys and effects to the immune and central nervous systems in animals chronically exposed by ingestion.
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not established a Reference Concentration (RfC) or a Reference Dose (RfD) for 1,2-dichloroethane.
• No information is available on the reproductive or developmental effects of 1,2-dichloroethane in humans. Decreased fertility, increased incidence of testicular lesions, and increased embryo mortality have been observed in inhalation studies of rats.
• Epidemiological studies are not conclusive regarding the carcinogenic effects of 1,2-dichloroethane, due to concomitant exposure to other chemicals. Following treatment by gavage (experimentally placing the chemical in the stomach), several tumor types (including increased incidences of forestomach squamous-cell carcinomas, circulatory system hemangiosarcomas, mammary adenocarcinoma, alveolar/bronchiolar adenomas, endometrial stromal polyps and sarcomas, and hepatocellular carcinomas) were induced in rats and mice. An increased incidence of lung papillomas has been reported in mice after topical application. EPA has classified 1,2-dichloroethane as a Group B2, probable human carcinogen of low carcinogenic hazard, with a 1/ED₁₀ value of 0.39 per (mg/kg)/d^a and an inhalation unit cancer risk estimate of 2.6 × 10^-5 (g/m³)^-1.

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^a The 1/ED₁₀ value is a measure of the carcinogenic potency of a chemical. The value reported here has been proposed in the hazard ranking of hazardous air pollutants in EPA's proposed rulemaking (Section 112(g) of the Clean Air Act, April 1994).

Please Note: The main sources of information for this fact sheet are EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), which contains information on the carcinogenic effects of 1,2-dichloroethane including the unit cancer risk for inhalation exposure, and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's (ATSDR's) Toxicological Profile for 1,2-Dichloroethane. Other secondary sources include Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB), a database of summaries of peer-reviewed literature, and the Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances (RTECS), a database of toxic effects that are not peer reviewed.

Environmental/Occupational Exposure

• Inhalation of 1,2-dichloroethane in the ambient or workplace air is generally the main route of human exposure. The compound may be released during its production, storage, use, transport, and disposal. (1)
• Exposure may also occur through the consumption of contaminated water. But usually 1,2-dichloroethane will evaporate quickly into the air from the water or soil. (1)
• In urban areas, 1,2-dichloroethane has been found in the air at levels of 0.1 to 1.5 ppb. (1)

Assessing Personal Exposure

• Breath samples may be used to determine whether or not someone has been recently exposed to 1,2-dichloroethane. (1)

Health Hazard Information

Acute Effects:

• Acute (short-term) inhalation exposure of humans to 1,2-dichloroethane can induce neurotoxic, nephrotoxic, and hepatotoxic effects, as well as respiratory distress, cardiac arrhythmia, nausea, and vomiting. (1)
• Similar effects have been reported in animals exposed by inhalation. (1)
• An occupationally exposed man died from cardiac arrhythmia after acute inhalation exposure to high levels of 1,2-dichloroethane; congestion of the lungs, degenerative changes in the myocardium, and damage to the liver, kidneys, and nerve cells in the brain were also observed. (1)
• Clouding of the cornea and eye irritation have been observed in humans and animals. (1)
• Cardiac arrhythmia, pulmonary edema, bronchitis, hemorrhagic gastritis and colitis, depression, and changes in the brain tissue have been reported in humans acutely exposed by ingestion. (1)
• Acute animal tests, such as the LC₅₀ and LD₅₀ tests in rats, mice, and rabbits, have demonstrated 1,2-dichloroethane to have moderate acute toxicity from inhalation or dermal exposure and moderate to high acute toxicity from oral exposure. (2)

Chronic Effects (Noncancer):

• Chronic (long-term) inhalation exposure to 1,2-dichloroethane produced effects on the liver and kidneys in animals. (1)
• Some studies have reported changes in the liver and kidneys and effects on the immune and CNSs in animals chronically exposed by ingestion. (1)
• EPA has not established an RfC or an RfD for 1,2-dichloroethane. (3)

Reproductive/Developmental Effects:

• No information is available on the reproductive or developmental effects of 1,2-dichloroethane in humans.
• Decreased fertility, increased incidence of testicular lesions, and increased embryo mortality have been observed in inhalation studies of rats. (1,4)

Cancer Risk:

• Epidemiological occupational studies could not link exposure to 1,2-dichloroethane specifically with excess cancer incidence. (1)
• An increased incidence of colon and rectal cancer in men over 55 years of age exposed to 1,2-dichloroethane in the drinking water has been reported. However, the study population was concomitantly exposed to other chemicals. (1)
• Following treatment by gavage (experimentally placing the chemical in the stomach), several tumor types (including increased incidences of forestomach squamous-cell carcinomas, circulatory system hemangiosarcomas, mammary adenocarcinoma, alveolar/bronchiolar adenomas, endometrial stromal polyps and sarcomas, and hepatocellular carcinomas) were induced in rats and mice. (1,3-6)
• An increased incidence of lung papillomas has been reported in mice after topical application. (1,3)
• EPA has classified 1,2-dichloroethane as a Group B2, probable human carcinogen. (3)
• EPA uses mathematical models, based on human and animal studies, to estimate the probability of a person developing cancer from breathing air containing a specified concentration of a chemical. EPA calculated an inhalation unit cancer risk estimate of 2.6 × 10^-5 (g/m³)^-1. EPA estimates that, if an individual were to breathe air containing 1,2-dichloroethane at 0.04 µg/m³⁽¹⁾ over his or her entire lifetime, that person would theoretically have no more than a one-in-a-million increased chance of developing cancer as a direct result of breathing air containing this chemical. Similarly, EPA estimates that breathing air containing 0.4 µg/m³ would result in not greater than a one-in-a-hundred thousand increased chance of developing cancer, and air containing 4.0 µg/m³ would result in not greater than a one-in-ten thousand increased chance of developing cancer. (3)
• EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, for a hazard ranking under Section 112(g) of the Clean Air Act Amendments, has ranked 1,2-dichloroethane in the nonthreshold category. The 1/ED₁₀ value is 0.39 per (mg/kg)/d and this would place it in the low category under Superfund's ranking for carcinogenic hazard. (7)

Physical Properties

• The chemical formula for 1,2-dichloroethane is C₂H₄Cl₂, and its molecular weight is 98.96 g/mol. (4)
• 1,2-Dichloroethane occurs as a colorless, oily, heavy liquid that is slightly soluble in water. (1,4,5)
• 1,2-Dichloroethane has a pleasant chloroform-like odor, with an odor threshold of 6-10 ppm. (1,4)
• The vapor pressure for 1,2-dichloroethane is 64 mm Hg at 20 C, and its log octanol/water partition coefficient (log K_ow) is 1.48. (1,4)

Uses

• 1,2-Dichloroethane is primarily used in the production of vinyl chloride as well as other chemicals. It is used in solvents in closed systems for various extraction and cleaning purposes in organic synthesis. It is also added to leaded gasoline as a lead scavenger. (1,4)
• It is also used as a dispersant in rubber and plastics, as a wetting and penetrating agent. (1,4)
• It was formerly used in ore flotation, as a grain fumigant, as a metal degreaser, and in textile and PVC cleaning. (1,4)

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Conversion Factors:
To convert from ppm to mg/m³: mg/m³ = (ppm) × (molecular weight of the compound)/(24.45). For 1,2-dichloroethane: 1 ppm = 4.05 mg/m³.

Health Data from Inhalation Exposure

Concentration (mg/m3)	Health numbersa	Regulatory, advisory numbersb	Reference
10,000.0
1,000.0	LC50 in rats (4,047 mg/m3)		2
100.0		MSHA standard (200 mg/m3)	2
10.0		ACGIH TLV (40 mg/m3)	2
1.0		NIOSH REL and OSHA PEL (4 mg/m3)	2
0.1
0.01
0.001
0.0001
0.00001	EPA Cancer Risk Levelc (1 in-a-million excess lifetime risk) = 0.00004 mg/m3		3

See notes on the following page.
ACGIH TLV--American Conference of Governmental and Industrial Hygienists' threshold limit value expressed as a time-weighted average; the concentration of a substance to which most workers can be exposed without adverse effects.
LC₅₀ (Lethal Concentration₅₀)--A calculated concentration of a chemical in air to which exposure for a specific length of time is expected to cause death in 50% of a defined experimental animal population.
MSHA--Mine Safety and Health Administration.
NIOSH REL--National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health recommended exposure limit; NIOSH-recommended exposure limit for an 8- or 10-h time-weighted-average exposure and/or ceiling.
OSHA PEL--Occupational Safety and Health Administration's permissible exposure limit expressed as a time-weighted average; the concentration of a substance to which most workers can be exposed without adverse effect averaged over a normal 8-h workday or a 40-h workweek.

^a Health numbers are toxicological numbers from animal testing or risk assessment values developed by EPA.
^b Regulatory numbers are values that have been incorporated in Government regulations, while advisory numbers are nonregulatory values provided by the Government or other groups as advice.
^c These cancer risk estimates were derived from oral data and converted to provide the estimated inhalation risk.

References

1. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Toxicological Profile for 1,2-Dichloroethane (Draft). U.S. Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, GA. 1993.
2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances (RTECS, online database). National Toxicology Information Program, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD. 1993.
3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) on 1,2-Dichloroethane. Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office, Office of Health and Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, Cincinnati, OH. 1993.
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Health and Environmental Effects Profile for Dichloroethanes. EPA/600/x-85/359. Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office, Office of Health and Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, Cincinnati, OH. 1985.
5. International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of the Carcinogenic Risk of Chemicals to Humans: Some Halogenated Hydrocarbons. Volume 20. World Health Organization, Lyon. 1979.
6. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Health Effects Assessment for 1,2-Dichloroethane. EPA/540/1-86/002. Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office, Office of Health and Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, Cincinnati, OH. 1986.
7. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Technical Background Document to Support Rulemaking Pursuant to the Clean Air Act--Section 112(g). Ranking of Pollutants with Respect to Hazard to Human Health. EPA­450/3-92-010. Emissions Standards Division, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Research Triangle Park, NC. 1994.

1. *Micrograms per cubic meter is the unit of measurement for chemicals in air.

Last updated May 17, 2001
source: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/uatw/hlthef/di-ethan.html 24nov01

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