2-Butoxyethanol
MAK-Begründung, Nachtrag
Andrea Hartwig1 (Vorsitz der Ständigen Senatskommission zur Prüfung gesundheitsschädlicher Arbeitsstoffe, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)MAK Commission2
1 Institut für Angewandte Biowissenschaften, Abteilung Lebensmittelchemie und Toxikologie, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Adenauerring 20a, Geb. 50.41, 76131 Karlsruhe, Deutschland
2 Ständige Senatskommission zur Prüfung gesundheitsschädlicher Arbeitsstoffe, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Kennedyallee 40, 53175 Bonn, Deutschland
Abstract
The German Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area (MAK Commission) re-evaluated the assignment of 2-butoxyethanol [111-76-2] to Pregnancy Risk Group C (“Damage to the embryo or foetus is unlikely if the MAK value or the BAT value is observed.”). Considering the increased respiratory volume at the workplace (see List of MAK and BAT Values, Section I b and I c), the NOAECs for developmental toxicity for rats and rabbits are 2.5 and 5 times the MAK value of 10 ml/m3, respectively. In rabbits, a direct developmental toxic effect is not to be assumed due to the predominant maternal toxicity. For rats, it is plausible to assume that the developmental toxicity is almost exclusively due to the haemolysis caused by the metabolite butoxyacetic acid. Humans have been shown to be significantly less sensitive towards this effect, by a factor of 16. This results in a sufficient 40-fold (2.5 × 16) margin between the NOAEC for developmental toxicity and the MAK value. Therefore, the assignment to Pregnancy Risk Group C has been confirmed.
