Carbon tetrachloride

Direct observations: clinical cases, poisoning incidents and other

Administrative data

Endpoint:

direct observations: clinical cases, poisoning incidents and other

Type of information:

other: dossier on the toxicological profile of CTC

Adequacy of study:

other information

Reliability:

4 (not assignable)

Rationale for reliability incl. deficiencies:

other: secondary source

Data source

Reference

Reference Type:

secondary source

Title:

Toxicological profile for carbon tetrachloride

Year:

2005

Bibliographic source:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

Materials and methods

Test material

Test material information

Constituent 1

Reference substance name:

Carbon tetrachloride

EC Number:

200-262-8

EC Name:

Carbon tetrachloride

Cas Number:

56-23-5

Molecular formula:

CCl4

IUPAC Name:

tetrachloromethane

Applicant's summary and conclusion

Executive summary:

summary of clinical cases as described in the ATDSR dossier (August 2005):

"Ingestion of concentrated solutions of CTC can cause death in humans within hours to days. The principal clinical signs observed in fatal cases include gastrointestinal irritation, central nervous system depression, and cardiovascular disturbances, with death usually resulting from severe injury to kidney and/or liver. Effects on lungs were observed, too (edema and hemorrhage).

There is considerable variation in the doses that have been found to cause lethality.

A case of polyneuritis was reported in a man who had repeated dermal contact 8 hours/day to CTC using it as a degreasing agent. Sudden severe epileptiform seizure and coma occurred in a subsequently fatal case following weekly combined inhalation/dermal exposure. The individual was alcoholic.

Exposure levels to CTC leading to effects on the central nervous systems of humans are not precisely defined. No symptoms of light headedness or nausea were experienced by humans exposed to 50 ppm for 70 minutes or 10 ppm for 3 hours, but nausea, headache, and giddiness were found to be common symptoms in workers exposed to CTC for 8 hours/day at concentrations of 20– 125 ppm.

Dizziness has also been reported in humans following short-term exposure (15 minutes) at a higher concentration (250 ppm) (Norwood et al. 1950). This suggests that the threshold for central nervous system effects in humans is, as a conservative estimate, probably in the range of 20–50 ppm for an 8-hour workday.

Most studies of humans exposed to CTC by inhalation have not detected significant evidence of cardiovascular injury, even at exposure levels sufficient to markedly injure the liver and/or kidney."