Registration Dossier

Data platform availability banner - registered substances factsheets

Please be aware that this old REACH registration data factsheet is no longer maintained; it remains frozen as of 19th May 2023.

The new ECHA CHEM database has been released by ECHA, and it now contains all REACH registration data. There are more details on the transition of ECHA's published data to ECHA CHEM here.

Diss Factsheets

Toxicological information

Neurotoxicity

Currently viewing:

Administrative data

Description of key information

Data from the structural analogue 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (CAS No. 818-61-1) (Long-Evans rats, subchronic neurotoxicity study, no guideline, ip):
- NOAEL (general toxicity) = 20 mg/kg bw/day
- NOAEL (neurobehaviour / neuropathology) = 60 mg/kg bw/day ( the highest dose tested).

Key value for chemical safety assessment

Additional information

There are no experimental data available concerning the neurotoxic potential of 4-hydroxybutyl acrylate. But data from the structural analogue 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA, CAS No. 818-61-1) were taken into consideration for the assessment of HBA.

Moser et al. (1992) conducted a subchronic neurotoxicity study where HEA in saline was injected intraperitoneally into Long-Evans rats (10/sex/group) at dosages of 0, 3, 20 and 60 mg/kg body weight/day, 5 days a week for 13 weeks. Two vehicle control groups were also included. As a positive control for detecting central-peripheral distal axonopathy, three dose levels of acrylamide (ACR) were also included. A functional observational battery (FOB) which included home-cage and open-field observations and interactive tests of sensory, neuromuscular, and autonomic function, was used to test all rats before dosing, at approximately 30 and 60 days of dosing, and on the day after the last dose. Subsets of rats (6/sex/dose level) were then perfused for neuropathlogical evaluation, and specific sites within the central and peripheral nervous system (tissues from the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerve) were evaluated by light microscopy.

HEA treatment resulted in a statistically significant decrease in body weight gain for male rats in the 60 mg/kg body weight dose group. The authors observed abdominal bloating as a result of the intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of HEA which was sometimes extreme. Bloating which was observed in HEA-treated rats and which was described as extreme, was likely responsible for some of the changes in the functional observational battery (FOB) that were described. Irritation of the peritoneum due to the i.p. injection of HEA at all dosages is consistent with “extreme” bloating, however gross and histological examination of the peritoneum found no evidence of overt peritonitis or other abnormalities.

Histologic examination of the liver, kidneys, bladder, diaphragm and brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerve following fixation of tissues by perfusion revealed no treatment-related effects. Male (not female) rats had a transiently decreased hindlimb grip at the higher dosage at 90 days. The FOB showed increased reactivity to handling and to external stimuli, likely due to bloating of the abdominal area with tenderness (that could have interfered with behavioral measurements), as well as mild hypothermia; however, no information was given about dose-response relationship or magnitude of these effects. Righting reflex was significantly impaired in males at 90 days, but the effect was slight and there was no dose-response relationship. Gait was affected, but the authors indicated that the HEA treated rats did not show a clear dose-response relationship in the gait score. In fact, examination of the data showed that the baseline differences could account for most of the differences seen among dose groups. HEA produced no changes in foot splay. Body weights in male rats showed an effect in the high-dosage group, but no effect was seen in females. Neuropathological evaluation included evaluation of 6 brain sections, dorsal and ventral roots and ganglia, sciatic (2 locations), tibial and sural peripheral nerves. No neuropathological changes were detected either in the central, or in the peripheral nervous systems. Timecourse and dose-related changes in gait, splay and neuropathology were demonstrated for the positive control acrylamide and were consistent with the literature. Female gait score data were also presented, but failed to show a convincing effect (abnormal control data points may account for statistical significance). The authors did not comment about how bloating (pear-shaped belly) could have eventually affected gait scores.

Behavioural effects observed after i.p. administration of HEA were neither dose- nor time-related. They were not consistent in both sexes and were generally transient and only slight effects as compared to behavioural effects caused by the positive control acrylamide.

Based on the reported results, the authors came to the conclusion that intraperitoneal administration of HEA affected weight gain and some behavioural measures, it did not produce distal axonopathy and neurobehavioural signs similar to those of acrylamide. The neurotoxic potential of HEA appears to be minimal.

The NOAEL (males) for general toxicity was 20 mg/kg bw/day based on changes in body weight gain. The NOAEL (male/female) for neurobehaviour and neuropathology was equivalent to the highest dose tested of 60 mg/kg bw/day. Based on the data from the analogue 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, the neurotoxic potential of HBA appears to be minimal, too.

Justification for classification or non-classification

The available experimental test data are reliable and suitable for the purpose of classification under Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008. Based on the data, classification for neurotoxicity is not warranted under Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008.