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EC number: 233-116-7 | CAS number: 10038-98-9
- Life Cycle description
- Uses advised against
- Endpoint summary
- Appearance / physical state / colour
- Melting point / freezing point
- Boiling point
- Density
- Particle size distribution (Granulometry)
- Vapour pressure
- Partition coefficient
- Water solubility
- Solubility in organic solvents / fat solubility
- Surface tension
- Flash point
- Auto flammability
- Flammability
- Explosiveness
- Oxidising properties
- Oxidation reduction potential
- Stability in organic solvents and identity of relevant degradation products
- Storage stability and reactivity towards container material
- Stability: thermal, sunlight, metals
- pH
- Dissociation constant
- Viscosity
- Additional physico-chemical information
- Additional physico-chemical properties of nanomaterials
- Nanomaterial agglomeration / aggregation
- Nanomaterial crystalline phase
- Nanomaterial crystallite and grain size
- Nanomaterial aspect ratio / shape
- Nanomaterial specific surface area
- Nanomaterial Zeta potential
- Nanomaterial surface chemistry
- Nanomaterial dustiness
- Nanomaterial porosity
- Nanomaterial pour density
- Nanomaterial photocatalytic activity
- Nanomaterial radical formation potential
- Nanomaterial catalytic activity
- Endpoint summary
- Stability
- Biodegradation
- Bioaccumulation
- Transport and distribution
- Environmental data
- Additional information on environmental fate and behaviour
- Ecotoxicological Summary
- Aquatic toxicity
- Endpoint summary
- Short-term toxicity to fish
- Long-term toxicity to fish
- Short-term toxicity to aquatic invertebrates
- Long-term toxicity to aquatic invertebrates
- Toxicity to aquatic algae and cyanobacteria
- Toxicity to aquatic plants other than algae
- Toxicity to microorganisms
- Endocrine disrupter testing in aquatic vertebrates – in vivo
- Toxicity to other aquatic organisms
- Sediment toxicity
- Terrestrial toxicity
- Biological effects monitoring
- Biotransformation and kinetics
- Additional ecotoxological information
- Toxicological Summary
- Toxicokinetics, metabolism and distribution
- Acute Toxicity
- Irritation / corrosion
- Sensitisation
- Repeated dose toxicity
- Genetic toxicity
- Carcinogenicity
- Toxicity to reproduction
- Specific investigations
- Exposure related observations in humans
- Toxic effects on livestock and pets
- Additional toxicological data
Endpoint summary
Administrative data
Description of key information
Acute rat inhalation test (Terrill et al., 1990, Hazleton laboratories) (KL=2):
A single one-hour (3.3g/m³) whole body exposure resulted in severe toxic effects.
By vapour exposure, GeCl4 was unique in that the injury of tissue (necrosis)
was markedly greater for the skin than for the respiratory tract.
Due to the corrosive nature of the test material and the clinical signs
displayed by the animals, all animals were sacrificed for humane reasons on test day 4. The exposure concentration 3.3g/m³
needs to be considered as an LC100 (1h)
Key value for chemical safety assessment
Acute toxicity: via oral route
Link to relevant study records
- Endpoint:
- acute toxicity: oral
- Data waiving:
- study scientifically not necessary / other information available
- Justification for data waiving:
- the study does not need to be conducted because the substance is classified as corrosive to the skin
Reference
Endpoint conclusion
- Endpoint conclusion:
- no study available
Acute toxicity: via inhalation route
Link to relevant study records
- Endpoint:
- acute toxicity: inhalation
- Type of information:
- experimental study
- Adequacy of study:
- key study
- Reliability:
- 2 (reliable with restrictions)
- Rationale for reliability incl. deficiencies:
- other: Study well documented , although only 1 concentration tested and 1h exposure, meets generally accepted scientific principles, acceptable for assessment.
- Principles of method if other than guideline:
- A single one-hour (3.3g/m³) whole body exposure
- GLP compliance:
- yes (incl. QA statement)
- Test type:
- other: A single one-hour whole body exposure
- Limit test:
- no
- Species:
- rat
- Strain:
- Sprague-Dawley
- Sex:
- male/female
- Details on test animals or test system and environmental conditions:
- TEST ANIMALS
- Source: Charles River Laboratories, Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina
- Age at study initiation: 49 weeks
- Weight at study initiation: male: 232.6-269.0 g; female: 200.0-209.1 g
- Fasting period before study: no information
- Housing: individually housed in elevated, stainless-steel, wire-mesh cages
- Diet: Purina certified rodent laboratory chow 5002 ad libitum
- Water: Tap water ad libitum
- Acclimation period: 2 weeks
ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
- Temperature: 25°C
- Humidity (%): 43-60
- Air changes (per hr): no information
- Photoperiod (hrs dark / hrs light): 12hrs dark /12 hrs light - Route of administration:
- inhalation: vapour
- Type of inhalation exposure:
- whole body
- Vehicle:
- air
- Details on inhalation exposure:
- GENERATION OF TEST ATMOSPHERE / CHAMBER DESCRIPTION
- Exposure apparatus: A Razel syringe pump (Model A-99) was used to pump the liquid test material, contained in a 10ml Hamilton glass and Teflon syringe, to an atomizer for generation of the vapor. Compressed air was metered to the atomizer through a 0-40Lpm Dwyer flowmeter and a backpressure gauge. The resultant vapor-laden airstream was directed from the atomizer to the inlet of the exposure chamber.
- Exposure chamber volume: 100-liter plexiglass exposure chamber
- Temperature, humidity, pressure in air chamber: continuously monitored during the exposure
TEST ATMOSPHERE
- Samples taken from breathing zone: yes - Analytical verification of test atmosphere concentrations:
- yes
- Duration of exposure:
- 1 h
- Concentrations:
- 379ppm (conversion factor of 114.3 = 1mg/L) = 3.315g/m3
- No. of animals per sex per dose:
- 5
- Control animals:
- yes
- Details on study design:
- - Duration of observation period following administration: 4days
- Frequency of observations and weighing: prior to exposure (day1) and at terminal sacrifice (day4)
- Necropsy of survivors performed: no
- Other examinations performed: clinical signs, body weight, gross pathology - Statistics:
- Calculation of time-weighted-average (TWA) exposure levels were performed using a program developed and validated by Hazleton laboratories America, Inc.
- Sex:
- male/female
- Dose descriptor:
- other: EC100
- Effect level:
- 3 315 mg/m³ air
- Based on:
- test mat.
- Exp. duration:
- 1 h
- Remarks on result:
- other: necrotic paw(s) and/or nose, rough haircoat, opaque or squinted eye(s), swollen paw(s), few or no feces, pale ears and eyes, urine stains, increased secretory responses, respiratory distress , languid behavior and loss of body weight
- Mortality:
- Due to the corrosive nature of the test material and the clinical signs displayed by the animals, all animals were sacrificed for humane reasons on test day 4
- Clinical signs:
- other: -languid behavior, squinted eyes, dyspnea, opaque eyes, urine stains, wheezing and red or green colored crusts were exhibited by the animals during exposure or at the 30 or 60 minutes post-exposure period -clinical signs observed during the test day 2-4 p
- Body weight:
- almost all animals showed a weight loss on test day 4 compared to their pretest body weight
- Gross pathology:
- swollen, necrotic, and/or sores on the paw(s), necrotic skin, eschar on the skin, pale kidney, pale eye, opaque external eye, raised area on the external eye, pale spleen, mottled lung and dark nasal turbinate
- Other findings:
- none
- Interpretation of results:
- other: substance is extremely corrosive
- Remarks:
- Criteria used for interpretation of results: EU
- Conclusions:
- By vapor exposure, this material was unique in that the injury of tissue (necrosis) was markedly greater for the skin than for the respiratory tract.
Due to the complete hydrolysis of the substance with formation of HCl, the respiratory effects and classification are based on those of HCl (STOT SE 3) - Executive summary:
One group of 5 male and 5 female Sprague-Dawley rats received a single one-hour whole-body exposure to germanium tetrachloride as a vapor at an analytical concentration of approximately 379 parts per million (v/v, in air). Clinical signs associated with treatment included necrotic paw(s) and/or nose, rough haircoat, opaque or squinted eye(s), swollen paw(s), few or no feces, pale ears and eyes, urine stains, increased secretory responses, respiratory distress , languid behavior and loss of body weight. Due to the extemely poor physical condition of the animals, they were sacrificed for humane reasons on test day 4 instead of test day 14. Gross postmortem examinations of sacrificed animals revealed swollen, necrotic, and/or sores on the paw(s), necrotic skin, eschar on the skin, pale kidney, pale eye, opaque external eye, raised area on the external eye, pale spleen, mottled lung and dark nasal turbinate.
It was concluded that, by vapor exposure, this material was unique in that the injury of tissue (necrosis) was markedly greater for the skin than for the respiratory tract.
Reference
none
Endpoint conclusion
- Endpoint conclusion:
- adverse effect observed
Additional information
GeCl4is a data-poor substance. However, a relatively large amount of toxicity data is available for GeO2. Since GeCl4readily hydrolyses (even with the humidity in the air) to form GeO2and HCl, the applicability of using GeO2toxicity data to read across to GeCl4was evaluated.
In order to make a straightforward comparison possible between available data on GeCl4 and GeO2,the effect concentrations reported for GeCl4were converted to their GeO2equivalents (i. e. effects concentrations are corrected for molecular weight).
Acute toxicity: oral:
No reliable acute oral toxicity data was available for GeCl4. In order to enable comparison with the available GeO2data, the acute inhalation EC100for GeCl4was converted to an oral ED100using route-to-route extrapolation (allometric scaling principle-ECHA guidance R8) (cfr table below).
It can be concluded that the available lethal concentrations for GeO2are higher than the lethal concentrations for GeCl4.Acute toxicity: inhalation:
The reported acute inhalation LC50for GeO2is > 3.1g/m³ whereas the normalized EC100forGeCl4to equivalent GeO2 is 1.6g/m³. A direct comparison between similar effect concentrations is impossible (i.e. LC50versus EC100), however it can be concluded that the lethal concentrations for GeO2are higher than the lethal concentrations for GeCl4 (cfr table below).
Table: Overview of available acute toxicity data on GeCl4 and GeO2 and overview of the conversion of GeCl4 effect data to GeO2 equivalents(based on molecular weight).
* route to route extrapolation: 3,316mg/L x 0,8L/min/kg x 60min ==> LD100 = 159mg/kg (allometric scaling principle - Echa guidance R8) conc
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Reference |
Klimisch |
Exposure range |
Duration |
Effectconc |
Qualifier |
Normalization to equivalent GeO2 Exposure range Effect |
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GeCl4 |
acute inhal (Terrill et al., 1990, Hazleton laboratories) |
2 |
3.316 |
/ |
g/m3 |
1h |
3.316g/m3 |
EC100 |
1.632 / |
1.632g/m3
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data extrapolated to 4h standard |
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4h |
0.829g/m3 |
EC100 |
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0.408g/m3 |
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route-to-route extrapolation* |
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0.159g/kg |
ED100 |
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0.078g/kg |
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GeO2 |
acute inhal (Arts et al., 1994) |
2 |
3.1 |
/ |
g/m3 |
4h |
>3.1g/m3 |
LC50 |
lethal conc GeO2 > GeCl4
lethal conc GeO2 > GeCl4
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1.42 |
/ |
g/m3 |
4h |
>1.42g/m3 |
LC50 |
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acute oral (Faroon et al., 2007) |
3 |
/ |
/ |
g/kg |
NI |
3.7g/kg |
LD50 |
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acute oral (Faroon et al. , 2007) |
3 |
/ |
/ |
g/kg |
NI |
6.3g/kg |
LD50 |
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Valid to read across based on GeO2data?
Based on this exercise it was envisaged to evaluate whether a read across from GeO2-induced systemic effects would be valid for GeCl4.The answer to this question is clearly negative. Corrosive effects of GeCl4(attributable to hydrolysis with formation of HCl ) will occur at much lower concentration and before other potential GeO2-induced effects can be induced.
Because of the high corrosive potential of GeCl4at relatively low concentrations, it was concluded that read across based of GeO2toxicity data is not relevant. Severe corrosive effects of GeCl4will occur before systemic effects triggered by GeO2can be initiated.
Justification for classification or non-classification
Specific target organ toxicity — single exposure:
Due to the complete hydrolysis of the substance with formation of HCl, the respiratory effects and classification are based on those of HCl (STOT SE 3)
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