Butyl methacrylate

Exposure related observations in humans: other data

Administrative data

Endpoint:

exposure-related observations in humans: other data

Type of information:

other: case study

Adequacy of study:

disregarded due to major methodological deficiencies

Reliability:

3 (not reliable)

Rationale for reliability incl. deficiencies:

other: Mixture of compounds, number of exposed subjects in each work group is very small. Health effects reported cannot clearly be attributed to exposure to BMA vapours.

Data source

Reference

Reference Type:

publication

Title:

Pulmonary Abnormalities and Serum Immunoglobulins in Facsimile Machine Repair Technicians|Exposed to Butyl methacrylate Fume.

Author:

Raymond LW

Year:

1996

Bibliographic source:

Chest 109: 1010 - 1018

Materials and methods

Type of study / information:

Type of experience: Human

Endpoint addressed:

respiratory sensitisation

Principles of method if other than guideline:

The study involves standard clinical and respiratory function tests as well as a chemical analysis fo the fumes

GLP compliance:

not specified

Test material

Test material information

Constituent 1

Reference substance name:

Butyl methacrylate

EC Number:

202-615-1

EC Name:

Butyl methacrylate

Cas Number:

97-88-1

Molecular formula:

C8H14O2

IUPAC Name:

butyl methacrylate

Details on test material:

The emissions generated by the fax process studied were largely composed of deeply respirable BMA (isomer not specified, but more likely n-BMA) and other polymer decomposition products including C-4 fume and vapour phases, as well as some C-2 and C-3 compounds.

Results and discussion

Results:

Exposure to polymer decomposition fumes also containing low levels of Butyl methacrylate (0.6 mg/m3 in air) released from coated fax paper was reported to be associated with respiratory symptoms during 1 to 2 years in seven fax machine repair technicians in New York.
Only few isolated symptoms in another group of workers in a larger room with fume levels from 0.14 to 0.40 mg/m³ in air.

Applicant's summary and conclusion

Conclusions:

In a group of seven fax machine repair technicians in New York a slight increase in respiratory symptoms and an increase in serum IgE was observed. The autors associated this with the exposure to fumes generated during machine operation. According to their results, the fumes (0.6 mg/m3 in air) consisted primarily of Butyl methacrylate (released from a BMA-containing polymer which coated the fax paper), but also other pyrolysis products.

Executive summary:

In a group of seven fax machine repair technicians ina slight increase in respiratory symptoms and an increase in serum IgE was observed. The autors associated this with the exposure to fumes generated during machine operation. According to their results, the fumes (0.6 mg/m3 in air) consisted primarily of Butyl methacrylate (released from a BMA-containing polymer which coated the fax paper), but also other pyrolysis products.