title: Indoor air guide values for glycol ethers and glycol esters-A category approach.
abstract: The German Committee on Indoor Guide Values issues indoor air guide values to protect public health. For health evaluation of glycol ethers and glycol esters in air, the entire group of substances with data for 47 chemicals was analyzed in order to gain a consistent assessment. For some glycol ethers reproductive and hematological effects are of central interest, whereas for others effects on liver and kidneys are crucial. Moreover, some glycol ethers have also been shown to cause irritation of the respiratory tract. For 14 chemicals, suitable inhalation studies were available for deriving specific guide values, or analogies to closely related substances could be drawn. For these chemicals individual indoor air guide values were derived, the respective guide value I ranging from 0.02 to 2mg/m(3). Guide values were derived according to the procedures issued by the Committee, considering the exposure duration in indoor air compared to animal studies or the situation at workplaces, the duration of the respective study, species differences, and interindividual variability including special sensitivity of children. For glycol ethers with insufficient data default guide values II and I of 0.05 and 0.005ppm, respectively, were recommended based on statistical analyses of the available data on all glycol ethers and on evaluation of single studies. For evaluation of combined effects additivity is assumed.
authors.affiliation: Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine, Nikolai-Fuchs-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany. Electronic address: inge.mangelsdorf@item.fraunhofer.de.
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mangelsdorf
authors.affiliation: Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine, Nikolai-Fuchs-Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Sara Nordqvist
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Kleppe
authors.affiliation: Landesamt für soziale Dienste, Schleswig-Holstein, Brunswiker Straße 4, 24105 Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Birger
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Heinzow
authors.affiliation: Behörde für Gesundheit und Verbraucherschutz, Billstr. 80, 20539 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sagunski
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000592:standards* / Q000633:toxicity; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor; D000818:Animals; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004952:Esters / Q000592:standards* / Q000633:toxicity; D004987:Ethers / Q000592:standards* / Q000633:toxicity; D006018:Glycols / Q000592:standards* / Q000633:toxicity; D006801:Humans; D008452:Maximum Allowable Concentration; D051379:Mice; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018675:Toxicity Tests
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D004952:Esters; D004987:Ethers; D006018:Glycols
keywords: Category approach; Glycol esters; Glycol ethers; Guide value; Indoor air; TTC; Toxicological databases