home edit2 whole TSD November 2002 PDF format - OEHHA

BIS(CHLOROMETHYL)ETHER
CAS No: 542-88-1
I. PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES (From HSDB, 1994)
Molecular weight 114.96
Boiling point 106°C
Melting point
-41.5°C
Vapor pressure 30 mm Hg at 22°C
Air concentration conversion 1 ppm = 4.75 mg/m 3
II.
HEALTH ASSESSMENT VALUES
Unit Risk Factor: 1.3 E-2 (µg/m 3 ) -1
Slope Factor: 4.6 E+1 (mg/kg-day) -1
[Calculated from potency value derived by RCHAS, cross-route extrapolation (CDHS, 1988)]
III.
CARCINOGENIC EFFECTS
Human Studies
Increases in the incidence of lung cancer have been reported in a number of studies of workers exposed
to both bis(chloromethyl)ether (BCME) and chloromethyl methyl ether (CMME). Some of these
studies involve workers primarily exposed to CMME contaminated with 1-8 % BCME. Exposure to
CMME, a known human carcinogen, is a confounding variable in these studies. However, there are
several studies in which individuals were known to have been exposed to BCME, but exposure to
CMME was not known to have occurred and appears unlikely.
Theiss et al. (1973) (reviewed by IARC, 1973) reported a retrospective study of a small group of
BCME workers exposed between 1956 and 1962. Six cases of lung cancer were found in 18 men
employed in a testing facility; 5 of the 6 men were smokers. Two additional lung cancer cases were
found in a group of 50 production workers. Five of the 8 total cases were oat-cell carcinomas.
Exposure periods were 6-9 years, and tumor latency was 8-16 years.
Sakabe (1973) reported on lung cancer cases occurring in 32 workers exposed to BCME in a
Japanese dyestuff factory in the period 1955-1970. Five cases of lung cancer were reported compared
to 0.024 expected cases (p < 0.001). One case was reported to be oat-cell carcinoma; the others
were of mixed histological types. Duration of exposure to BCME ranged from 4 to 7 years; cancer
mortality latency ranged from 8 to 14 years after initial exposure. It was noted that all the workers that
developed lung cancer were also smokers, and that 4 of the 5 cases were also exposed to other
industrial chemicals.
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