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ACETAMIDE
CAS No: 60-35-5
I. PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES (From HSDB, 1994)
Molecular weight 59.07
Boiling point 222 °C
Melting point 81 °C
Vapor pressure
not available
Air concentration conversion 1 ppm = 2.416 mg/m 3
II.
HEALTH ASSESSMENT VALUES
Unit Risk Factor: 2.0 E-5 (µg/m 3 ) -1
Slope Factor: 7.0 E-2 (mg/kg-day) -1
[Male Fischer 344 rat liver tumor data (Fleischman et al., 1980), contained in Gold et al.
database (1990), expedited Proposition 65 methodology (Cal/EPA, 1992), cross-route
extrapolation.]
III.
CARCINOGENIC EFFECTS
Human Studies
No studies on the potential carcinogenic effects of acetamide on humans are known to exist.
Animal Studies
Dessau and Jackson (1955) exposed 5 Rockland albino rats to acetamide by gavage (4 g/kg body
weight/day in distilled water) for 205 days. One animal developed an hepatocellular adenoma.
Male Wistar rats (25/group) were fed diet containing 0, 1.25, 2.5 or 5% acetamide for 1 year (Jackson
and Dessau, 1961). One rat/group was sacrificed at monthly intervals; the remaining animals were
sacrificed at 1 year. Liver tumors (described as trabecular carcinomas or adenocarcinomas) were seen
in 0/25, 4/24, 6/22 and 1/18 animals from the control, low, medium and high dose groups. In the same
study, a group of 50 male Wistar rats were fed a diet containing 5% acetamide for 1 year. One animal
was killed weekly for 26 weeks, after which 1 animal was killed every other week. Liver tumors
(trabecular carcinomas or adenocarcinomas) were observed in 4/48 animals treated for 38-42 weeks,
compared to 0/43 in controls.
Male Wistar rats were fed control diet (15 animals), or diets containing 2.5% acetamide (40 animals),
2.5% acetamide + 5.6% L-arginine L-glutamate (40 animals), or 5.6% L-arginine L-glutamate (15
animals) for 1 year. Hepatomas were observed in 2/8 animals fed acetamide alone and killed after 1
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