NIOSH Comments to DOL on OSHA Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking-Occupational Exposure to Ethylene Oxide (RE-Docket H-200) by J. D. Millar, April 2, 1982

摘要

In the testimony NIOSH reaffirms that ethylene-oxide (75218) (EtO) should be regarded as a potential carcinogen and that appropriate controls be used to reduce worker exposure to the compound. NIOSH has completed a study that further defines the toxicity of EtO as a consequence of chronic inhalation by rats and monkeys. Groups of Fischer 344-rats and Cynomolgus-monkeys were exposed for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 24 months. One group was exposed at 50 parts per million (ppm) and the other at 100 ppm EtO. Preliminary findings indicate that EtO significantly increased the frequency of chromosomal aberrations in peripheral lymphocytes of animals in both exposure groups. The prevalence of sister chromatid exchanges was also significantly increased in the exposed animals.