Methoxyacetic acid – Evaluation of a BAT value
Assessment Values in Biological Material – Translation of the German version from 2024
Thomas Göen1Hans Drexler1 (Head of the working group “Assessment Values in Biological Material” of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
Andrea Hartwig2 (Chair of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
MAK Commission3
1 Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Institute and Outpatient Clinic of Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Henkestraße 9–11, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
2 Institute of Applied Biosciences, Department of Food Chemistry and Toxicology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Adenauerring 20a, Building 50.41, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
3 Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Kennedyallee 40, 53175 Bonn, Germany
Abstract
The German Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area (MAK Commission) summarized and evaluated the data for methoxyacetic acid [625-45-6] to derive a biological tolerance value (BAT value) considering all toxicological end points. There are no toxicological data from humans occupationally exposed to methoxyacetic acid. For methoxyethanol, a substance which is efficiently metabolised to the toxic methoxyacetic acid, many human studies provide sufficient toxicological data as well as toxicokinetic information on the metabolite. A BAT value of 15 mg methoxyacetic acid/g creatinine was derived for 2-methoxyethanol based on the haematotoxic effects in occupationally exposed individuals in 2008. The BAT value was confirmed in 2023. As a result, the BAT value of 15 mg methoxyacetic acid/g creatinine was likewise derived for exposure to methoxyacetic acid. Sampling time is at the end of the shift on the last day of the working week after at least 2 weeks of exposure.
