Diethylene glycol monomethyl ether – Evaluation of a BAT Value
Assessment Values in Biological Material – Translation of the German version from 2024
Katrin Klotz1Hans Drexler2 (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 Hartwig3 (Chair of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
MAK Commission4
1 Employer’s liability insurance association for wood and metal, Weinmarkt 9–11, 90403 Nürnberg, Germany
2 Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Institute and Outpatient Clinic of Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Henkestraße 9–11, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
3 Institute of Applied Biosciences, Department of Food Chemistry and Toxicology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Adenauerring 20a, Building 50.41, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
4 Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Kennedyallee 40, 53175 Bonn, Germany
Abstract
In 2023, the German Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area (MAK Commission) derived an occupational exposure limit value (maximum concentration at the workplace, MAK value) of 10 ml/m3 (50 mg/m3) for diethylene glycol monomethyl ether [111-77-3]. In this article, the data for diethylene glycol monomethyl ether are summarized and evaluated to derive a biological tolerance value (BAT value). The toxic effect of diethylene glycol monomethyl ether is related to the metabolite methoxyacetic acid and its metabolic precursor 2-methoxyethanol (ethylene glycol monomethyl ether). Therefore, those metabolites were considered for the evaluation of the BAT value. The BAT value for 2-methoxyethanol of 15 mg methoxyacetic acid/g creatinine was derived from the no observed adverse effect concentration (NOAEC) for haematotoxicity in humans. The NOAEC of testicular toxicity is in the same order of magnitude. Therefore, a BAT value of 15 mg methoxyacetic acid/g creatinine was derived for diethylene glycol monomethyl ether. Sampling time is at the end of the shift on the last day of the working week after at least 2 weeks of exposure.
