Methylene Chloride

Environmental Sources

Methylene chloride is a colourless liquid with a mild, sweet odour. Another name for it is dichloromethane. It vapourizes easily because it is highly volatile. Methylene chloride does not occur naturally in the environment. Methylene chloride is used as an industrial solvent and as a paint stripper. It may also be found in some aerosol and pesticide products and is used in the manufacture of photographic film.

Human Health effects

If you breathe in large amounts of methylene chloride you may feel unsteady, dizzy, and have nausea and a tingling or numbness of your finger and toes. A person breathing smaller amounts of methylene chloride may become less attentive and less accurate in tasks requiring hand-eye coordination. Skin contact with methylene chloride causes burning and redness of the skin.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has determined that methylene chloride may cause cancer in humans. The US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has determined that methylene chloride can be reasonably anticipated to be a cancer-causing chemical. The US EPA has determined that methylene chloride is a probable cancer-causing agent in humans.

Exposure limits

- The Bay Area Air Quality Management District in San Francisco, USA documented a background concentration level of <0.5 ppb for Methylene chloride for the whole bay area in San Francisco.

- The US EPA requires that releases of methylene chloride of 1,000 pounds or more be reported to the federal government.

- The US EPA recommends that exposure of children to methylene chloride be limited to less than 10 milligrams per litre of drinking water (10 mg/L) for 1 day or 2 mg/L for 10 days.

- The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established limits on the amounts of methylene chloride that can remain after processing of spices, hops extract, and decaffeinated coffee.

- The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set limits of 25 parts methylene chloride per million parts of workplace air (25 ppm) for 8-hour shifts and 40-hour work weeks.

Sources and links:

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts14.html

www.earthtechinc.com/09.html

www.cbecal.org/alerts/alerts_061201.htm

www.modcon.co.il/exposure.htm

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