Indoor air guide values for ethyl acetate. Communication of the German Ad Hoc Working Group on Indoor Air Guidelines of the Indoor Air Hygiene Committee and the Supreme State Health Authorities

The German Ad Hoc Working Group on Indoor Air Guidelines of the Indoor Air Hygiene Committee and the Supreme State Health Authorities issues indoor air guide values to protect public health. No suitable human studies are available for health evaluation of ethyl acetate in indoor air. In a well-documented subchronic inhalation rat study, assessed as reliable, local effects were observed in nasal epithelia. The incidence and severity of degeneration of the nasal olfactory epithelium was dose-dependent. This study leads to a lowest observed adverse effect concentration (LOAEC) of 1280 mg ethyl acetate/m(3) indoor air, corresponding to a LAEC for continuous exposure of 230 mg ethyl acetate/m(3), for the endpoint nasal epithelium degeneration. By applying an interspecies factor of 1, a factor of 10 for interindividual variability and a factor of 2 to account for the higher respiratory rate of children compared to adults, a health hazard guide value (RW II) of 6 mg ethyl acetate/m(3) is obtained. A health precaution guide value (RW I) of 0.6 mg ethyl acetate/m(3) indoor air is recommended.