| IDENTIFICATION AND USE: 2-Aminoethanol is a colorless, viscous liquid or solid (below 51 °F). It is not registered for current pesticide use in the U.S., but approved pesticide uses may change periodically and so federal, state and local authorities must be consulted for currently approved uses. The dual function groups, amino and hydroxyl, make it useful in cutting fluids and as intermediates in the production of surfactants, soaps, salts, corrosion control inhibitors, and in pharmaceutical and miscellaneous applications. 2-Aminoethanol and other amines appear to be potentially useful components of topical formulations used to decontaminate and protect the skin against chemical warfare agents. As a pharmaceutical adjuvant, it is used as a solvent for fats and oils, and in combination with fatty acids forms soaps in the formulations of various types of emulsion such as lotions and creams. It is used in hydraulic fracturing. HUMAN EXPOSURE AND TOXICITY: A concentration of 5.9% is irritating to human skin. Symptoms associated with CNS depression in humans include increased blood pressure, diuresis, salivation, and pupillary dilation. Large doses produce sedation, coma, and death following depression of blood pressure and cardiac collapse. 2-Aminoethanol inhalation by humans has been reported to cause immediate allergic responses of dyspnea and asthma and clinical symptoms of acute liver damage and chronic hepatitis. ANIMAL STUDIES: Undiluted liquid causes redness and swelling when applied to the skin of the rabbit. Administration of 2-aminoethanol by the intravenous route in dogs produced increased blood pressure, diuresis, salivation, and pupillary dilation. Rats, mice, rabbits, and guinea pigs exposed to vapor or mist at high concentrations (up to 1250 ppm) developed pulmonary, hepatic, and renal lesions. In a 90-day subacute oral toxicity study of 2-aminoethanol in rats that a maximum daily dose of 0.32 g/kg resulted in no effect; 0.64 g/kg/day resulted in altered liver or kidney wt; and at 1.28 g/kg death occurred. It is considered to be liver toxin. No treatment-related effects were noted in dogs administered as much as 22 mg/kg/d of 2-aminoethanol for 2 yr. In developmental studies in rabbits maternal toxicity was seen at the two higher dose levels (25, 75 mg/kg body weight) as skin irritation and at the highest dose level as reduced weight gain. There was no treatment related effect on the incidence of any fetal variation or malformation or on the number of malformed fetuses. 2-Aminoethanol has been demonstrated to be non-mutagenic in the Ames Salmonella typhimurium assay, with and without S9 metabolic activation, using TA 1535, TA 1537, TA 1538, TA 98, and TA 100; and also negative in the Escherichia coli assay, Saccharomyces gene conversion assay, and rat liver chromosome assay. ECOTOXICITY STUDIES: Aquatic toxicity tests were conducted using zebra fish fry (Brachydanio rerio) and the unicellular algae Isochrysis galbana (a flagellate) and Chaetoceros gracilis (a diatom). Inhibition of cell division, chlorophyll content, and (14)CO2 uptake in the algae were sensitive end points. 2-Aminoethanol had an LC50 /in the zebra fish fry/ higher than 5,000 mg/L. |