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PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

DINITROCRESOLS 

CAS#: 534-52-1 (4,6-DNOC) 

Division of Toxicology August 1995 

This Public Health Statement is the summary 

chapter from the Toxicological Profile for 

Dinitrocresols. It is one in a series of Public Health 

Statements about hazardous substances and their 

health effects. A shorter version, the ToxFAQsTM is 

also available. This information is important 

because this substance may harm you. The effects 

of exposure to any hazardous substance depend on 

the dose, the duration, how you are exposed, 

personal traits and habits, and whether other 

chemicals are present. For more information, call 

the ATSDR Information Center at 1-888-422-8737. 

This statement was prepared to give you 

information about dinitrocresols and to emphasize 

the human health effects that may result from 

exposure to them. The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) has identified 1,350 hazardous waste 

sites as the most serious in the nation. These sites 

make up the National Priorities List (NPL) and are 

the sites targeted for long-term federal cleanup 

activities. Dinitrocresols have been found in at least 

50 of the sites on the NPL. However, the number of 

NPL sites evaluated for dinitrocresols is not known. 

As EPA evaluates more sites, the number of sites at 

which dinitrocresols is found may increase. This 

information is important because exposure to 

dinitrocresols may cause harmful health effects and 

because these sites are potential or actual sources of 

human exposure to dinitrocresols. 

When a substance is released from a large area, 

such as an industrial plant, or from a container, such 

as a drum or bottle, it enters the environment. This 

release does not always lead to exposure. You can 

be exposed to a substance only when you come in 

contact with it. You may be exposed by breathing, 

eating, or drinking substances containing the 

substance or by skin contact with it. 

If you are exposed to substances such as 

dinitrocresols, many factors will determine whether 

harmful health effects will occur and what the type 

and severity of those health effects will be. These 

factors include the dose (how much), the duration 

(how long), the route or pathway by which you are 

exposed (breathing, eating, drinking, or skin 

contact), the other chemicals to which you are 

exposed, and your individual characteristics such as 

age, sex, nutritional status, family traits, lifestyle, 

and state of health. 

1.1 WHAT ARE DINITROCRESOLS? 

Dinitrocresols are a group of organic chemicals that 

can contain up to 18 individual compounds. This 

document contains information on mainly one 

dinitrocresol that is commercially most important. 

This dinitrocresol is called 4,6-dinitro--o-cresol and 

is abbreviated as DNOC. Industries manufacture 

dinitrocresols, and this is the major source of 

exposure. DNOC is sold under many trade names, 

some of which are Antinonnin®, Detal®, and 

Dinitrol®. EPA has canceled the registration of 

these pesticides. DNOC is a yellow solid with no 

smell. The taste of DNOC is not known. It dissolves 

slightly in water. DNOC in water and soil does not 

easily evaporate to air. DNOC was primarily used 

to protect fruit trees and other food crops from 

insect damage. Another less expensive chemical 

that is more effective in controlling pests is 

replacing DNOC. In the 1930s, DNOC was used in 

pills for reducing weight. It is no longer used for 

this purpose because of bad effects on health. 

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service
 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 
 

 

 

 

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PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

DINITROCRESOLS 

CAS#: 534-52-1 (4,6-DNOC) 

Division of Toxicology August 1995 

1.2 WHAT HAPPENS TO DINITROCRESOLS 

WHEN THEY ENTER THE 

ENVIRONMENT? 

DNOC enters the air, water, and soil during its 

manufacture and transport. It also enters the 

environment when formulated products are 

prepared and used. Very small amounts of DNOC 

may form in the atmosphere in the presence of other 

compounds. Wastes containing DNOC are produced 

during its manufacture and use. These DNOCcontaining wastes are often disposed in landfills. 

DNOC enters the environment from these landfills. 

DNOC also enters the environment from accidental 

spills during manufacture and transport and from 

leaks during storage. 

DNOC destruction in air from chemical reactions 

with other pollutants or from interaction with 

sunlight may be insignificant. It eventually returns 

from air to land and water by settling and washout 

by snow and rainwater. We do not know how long 

DNOC stays in the air before it is fully removed. 

No known chemical reaction removes significant 

amounts of DNOC from water. DNOC in water 

may be broken down slowly by microorganisms. 

DNOC does not appreciably evaporate from water. 

Some of the DNOC sticks to particles present in 

water. This process partially transfers DNOC from 

water to the bottom sediment. When DNOC was 

accidentally spilled into the Rhine River in 

Germany, the level of DNOC in water decreased to 

half its initial value in an estimated 30 days. No 

known chemical reaction removes significant 

amounts of DNOC from soil. Microorganisms break 

down DNOC in soil. The loss of DNOC from soil 

by evaporation is not significant. DNOC has been 

found in groundwater from fields where it was 

applied. The level of DNOC in soil may decrease to 

half its original level in an estimated 14 days to 1 

month or longer. 

1.3 HOW MIGHT I BE EXPOSED TO 

DINITROCRESOLS? 

People can be exposed to DNOC by breathing 

contaminated air, drinking contaminated water, or 

eating contaminated food. Other than in certain 

workplaces, levels of DNOC in the air we 

commonly breathe in the United States have not 

been measured. However, the ambient level is 

expected to be very low. The levels of DNOC in 

drinking water and food also have not been 

detected. Certain people may be exposed to slightly 

higher levels of DNOC. People who live near sites 

containing DNOC wastes may be exposed primarily 

by breathing contaminated air. Children playing at 

or near these sites will be exposed by touching and 

eating soil if that soil contains DNOC. You may be 

exposed to DNOC if your work involves 

manufacturing, preparing, or using formulated 

DNOC products. You may be exposed if you work 

as a sprayer of DNOC. You also may be exposed to 

DNOC if your work involves incinerating waste 

containing DNOC or cleaning up sites contaminated 

with DNOC. According to one study, the estimated 

skin contact of workers spraying apple orchards was 

22.5 milligrams of DNOC per hour (mg/hour) (1 

milligram is one thousandth of a gram or a 30,000th 

fraction of an ounce). The workers also breathed 

less than 0.05–0.4 mg DNOC per hour while 

spraying. The blood and urine of some of the spray 

operators contained DNOC. 

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service
 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 
 

 

 

 

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PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

DINITROCRESOLS 

CAS#: 534-52-1 (4,6-DNOC) 

Division of Toxicology August 1995 

1.4 HOW CAN DINITROCRESOLS ENTER 

AND LEAVE MY BODY? 

DNOC can readily enter your body through the 

lungs if breathed in, through the stomach and 

intestines if swallowed, or through the skin if 

touched. The amount of DNOC that enters your 

body depends on the amount in air, food, and water, 

and the length of time you are exposed. After 

DNOC enters your body, your blood can carry it to 

your lungs, brain, liver, kidneys, spleen, muscles, 

and heart. DNOC can build up in these organs and 

tissues if you are repeatedly exposed. Animal 

studies show that DNOC is broken down to 

harmless products that do not cause health effects, 

but leave the body in urine, feces, and exhaled air. 

We do not know whether DNOC is broken down in 

people the same way it is in animals. However, we 

do know that DNOC leaves the bodies of people 

more slowly than it leaves the bodies of animals. 

This might mean there are other differences in the 

way people and animals break it down. DNOC can 

be found in human urine for as long as 20 days after 

the last exposure. 

1.5 HOW CAN DINITROCRESOLS AFFECT 

MY HEALTH? 

Adverse health effects can result from breathing too 

much DNOC, from excessive skin contact, and 

from swallowing too much of it. Some of what we 

know about how DNOC can affect your health 

comes from reports of workers who became ill after 

making DNOC in factories or spraying it on crops. 

These workers breathed in the DNOC dusts or had 

skin contact with it, but we do not know to how 

much they were exposed. Most of what we know 

about how DNOC can affect your health comes 

from old reports from doctors who prescribed 

DNOC for their patients who wanted to lose weight. 

DNOC has not been used as a diet pill for almost 60 

years because of the harmful effects to those 

patients. The amount of DNOC that the patients 

took in pill form was as low as 0.35 milligram of 

DNOC per kilogram of body weight per day 

(mg/kg/day). DNOC increases your basal metabolic 

rate, which can increase your pulse and heart rates, 

and cause profuse sweating and fever. These effects 

can occur after breathing in, swallowing, or having 

skin contact with DNOC for a short period. DNOC 

also may make it difficult for you to breathe and 

causes headaches, drowsiness, dizziness, and weight 

loss. DNOC stains the whites of the eyes and the 

skin yellow, and can cause mild damage to the 

stomach, the kidneys, and the liver. If swallowed 

for long periods, DNOC may cause cataracts in 

your eyes and skin rashes. If you breathe in, 

swallow, or have skin contact with large amounts of 

DNOC for short periods, you could have 

convulsions, become unconscious, and even die. 

High environmental temperatures, such as in 

tropical climates, can worsen these effects. 

DNOC causes similar health effects in animals. In 

addition, injection of other dinitrocresols into 

animals caused similar effects. High environmental 

temperatures can worsen the harmful effects in 

some animals that swallow DNOC. Some animals 

exposed to DNOC for a long period show blood cell 

changes. Ducklings given high levels of DNOC in 

the diet for a short period developed cataracts. 

We do not know whether DNOC causes 

reproductive effects, birth defects, or cancer in 

people. One animal study suggests that swallowing 

DNOC may decrease the number of sperm in the 

testes of males or cause damage to the ovaries of 

females. Swallowing DNOC does not appear to 

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service
 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 
 

 

 

 

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PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

DINITROCRESOLS 

CAS#: 534-52-1 (4,6-DNOC) 

Division of Toxicology August 1995 

cause developmental effects in animals. We do not 

know whether DNOC causes cancer in animals. 

1.6 IS THERE A MEDICAL TEST TO 

DETERMINE WHETHER I HAVE BEEN 

EXPOSED TO DINITROCRESOLS? 

DNOC can be measured in the blood, urine, and 

feces of exposed people. DNOC has been detected 

in human blood as many as 40 days after the last 

dose was swallowed. Measuring the amount of 

DNOC in blood may not be a reliable test to 

determine how much DNOC you were exposed to 

or for how long, but it can be used to predict 

whether you would experience harmful effects, such 

as headache and depression. DNOC has been found 

in urine for more than 13–20 days after the last 

exposure, but much of the DNOC also remains in 

the body. This means that measuring DNOC in the 

urine may not be a reliable test to determine how 

much you were exposed to or for how long. Testing 

urine can determine only whether or not you have 

been exposed to DNOC, not whether you will 

experience any harmful health effects. Breakdown 

products of DNOC are reported one study of human 

exposure and have been found in the urine of 

exposed animals. Yellow-stained skin and eyes can 

alert a doctor that you may have been exposed to 

DNOC, but other similar chemicals also cause 

yellow staining. 

1.7 WHAT RECOMMENDATIONS HAS THE 

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MADE TO 

PROTECT HUMAN HEALTH? 

EPA lists DNOC as a hazardous air pollutant. The 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration 

(OSHA) regulates DNOC levels in the workplace. 

The occupational exposure limit for an 8-hour 

workday, 40-hour workweek, is 0.2 milligrams of 

DNOC per cubic meter of air (mg/m3). The National 

Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 

(NIOSH) recommends that exposure in air not 

exceed 0.2 mg DNOC/m3 for a 10-hour workday, 

40-hour workweek. Federal regulations limit the 

amount of DNOC that factories can release into 

waste water. The EPA requires industries to report 

releases or spills of 10 pounds or more. 

1.8 WHERE CAN I GET MORE 

INFORMATION? 

If you have any more questions or concerns, 

please contact your community or state health or 

environmental quality department or: 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

Division of Toxicology 

1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop F-32 

Atlanta, GA 30333 

Information line and technical assistance: 

Phone: 888-422-8737 

FAX: (770)-488-4178 

ATSDR can also tell you the location of 

occupational and environmental health clinics. 

These clinics specialize in recognizing, evaluating, 

and treating illnesses resulting from exposure to 

hazardous substances. 

To order toxicological profiles, contact: 

National Technical Information Service 

5285 Port Royal Road 

Springfield, VA 22161 

Phone: 800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000 

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service
 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov 
 

 

 

 

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PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

DINITROCRESOLS 

CAS#: 534-52-1 (4,6-DNOC) 

Division of Toxicology August 1995 

Reference 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

(ATSDR). 1995. Toxicological profile for 

dinitrocresols. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services, Public Health Service. 

DEPARTMENT of HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Public Health Service
 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ Telephone: 1-888-422-8737 Fax: 770-488-4178 E-Mail: atsdric@cdc.gov