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PUBLIC HEALTH STATEMENT 

VINYL ACETATE 

CAS#: 108-05-4 

Division of Toxicology July 1992 

This Public Health Statement is the summary 

chapter from the Toxicological Profile for Vinyl 

Acetate. 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 vinyl acetate and to emphasize 

the human health effects that may result from 

exposure to it. 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has 

identified 1,177 sites on its National Priorities List 

(NPL). Vinyl acetate has been found at 3 of these 

sites. However, we do not know how many of the 

1,177 NPL sites have been evaluated for vinyl 

acetate. As EPA evaluates more sites, the number of 

sites at which vinyl acetate is found may change. 

The information is important for you because vinyl 

acetate may cause harmful health effects and 

because these sites are potential or actual sources of 

human exposure to vinyl acetate. 

When a chemical 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 as a 

chemical emission. This emission, which is also 

called a release, does not always lead to exposure. 

You can be exposed to a chemical only when you 

come into contact with the chemical. You may be 

exposed to it in the environment by breathing, 

eating, or drinking substances containing the 

chemical or from skin contact with it. 

If you are exposed to a hazardous substance such as 

vinyl acetate, several factors will determine whether 

harmful health effects will occur and what the type 

and severity of those health effects will be. These 

factor 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, life style, 

and state of health. 

1.1 WHAT IS VINYL ACETATE? 

Vinyl acetate is a clear, colorless liquid. It has a 

sweet, pleasant, fruity smell, but the odor may be 

sharp and irritating to some people. You can easily 

smell vinyl acetate when it is in the air at levels 

around 0.5 ppm (half a part of vinyl acetate in 1 

million parts of air). It readily evaporates into air 

and dissolves easily in water. Vinyl acetate is 

flammable and may be ignited by heat, sparks, or 

flames. Vinyl acetate is used to make other 

industrial chemicals (such as polyvinyl acetate 

polymers and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers). 

These other chemicals are used mostly to make 

glues for the packaging and building industries. 

They are also used to make paints, textiles, and 

paper. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 

has determined that vinyl acetate may be safely 

used as a coating or a part of a coating that is used 

in plastic films for food packaging, and as a 

modifier of food starch. 

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 

VINYL ACETATE 

CAS#: 108-05-4 

Division of Toxicology July 1992 

Vinyl acetate does not occur naturally in the 

environment. It enters the environment from 

factories and facilities that make, use, store, or 

dispose of it. When vinyl acetate is disposed of at 

waste sites or elsewhere in the environment, it can 

enter the soil, air, and water. Vinyl acetate will 

break down in the environment. The half-life (time 

it takes for 1/2 of the chemical to break down) for 

vinyl acetate is about 6 hours in air and 7 days in 

water. We have no information on how long vinyl 

acetate will stay in soil. 

1.2 HOW MIGHT I BE EXPOSED TO VINYL 

ACETATE? 

Industrial facilities, accidental spills, contact with 

products that contain vinyl acetate, and hazardous 

waste disposal sites are possible sources of 

exposure to vinyl acetate. The most important way 

that you can be exposed to vinyl acetate if you live 

around factories that make, use, store, and dispose 

of vinyl acetate on site or if you live near waste 

sites in which vinyl acetate or products that contain 

vinyl acetate have been disposed, is by breathing air 

or drinking water that contain it. You can also be 

exposed to vinyl acetate by skin contact with 

products that were made with vinyl acetate, such as 

glues and paints. Exposure can also occur through 

ingestion of food items that were packaged in 

plastic films containing vinyl acetate or food items 

that contain vinyl acetate as a starch modifier. 

However, exposure to vinyl acetate occurs mostly in 

the workplace. Workers can breathe in the chemical 

when they are making it or using it to make other 

chemicals. Workers can also have skin contact with 

vinyl acetate solutions. It has been estimated that 

about 50,000 workers employed at about 5,000 

plants are exposed to vinyl acetate in the United 

States. 

Background levels of vinyl acetate in water, soil, or 

food have not been reported. However, vinyl acetate 

has been detected in water and soil from hazardous 

waste sites on the NPL. It has been measured in the 

air in industrial areas of Houston, Texas at a level of 

about 0.5 ppm. 

1.3 HOW CAN VINYL ACETATE ENTER 

AND LEAVE MY BODY? 

Vinyl acetate can enter your body through your 

lungs when you breathe air containing it, through 

your stomach and intestines when you eat food or 

drink water containing it, or through your skin. 

Studies in animals show that most of the vinyl 

acetate taken in through the nose or mouth enters 

the body almost immediately. We have no 

information on how fast it will enter your body 

tissues once it gets on your skin. Based on 

information obtained from animal studies, once 

vinyl acetate is taken into your body through your 

nose or mouth, vinyl acetate or its breakdown 

products may quickly be distributed throughout the 

body and removed. Studies in animals indicate that 

vinyl acetate is quickly broken down. Most of the 

vinyl acetate taken into your body leaves in your 

breath within a few days in the form of carbon 

dioxide. Small amounts of the vinyl acetate taken 

into your body also leave in your urine and feces as 

break down products. 

1.4 HOW CAN VINYL ACETATE AFFECT 

MY HEALTH? 

People who were exposed to vinyl acetate in air for 

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 

VINYL ACETATE 

CAS#: 108-05-4 

Division of Toxicology July 1992 

short periods complained of irritation to their eyes, 

nose, and throat. One in nine volunteers who 

breathed air containing 4 ppm of vinyl acetate for 2 

minutes had throat irritation. Several volunteers 

exposed to 72 ppm of vinyl acetate in air for 30 

minutes reported coughing and hoarseness and eye 

irritation. No health effects were found in workers 

who were exposed to levels around 10 ppm of vinyl 

acetate in work room air for an average of 15 years 

of employment. However, we do not know if health 

effects would occur in people exposed to low levels 

for longer periods. 

Exposure to high levels (around 1,000 ppm) of 

vinyl acetate in air for a couple of weeks caused 

irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs of 

laboratory animals. Vinyl acetate at levels around 

200 ppm caused irritation to the respiratory tract 

and nose when it was breathed by rats and mice for 

up to 2 years. In this same study, damage to the 

lungs (congestion and increased lung weight) was 

seen in rats at 200 and 600 ppm and in mice at 600 

ppm vinyl acetate. Studies with animals also 

suggest that breathing vinyl acetate may affect the 

immune system and nervous system. The extent and 

way in which vinyl acetate affects these systems is 

not well understood. 

There is no evidence that vinyl acetate causes 

cancer in humans. Vinyl acetate caused tumors in 

the noses of rats that breathed 600 ppm for 2 years. 

The International Agency for Research on Cancer 

(IARC) has determined that vinyl acetate is possibly 

carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B). 

We have no information on health effects in humans 

exposed to vinyl acetate in contaminated food or 

water. Information from animals exposed to vinyl 

acetate in drinking water suggest that the immune 

system might be affected at very high levels. 

There is no information to show that birth defects or 

low birth weights occur in humans exposed to vinyl 

acetate. No birth defects were seen in the offspring 

of animals that were exposed to vinyl acetate during 

their pregnancy. Pregnant animals exposed to high 

levels of vinyl acetate in drinking water or air 

produced offspring which were smaller in size than 

normal. These effects to the offspring were seen at 

the same level that caused reduced weight gain in 

pregnant animals. This suggests that the smaller size 

of the offspring may be due to the reduced weight 

gain in the pregnant animals and may not be a direct 

effect of vinyl acetate on the developing animal. 

People who had a mild (2%) solution of vinyl 

acetate put on their skin for 48–72 hours did not 

show signs of skin irritation. However, vinyl acetate 

has caused skin irritation and blisters in workers 

who accidentally spilled it on their skin. More 

concentrated solutions of vinyl acetate have caused 

reddening, blisters, and corrosion to the skin of 

rabbits. The effects of continual or repeated skin 

contact with vinyl acetate or products that contain 

vinyl acetate over a long time are not known. 

Exposure to vinyl acetate in air or direct contact 

with vinyl acetate solutions has caused irritation to 

the eyes. Several volunteers exposed to 72 ppm of 

vinyl acetate in air for 30 minutes reported eye 

irritation that lasted up to 60 minutes after exposure. 

Accidental contact of the eye with concentrated 

solutions of vinyl acetate has caused reddening and 

irritation to the eyes of workers. Symptoms were 

relieved after flushing the affected eye with water. 

We know of no cases in which permanent eye 

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 

VINYL ACETATE 

CAS#: 108-05-4 

Division of Toxicology July 1992 

damage resulted after such contact. Rabbits that had 

very high concentrations of vinyl acetate put in their 

eyes for a short period also showed irritation and 

reddening to the eyes. 

1.5 IS THERE A MEDICAL TEST TO 

DETERMINE WHETHER I HAVE BEEN 

EXPOSED TO VINYL ACETATE? 

No test is currently available to measure vinyl 

acetate in your blood, urine, or body tissues. 

Because vinyl acetate breaks down very quickly to 

substances that are normally found in your body, 

measurements of these breakdown products are not 

useful for showing whether you have been exposed 

to vinyl acetate. The symptoms caused by exposure 

to vinyl acetate can also occur for many other 

reasons. Therefore, they can not be used as proof of 

vinyl acetate exposure. 

1.6 WHAT RECOMMENDATIONS HAS THE 

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MADE TO 

PROTECT HUMAN HEALTH? 

The federal government has set standards and 

guidelines to protect people from the possible health 

effects of vinyl acetate. EPA requires that any 

company that spills more than 5,000 pounds of 

vinyl acetate into the environment report the spill to 

the National Response Center. 

To protect workers, the Occupational Safety and 

Health Administration (OSHA) has set a limit of 10 

ppm vinyl acetate in workroom air during an 8-hour 

shift and over a 40-hour work week. The American 

Council of Government Industrial Hygienists 

(ACGIH) also recommends that workers should not 

be exposed to more than 10 ppm vinyl acetate in 

workroom air during an 8-hour shift and over a 40-

hour work week. OSHA has also set a short-term 

exposure limit (STEL) in work room air of 20 ppm 

for a 15-minute exposure period. The National 

Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 

(NIOSH) recommends that exposure to vinyl 

acetate should not exceed 4 ppm in workroom air 

for any 15-minute exposure period. 

1.7 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 

VINYL ACETATE 

CAS#: 108-05-4 

Division of Toxicology July 1992 

Reference 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry 

(ATSDR). 1992. Toxicological profile for vinyl 

acetate. 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