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Nicotine																				Related Pages
										May 1994
Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health Concentrations (IDLH)
**CAS number:** 54–11–5
**NIOSH REL:** 0.5 mg/m3 TWA [skin]
**Current OSHA PEL:** 0.5 mg/m3 TWA [skin]
**1989 OSHA PEL:** Same as current PEL
**1993-1994 ACGIH TLV:** 0.5 mg/m3 TWA [skin]
**Description of substance:** Pale-yellow to dark-brown liquid with a fish-like odor when warm.
**LEL:** . . . 0.7% (10% LEL, 4,700 mg/m3)
**Original (SCP) IDLH:** 35 mg/m3
**Basis for original (SCP) IDLH:** No data on acute inhalation toxicity are available on which to base the IDLH for nicotine. The chosen IDLH, therefore, has been estimated from the human oral lethal dose of 60 mg [Lehman 1938 cited by Patty 1963 and ACGIH 1971].
**Short-term exposure guidelines:** None developed
**ACUTE TOXICITY DATA:**
**Lethal dose data:**

**Species**
    **Reference**
    **Route**
    **LD50** **(mg/kg)**
    **LDLo** **(mg/kg)**
    **Adjusted LD**
    **Derived value**Dog
    Franke & Thomas 1932
    oral
    9.2
    -----
    64 mg/m3
    6.4 mg/m3Mouse
    Lazutka et al. 1969
    oral
    3.34
    -----
    23 mg/m3
    2.3 mg/m3Rat
    Sine 1993
    oral
    50
    -----
    350 mg/m3
    35 mg/m3**Human data:** The fatal human dose has been estimated to be about 50 to 60 mg [Lazutka et al. 1969]. [Note: An oral dose of 50 to 60 mg/kg is equivalent to a 70-kg worker being exposed to about 30 to 40 mg/m3 for 30 minutes, assuming a breathing rate of 50 liters per minute and 100% absorption.]
 
 **Revised IDLH:** 5 mg/m3**Basis for revised IDLH:** No inhalation toxicity data are available on which to base an IDLH for nicotine. Therefore, the revised IDLH for nicotine is 5 mg/m3 based on acute oral toxicity data in humans [Lazutka et al. 1969] and animals [Franke and Thomas 1932; Lazutka et al. 1969].**REFERENCES:**
1. ACGIH [1971]. Nicotine. In: Documentation of the threshold limit values for substances in workroom air. 3rd ed. Cincinnati, OH: American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, p. 181.
2. Franke FE, Thomas JE [1932]. A note on the minimal fatal dose of nicotine for unanesthetized dogs. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med *29*:1177-1179.
3. Lazutka FA, Vasilyauskene AD, Gefen SG [1969]. Toxicological evaluation of the insecticide nicotine sulfate. Gig Sanit *34*(5):30-33 (translated).
4. Lehman AJ [1938]. Pharmacological considerations of insecticides. Q Bulletin Assoc Food Drug Off U.S. *13*(2):65-70.
5. Patty FA, ed. [1963]. Industrial hygiene and toxicology. 2nd rev. ed. Vol. II. Toxicology. New York, NY: Interscience Publishers, Inc., p. 2196.
6. Sine C, ed. [1993]. Nicotine. In: Farm chemicals handbook ’93, p. C245.

			
							
								Page last reviewed:  December 4, 2014						Content
							source: 	National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health NIOSH Publications & Products
Immediately Dangerous To Life or Health (IDLH) Values
Table of IDLH Values
Criteria for Determining IDLH Values
Historical Documentation
Original (SCP) Values
Abbreviations for IDLH Documentation
Abbreviations for Journal Titles Follow NIOSH Facebook
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