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Diazomethane																				Related Pages
										May 1994
Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health Concentrations (IDLH)
**CAS number:** 334–88–3
**NIOSH REL:** 0.2 ppm (0.4 mg/m3) TWA
**Current OSHA PEL:** 0.2 ppm (0.4 mg/m3) TWA
**1989 OSHA PEL:** Same as current PEL
**1993-1994 ACGIH TLV:** 0.2 ppm (0.34 mg/m3) TWA
**Description of Substance:** Yellow gas with a musty odor.
**LEL:**. . Unknown
**Original (SCP) IDLH:** 2 ppm
**Basis for original (SCP) IDLH:** The only available acute inhalation toxicity data concerning diazomethane is the statement by Patty [1963] that a 10-minute exposure to 175 ppm was lethal for cats [Flury and Zernik 1931]. This concentration is obviously too high for an IDLH. ACGIH [1971] reported that the toxicity of diazomethane seems comparable to that of phosgene. Therefore, the chosen IDLH is based on an analogy with phosgene, which has an IDLH of 2 ppm.
**Short-term exposure guidelines:** None developed
**ACUTE TOXICITY DATA**
**Lethal concentration data:**

**Species**
    **Reference**
    **LC50** **(ppm)**
    **LCLo** **(ppm)**
    **Time**
    **Adjusted 0.5-hr** **LC (CF)**
    **Derived** **value**Cat
    Marhold 1986
    175
    -----
    10 min
    121 ppm (0.69)
    12 ppm
 **Other animal data:** It has been suggested that the toxicity of diazomethane is comparable to that of phosgene, possibly because diazomethane is a strong methylating agent [Potts et al. 1949].
 **Human data:** None relevant for use in determining the revised IDLH.
 
 **Revised IDLH:** 2 ppm [Unchanged] **Basis for revised IDLH:** Based on an analogy to phosgene [Potts et al. 1949] which has an IDLH of 2 ppm, the original IDLH for diazomethane of 2 ppm is not being revised at this time.
**REFERENCES:**
1. ACGIH [1971]. Diazomethane. In: Documentation of the threshold limit values for substances in workroom air. 3rd ed. Cincinnati, OH: American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, pp. 71-72.
2. Flury F, Zernik F [1931]. Schädliche gase dämpfe, nebel, rauch- und staubarten. Berlin, Germany: Verlag von Julius Springer, p. 420 (in German).
3. Marhold J [1986]. Prehled Prumyslove Toxikologie, Organicke Latky. Prague, Czechoslovakia: Avicenum, p. 496 (in Czechoslovakian).
4. Patty FA, ed. [1963]. Industrial hygiene and toxicology. 2nd rev. ed. Vol. II. Toxicology. New York, NY: Interscience Publishers, Inc., pp. 940, 2214.
5. Potts AM, Simon FP, Gerard RW [1949]. The mechanism of action of phosgene and diphosgene. Arch Biochem *24*:329-337.

			
							
								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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