Document ID: EPA-HQ-OPP-2005-0250-0010
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2006-03-22T05:00Z

TRIETHYLENE
GLYCOL
:
INCIDENT
REPORTS
Triethylene
glycol
(
TEG)
is
used
as
an
air
sanitizer.
In
addition,
TEG
is
an
important
industrial
solvent.
It
is
also
useful
in
the
dehydration
of
gasses,
manufacturing
of
insecticides
and
in
the
synthesis
of
some
organic
derivatives.
Pure
TEG
is
useful
in
the
production
of
plasticizer
for
cellophane,
glue,
cork,
powder
ceramics
and
some
plastics.
TEG
is
a
component
in
the
formulation
of
some
pigments,
printing
dyes,
inks
and
pastes.
It
is
also
used
for
air
fumigation.

The
major
application
for
TEG
is
used
as
a
drying
agent
for
natural
gas,
as
humectants,
as
a
solvent
and
in
the
manufacture
of
vinyl
plasticizers.
The
purpose
of
this
chapter
is
to
review
the
evidence
of
health
effects
in
humans
resulting
from
exposure
to
TEG.
There
is
no
published
literature
studies
can
be
located
associated
with
health
effects
chronic
exposure
to
TEG.
This
reports
summarized
the
potential
acute
health
effects
of
TEG
in
humans,
reported
as
incident
reports
from
different
sources.

DATA
SOURCE
There
are
many
incident
reports
of
health
effects
associated
with
acute
TEG
exposure.
The
following
databases
have
been
consulted
for
the
poisoning
incident
data
on
the
active
ingredient
TEG
(
PC
Code:
083501):

1.
OPP
Incident
Data
System
(
IDS)
­
The
Incident
Data
System
of
The
Office
of
Pesticide
Programs
(
OPP)
of
the
Environmental
Protection
Agency
(
EPA)
contains
reports
of
incidents
from
various
sources,
including
registrants,
other
federal
and
state
health
and
environmental
agencies
and
individual
consumers,
submitted
to
OPP
since
1992.
Reports
submitted
to
the
Incident
Data
System
represent
anecdotal
reports
or
allegations
only,
unless
otherwise
stated.
Typically
no
conclusions
can
be
drawn
implicating
the
pesticide
as
a
cause
of
any
of
the
reported
health
effects.
Nevertheless,
sometimes
with
enough
cases
and/
or
enough
documentation
risk
mitigation
measures
may
be
suggested.

2.
Poison
Control
Centers
­
as
the
result
of
a
data
purchase
by
EPA,
OPP
received
Poison
Control
Center
data
covering
the
years
1993
through
1996
for
all
pesticides.
Most
of
the
national
Poison
Control
Centers
(
PCCs)
participate
in
a
national
data
collection
system,
the
Toxic
Exposure
Surveillance
System,
which
obtains
data
from
about
65­
70
centers
at
hospitals
and
universities.
PCCs
provide
telephone
consultation
for
individuals
and
health
care
providers
on
suspected
poisonings,
involving
drugs,
household
products,
pesticides,
etc.

3.
California
Department
of
Pesticide
Regulation
­
California
has
collected
uniform
data
on
suspected
pesticide
poisonings
since
1982.
Physicians
are
required,
by
statute,
to
report
to
their
local
health
officer
all
occurrences
of
illness
suspected
of
being
related
to
exposure
to
pesticides.
The
majority
of
the
incidents
involve
workers.
Information
on
exposure
(
worker
activity),
type
of
illness
(
systemic,
eye,
skin,
eye/
skin
and
respiratory),
likelihood
of
a
causal
relationship,
and
number
of
days
off
work
and
in
the
hospital
are
provided.

4.
National
Pesticide
Telecommunications
Network
(
NPTN)
­
NPTN
is
a
toll­
free
information
service
supported
by
OPP.
A
ranking
of
the
top
200
active
ingredients
for
which
telephone
calls
were
received
during
calendar
years
1984­
1991,
inclusive,
has
been
prepared.
The
total
number
of
calls
was
tabulated
for
the
categories
human
incidents,
animal
incidents,
calls
for
information,
and
others.

5.
Published
Incident
Reports
­
Some
incident
reports
associated
with
creosote
related
human
health
hazard
are
published
in
the
scientific
literature.

INCIDENT
REPORT
DATA
ASSOCIATED
WITH
HEALTH
EFFECTS
OF
TRIETHYLENE
GLYCOL
EXPOSURE
OPP's
Incident
Data
System
(
IDS)

Please
note
that
the
following
cases
from
the
IDS
do
not
have
documentation
confirming
exposure
or
health
effects.
There
are
269
incidents
reports
been
recorded
in
the
IDS
are
TEG
related.
Most
of
the
incidences
are
related
to
inhalation
irritation
and/
or
allergic
type
reaction.
The
reported
symptoms
include
respiratory
irritation,
coughing,
chest
tightness,
difficulty
breathing,
shortness
of
breath,
wheezing.
In
some
cases,
dermal
sensitization
reactions
were
also
noticed.

Poison
Control
Center
All
the
incidences
reported
in
the
Poison
Center
Center
data
base
were
included
in
the
OPP's
IDS.
No
additional
data
were
reported
in
the
Poison
Control
Center
database
covering
the
years
1993
through
1996.

California
Data
­
1982
through
1996
Detailed
descriptions
of
two
cases
submitted
to
the
California
Pesticide
Illness
Surveillance
Program
(
1982­
1996)
were
reviewed.
In
both
cases,
after
exposed
to
aerosol
disinfectant,
the
individuals
developed
allergic
respiratory
symptoms.
The
reported
symptoms
included
chest
tightness,
coughing,
wheezing,
short
of
breath,
and
mild
bronchospasm.
The
involved
aerosol
disinfectant
containing
both
TEG
and
propylene
glycol
as
active
ingredients.

National
Pesticide
Telecommunications
Network
(
NPTN)

There
are
no
incidences
reported
in
the
NPTN
database.
Incident
Reports
Associated
with
Acute
Toxic
Effects
of
TEG
Published
in
Scientific
Literature.

There
are
no
incidences
located
in
published
literature
related
to
TEG.