No information was located regarding the measurement of personal exposure to acetaldehyde. Erythema, coughing, pulmonary edema, and necrosis may also occur and, at extremely high concentrations, respiratory paralysis and death. Acetaldehyde has been shown, in animals, to cross the placenta to the fetus. In one study, a high incidence of embryonic resorptions was observed in mice injected with acetaldehyde. In rats exposed to acetaldehyde by injection, skeletal malformations, reduced birth weight, and increased postnatal mortality have been reported.
Human data regarding the carcinogenic effects of acetaldehyde are inadequate.
Only one epidemiology study is available that several limitations including short duration, small number of subjects, and concurrent exposure to other chemicals and cigarettes. An increased incidence of nasal tumors in rats and laryngeal tumors in hamsters has been observed following inhalation exposure to acetaldehyde. EPA has classified acetaldehyde as a Group B2, probable human carcinogen. EPA uses mathematical models, based on human and animal studies, to estimate the probability of a person developing cancer from breathing air containing a specified concentration of a chemical. Acetaldehyde is a colorless mobile liquid that is flammable and miscible with water.