US EPA

3040775 

Journal Article 

Toxicity and Actions of Trimethylene Glycol 

Van Winkle W Jr 

1941 

Yes 

Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
ISSN: 0022-3565
EISSN: 1521-0103 

NIOSH/00000245 

72 

227-232 

The acute and chronic toxicities and glycogenic action of trimethylene-glycol were investigated in experimental animals. Trimethylene-glycol (57556), the chemical isomer of propylene-glycol, was found to be about twice as toxic as propylene-glycol (504632) according to acute fatal doses intramuscularly and gastrically in white rats. Intravenously in rabbits, the acute toxicity was about the same as that of propylene-glycol. Cats were found to be rather sensitive to trimethylene-glycol gastrically, delayed death having occurred after single small doses of 3 cc per kilogram of body weight which were well tolerated intravenously and intramuscularly in rats. Trimethylene-glycol exhibited a definite chronic toxicity, being about twice as toxic as propylene-glycol in the same species and under the same conditions. Trimethylene-glycol showed no demonstrable glycogenic action in rats, a striking difference from propylene-glycol. Trimethylene-glycol therefore has no usefulness as a vehicle or solvent in medicinal or food products and does not warrant further investigation. The higher acute and chronic toxicities, and absence of glycogenic action, indicate interesting fundamental differences between the trimethylene and propylene glycols which are to be attributed to the difference in chemical structure of the 2 isomers, a difference which, in turn, determines the practical usefulness and comparative nontoxicity of propylene glycol.