US EPA

633777 

Book/Book Chapter 

Diethyl phthalate 

American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists :: ACGIH 

1999 

American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists 

Cincinnati, OH 

Documentation of the threshold limit values and biological exposure indices 

1 

DP1-DP6 

TLV Recommendation
Acute animal toxicity of DEP is of a low order.(7~11) Exposure of workers to the heated vapor of DEP may cause transient irritation of the nose and throat.<2) While occupational exposures to mixtures of phthalate plasticizers have been associated with polyneuritis and vestibular dysfunction,(35) concomitant exposure to the human neurotoxin TOCP in that cohort precludes drawing any cause-and-effect relation here. Since there has been no scientifically defensible indication of central or peripheral neuropathy in animal bioassays,(3A12) or in occupational cohorts, the TLV Committee concluded that DEP exposure under current workplace conditions should not present a neurotoxic hazard.
To minimize the potential for respiratory irritation, a TLV-TWA of 5 mg/m3 is recommended for exposure to DEP; equivalent to that recommended for di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) (see Documentation for DEHP). At this time, no STEL is recommended until additional toxicological data and industrial hygiene experience become available to provide a better base for quantifying on a toxicological basis what the STEL should be. The reader is encouraged to review the section on Excursion Limits in the "Introduction to the Chemical Substances" of the current TLV/BEI Booklet for guidance and control of excursions above the TLV-TWA, even when the 8-hour TWA is within the recommended limits.
Given that lifetime bioassays in rodents provided no or equivocal evidence of carcinogenicity, the A4, Not Classifiable as a Human Carcinogen, designation is assigned. 

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