Addendum to Nitrobenzene
Assessment Values in Biological Material – Translation of the German version from 2017
Gabriele Leng1Hermann Maximilian Bolt2
Hans Drexler3 (Head of the working group “Assessment Values in Biological Material” of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
Andrea Hartwig4 (Chair of the Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)
MAK Commission5
1 Currenta GmbH & Co. OHG, CUR-SER-GS-BLM – Institute for Biomonitoring, 51368 Leverkusen, Germany
2 Leibniz Research Center for Working Environment and Human Factors, TU Dortmund, Ardeystraße 67, 44139 Dortmund, Germany
3 Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Institute and Outpatient Clinic of Occupational, Social, and Environmental Medicine, Henkestraße 9–11, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
4 Institute of Applied Biosciences, Department of Food Chemistry and Toxicology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Adenauerring 20a, Building 50.41, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
5 Permanent Senate Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Kennedyallee 40, 53175 Bonn, Germany
Abstract
The German Commission for the Investigation of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the Work Area has re‐evaluated nitrobenzene (98‐95‐3) in 2016, considering aniline released from aniline‐haemoglobin conjugate to characterize the internal exposure and the methaemoglobin formation as critical effect.
After inhalative exposure, high nitrobenzene concentrations cause adenomas and carcinomas in liver, kidney and thyroid in rats as well as lung and mamma in mice. A MAK value of 0.1 ml nitrobenzene/m3 was established. For the haemoglobin adduct of nitrobenzene, a BLW (biological guidance value) of 100 µg aniline (released from aniline‐haemoglobin conjugate)/l blood corresponding to a methaemoglobin formation of 5% was evaluated based on field studies.
