Acetonitrile poisoning?

[Mattias]

Hi,

Do you know how much it takes to get poisoned by acetonitrile by inhalation or skin exposure? According to Wikipedia the effects of exposure will show after 2-12 hours (when the body has metabolised acetonitrile into cyanide).

Have you ever felt anything after working with or spilling acetonitrile? Just curious if I need to be more cautious (after working for 15 years...)

[Gerhard Kratz]

Dear Mattias,

Please don't drink it, Gammel dansk is much better, or Christmas beer, if it is still available.
It happened that after a working day with maintenance of the HPLC system and contact with ACN that I got head ache. But outside, in the fresh air a little cigar and it was ok.............)
I don't think that you need to be more careful than the last 15 years.
Don't drink it, don't wash your hands with ACN, that should be ok.

[BHolmes]

Mattias,

Its never too late to re-evaluate a process to reduce exposure, especially if it is a process that you will be exposed to daily for 15+ years. There is ALWAYS room for improvement, nothing is perfect and don't let anyone tell you to settle for less. We all should be personally responsible for the safety of ourselves and others.

Here in the USA we use generally classify exposure in 4 ways: acute (short term) effects, chronic (noncancerous) effects, reproductive/developmental effects, and cancer risk (as a result of chronic effects that are cancerous). The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), US Department of Health and Human Services, National Toxicology Program, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are just a few of the main groups that work to classify acceptable exposure limits to for a given chemical. Here are some links for a few of them and the recommended exposure limits to Acetonitrile.

EPA http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/acetonit.html
OSHA https://www.osha.gov/dts/chemicalsampli ... 16700.html
OSHA also has a lot of information on how to measure the exact amount you are exposed to, just search their website.
NIOSH http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0006.html and http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/idlh/75058.html

Lots of resources out there, but it always helps to know where to start.