Toxicity Profiles
Condensed Toxicity Summary for NAPTHALENE
NOTE: Although the toxicity values presented in these toxicity profiles were correct at the time they were produced, these values are subject to change. Users should always refer to the Toxicity Value Database for the current toxicity values.
JANUARY 1993
Prepared by: Rosmarie A. Faust, Ph.D., Chemical Hazard Evaluation Group Biomedical and Environmental Information Analysis Section, Health and Safety Research Division, *, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Prepared for: Oak Ridge Reservation Environmental Restoration Program.
*Managed by Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC05-84OR21400.
Naphthalene (CAS Reg. No. 91-20-3), a white solid with a characteristic odor of mothballs, is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon composed of two fused benzene rings. The principal end use of naphthalene is as a raw material for the production of phthalic anhydride. It is also used as an intermediate for synthetic resins, celluloid, lampblack, smokeless powder, solvents, and lubricants. Naphthalene is used directly as a moth repellant, insecticide, anthelmintic, and intestinal antiseptic (ATSDR, 1990; U.S. EPA, 1986).
Naphthalene can be absorbed by the oral, inhalation, and dermal routes of exposure and can cross the placenta in amounts sufficient to cause fetal toxicity. The most commonly observed effect of naphthalene toxicity following acute oral or inhalation exposure in humans is hemolytic anemia associated with decreased hemoglobin and hematocrit values, increased reticulocyte counts, presence of Heinz bodies, and increased serum bilirubin levels (ATSDR, 1990). Hemolytic anemia has been observed in an infant dermally exposed to naphthalene (Schafer, 1951) and in infants whose mothers were exposed to naphthalene during pregnancy (Anziulewicz et al., 1959; Zinkham and Childs, 1958). Infants and individuals having a congenital deficiency of erythrocyte glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase are especially susceptible to naphthalene-induced hemolytic anemia (Wintrobe et al., 1974).
Acute oral and subchronic inhalation exposure of humans to naphthalene has resulted in neurotoxic effects (confusion, lethargy, listlessness, vertigo), gastrointestinal distress, hepatic effects (jaundice, hepatomegaly, elevated serum enzyme levels), renal effects, and ocular effects (cataracts, optical atrophy). Cataracts have been reported in individuals occupationally exposed to naphthalene (Ghetti and Mariani, 1956) and in rabbits and rats exposed orally to naphthalene (Van Heyningen and Pirie, 1976; Fitzhugh and Buschke, 1949). A number of deaths have been reported following intentional ingestion of naphthalene-containing mothballs (ATSDR, 1990). The estimated lethal dose of naphthalene is 5-15 g for adults and 2-3 g for children. Naphthalene is a primary skin irritant and is acutely irritating to the eyes of humans (Sandmeyer, 1981).
Increased mortality, clinical signs of toxicity, kidney and thymus lesions, and signs of anemia were observed in rats treated by gavage with 400 mg/kg of naphthalene for 13 weeks (NTP, 1980a). No adverse effects occurred at 50 mg/kg. Transient clinical signs of toxicity were seen in mice exposed by gavage to 53 mg/kg for 13 weeks (NTP, 1980b). Subchronic oral exposure to 133 mg/kg/day for 90 days produced decreased spleen weights in female mice (Shopp et al., 1984). Reduced numbers of pups/litter were observed when naphthalene was administered orally to pregnant mice (Pflasterer et al., 1985). Negative results in a two-year feeding study with rats receiving 10-20 mg naphthalene/kg/day (Schmahl, 1955) and equivocal results in a mouse lung tumor bioassay (Adkins et al., 1986) suggest that naphthalene is not a potential carcinogen.
A subchronic and chronic oral reference dose (RfD) of 4E-2 mg/kg/day for naphthalene has been calculated by U.S. EPA (1992). These values are based on a NOEL of 50 mg/kg/day derived from a subchronic oral toxicity study with rats (NTP, 1980a). The RfD is currently under review by U.S. EPA and may be subject to change (U.S. EPA, 1992). A reference concentration (RfC) for chronic inhalation exposure has not been derived by U.S. EPA. Available cancer bioassays were insufficient to assess the carcinogenicity of naphthalene. Therefore, U.S. EPA (1991, 1992) has placed naphthalene in weight-of-evidence group D, not classifiable as to human carcinogenicity.
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