Record Display for the EPA National Library Catalog

RECORD NUMBER: 423 OF 2834

Main Title Assessment of Ethylene Dichloride as a Potential Air Pollution Problem. Volume III.
Author Patterson, Robert M. ; Bornstein, Mark I. ; Garshick., Eric ;
CORP Author GCA Corp., Bedford, Mass. GCA Technology Div.;Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, N.C.
Year Published 1976
Report Number GCA-TR-75-32-G(3); EPA-68-02-1337;
Stock Number PB-258 355
Additional Subjects Air pollution ; Chemical properties ; Physical properties ; Public health ; Industrial wastes ; Chemical industry ; Combustion products ; Assessments ; Air pollution control ; Toxicity ; Concentration(Composition) ; Sources ; Humans ; Plants(Botany) ; Animals ; Scrubbers ; Solvents ; Antiknock additives ; Incinerators ; Vinylchloride ; Ozone ; Air pollution effects(Humans) ; Air pollution effects(Animals) ; Air pollution effects(Plants) ; Air pollution effects(Materials) ; Ethylene/dichloro
Holdings
Library Call Number Additional Info Location Last
Modified
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Status
NTIS  PB-258 355 Some EPA libraries have a fiche copy filed under the call number shown. 07/26/2022
Collation 29p
Abstract
Ethylene dichloride (EDC) is a clear, colorless oily liquid with a pleasant chloroform-like sweet odor and taste. Industrially it is made from ethylene by direct chlorination or by oxychlorination. EDC is used as an industrial solvent in cleaning and extraction processes. It is also used as a fumigant and as a lead scavenger in gasoline. However, most EDC produced goes into the manufacture of vinyl chloride monomer. Data correlating acute or chronic ethylene dichloride (EDC) exposures to human response are quite limited. Depending on the exposure time, acute EDC poisoning may occur at high concentrations (above 3000 ppm) through attack on the central nervous system. It does not seem to pose a direct threat to stratospheric ozone. Emissions of EDC are primarily a result of EDC production, end product manufacture, solvent usage, and bulk storage and transportation. Emissions of EDC may be controlled by several methods. Currently only scrubbers and condensers are used to control EDC emissions from manufacturing processes. Incineration is a third technique; however, hydrochloric acid and chlorine gas are produced during incineration. Based on the results of the health research presented in this report, and the ambient concentration estimates, it appears that ethylene dichloride as an air pollutant does not pose athreat to the health of the general population. In addition, ethylene dichloride does not appear to pose other environmental insults which would warrant further investigation or restriction of its use at the present time. However, two actions should be considered: (1) that concentrations be monitored in a small-scale program around one of the larger EDC production facilities or vinyl chloride monomer production facilities, and (2) that potential adverse effects on the earth's ozone layer be monitored in conjunction with the research into the effects of other halocarbons.