Abstract
The German Ad-hoc Working Group on Indoor Guidelines of the Indoor Air Hygiene Committee and of the Supreme State Health Authorities is issuing indoor air guide values to protect public health. The data base of human studies is insufficient for the health evaluation of C9-C15-alkylbenzenes in indoor air. Therefore, indoor air guide values are based on animal studies with inhalation exposure to individual alkylbenzenes. The guide values are derived from a chronic inhalation study with isopropylbenzene in rats, in which toxic effects in the nasal respiratory epithelium were observed. A BMCL10 of 370 mg/m³ was calculated. Extrapolation to continuous exposure, applying an interspecies factor of 2.5, a factor of 10 for interindividual variability, and a factor of 2 to account for the higher respiratory rate of children compared to adults, a health hazard guide value (RW II) of 1 mg isopropylbenzene/m³ indoor air is obtained. A health precaution guide value of 0.1 mg isopropylbenzene/m³ indoor air is recommended. Same values were derived on the basis of toxic effects of trimethylbenzenes; the data base is insufficient for the derivation of specific indoor air guide values for higher alkyl benzenes. Therefore, the Ad-hoc Working Group is issuing the indoor air guide values for the sum of C9-C15 alkylbenzenes.
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