Toxicity Profile for Undecanol (2002)

Abstract

Neat undecanol was moderately irritating to rabbit skin and caused eye damage, but low concentrations were apparently non-irritating on human skin. Studies using undecanol in dilute form revealed no evidence of skin sensitization in guinea-pigs, or in a small number of human volunteers. Undecanol was of low acute oral and dermal toxicity in laboratory animals, but small amounts of the liquid were fatal to rats when breathed directly into the lungs. In rodents, oral administration of a mixture of undecanol and other alcohols caused behavioural effects, diarrhoea, and stomach and liver damage, but no effects on foetal development were seen. Related alcohols can potentiate the effect of mouse skin carcinogens. In bacterial studies, undecanol was not mutagenic, but showed evidence of DNA-damaging ability.