Toxicity Profile for Diethylene glycol (1993)

Abstract

The findings in one volunteer study imply that diethylene glycol (DEG) may produce skin irritation. A low level of skin and eye irritation has been recorded in laboratory animals. A single case of skin sensitization to DEG has been identified in a man who had been smoking cigarettes containing the glycol. In laboratory animals, DEG was of low acute oral and dermal toxicity. Following single or repeated oral administration, the main target organ was the kidney, with damage to the liver and central nervous system effects also being seen. Man appears to be more susceptible to DEG-induced toxicity, the target sites again being the kidney, liver and nervous system. Several individuals have died following oral exposure and application to the damaged skin. Bladder tumours were seen in long-term oral studies in the rat. These are believed to result from chronic irritation of the bladder wall by DEG-induced stones. No genotoxic potential was identified in mammalian cells in culture or in Ames bacterial tests, but there was some indication of chromosomal damage in hamsters treated by injection. In oral studies, adverse effects on reproduction were seen in mice and foetal abnormalities occurred in rats and mice. Injection studies in hamsters also identified foetal abnormalities and other adverse effects on the foetus.