(1975) reported that 15 of 41 persons working in a drug company became ill and had nausea, vomiting, weakness, and abdominal pain. The rates of ingestion were not specified.īallard et al. A disparity was noted in the amount of solution consumed and the sequelae for example, 100 ml produced blindness and death in one case, but 500 ml seemed to cause no disability in two other men who claimed to have drunk this high quantity (Scrimgeour, 1980). In 1978, 372 Melanesian men consumed a solution of 82% methyl alcohol and 18% isopropyl alcohol in the mistaken belief that the solution was methylated spirits 18 of them died. The lethal dose of isopropyl alcohol is estimated as 160–240 ml (Ashkar and Miller, 1971) and 250 ml (McBay, 1973). Other persons have survived after ingesting similar amounts (Chapin, 1949 Freireich et al., 1967 Juncos and Taguchi, 1968 King et al., 1970). Several deaths have reportedly resulted from ingestion of about 1 pint of 70% isopropyl alcohol (Adelson, 1962). The documented toxicity of isopropyl alcohol in man is confined for the most part to accidental ingestion (not inhalation), with a few cases reported in association with rectal and topical application.

Its second main use is as a solvent: to extract or purify numerous natural products, such as oils, gums, shellacs, waxes, kelp, and pectin in the manufacture of fish-protein concentrate as a solvent for synthetic resins, e.g., such coatings as phenolic varnishes and nitrocellulose lacquers and as a solvent in drug and cosmetic formulations (it is the major component of rubbing compounds used as solvents and rubefacients) (Lowenheim and Moran, 1975 Wickson, 1968 National Formulary Board, 1975), Its use in cosmetics has generally been limited to highly scented or However, the use of isopropyl alcohol in acetone manufacture has been decreasing in recent years. Isopropyl alcohol was used primarily in the production of acetone, by dehydrogenating catalytically at 400☌ to give acetone and hydrogen (major process) or oxidizing at high pressure to give acetone and hydrogen peroxide. Estimated annual production capacity for 1981 was 2.8 million pounds (SRI, International, 1982).

In a newer (weak-acid) process, which has replaced the strong¯ acid process, propylene gas is absorbed in 60% sulfuric acid at 85☌ for a short reaction time (NIOSH, 1976). In an older (strong-acid) process, 88–93% sulfuric acid reacted with propylene gas at 25–60☌ for a long time. Isopropyl alcohol is manufactured in the United States by an indirect hydration technique in which a fraction containing 40–60% propylene that is isolated from refinery exhaust gases reacts with sulfuric acid (Lowenheim and Moran, 1975).

Iso propyl alcohol