1,1,2,2-Tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134) is a colorless gas used as a foam expansion agent and heat transfer fluid. HFC-134 has a low acute inhalation toxicity with an LC50 of >244,000 ppm. The no-observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) and lowest-observed adverse effect level for cardiac sensitization (in epinephrine-challenged beagle dogs) were 75,000 and 100,000 ppm, respectively. A subacute 4-week GLP inhalation toxicity study exposed male and female Crl: CD®BR rats (10/sex) to 0, 2000, 10,000, or 50,000 ppm via whole-body inhalation. Transient and non-dose-response–related body weight changes were observed throughout the exposure period, but no statistically significant, test substance-related adverse effects were observed in any clinical observations, chemistry, hematology, or pathology. This study identified a NOAEL for HFC-134 of 50,000 ppm, the highest exposure level tested. HFC-134 is not genotoxic in in vitro studies; however, no in vivo studies are available. No developmental or maternal toxicity was found in female rats exposed to HFC-134 up to 50,000 ppm via whole-body inhalation in two different studies. Based on data for a similar material (HFC-134a), HFC-134 is not expected to be extensively metabolized or to cause genetic toxicity or carcinogenicity. The HFC-134 workplace environmental exposure level (WEEL) is based primarily on the subacute 4-week inhalation toxicity study in rats with the NOAEL of 50,000 ppm selected as the point of departure for the derivation of the 8-h TWA, health-based WEEL value. The developmental toxicity study also had a NOAEL of 50,000 ppm and was the highest exposure level tested. The subacute inhalation NOAEL was adjusted to account for interindividual variability, subacute to chronic duration, animal to human extrapolation, daily duration of exposure, and residual uncertainty. In addition, the lack of adverse effects noted in the toxicology studies for HFC-134a was considered. The resulting 8-h TWA WEEL value of 1000 ppm is expected to provide a significant margin of safety against the production of any potential adverse health effects in workers following long-term inhalation exposure to HFC-134.
Aerosols of synthetic amorphous silica do not induce fibrosis in lungs after inhalation: Pathology working group review of histopathological specimens from a subchronic 13-week inhalation toxicity study in rats