Ethanolamine is a flammable, toxic, and corrosive organic compound used in various industrial applications, including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and detergents. It has several chemical trade names and is classified as a primary amino chemical. Ethanolamine poses serious health risks to humans, including skin burns, eye damage, respiratory tract damage, and internal organ damage. Exposure to low concentrations of the compound can also cause asthma reactions and harm unborn fetuses. Despite its risks, restrictions on ethanolamine use are limited.
Ethanolamine is an organic compound that contains both amino and alcohol chemical groups, making it useful in a variety of industrial applications, including the production of agricultural chemicals such as ammonia to synthesize pharmaceuticals and detergents. It is also toxic and corrosive on exposure to human skin, despite being used in various cosmetics such as waving agents and soaps. At room temperature, ethanolamine takes on a thick, clear liquid form that is flammable and has an ammonia-like odor. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) classifies ethanolamine as having an immediate danger to life or health (IDLH) rating at a concentration of 1,000 parts per million (ppm) for dermal exposure or 30ppm for inhaled concentrations. There is general consensus among many nations, however, from the US to the UK, Spain, Japan and Malaysia, that an exposure limit of 2-3ppm should not be exceeded for ethanolamines.
There are over a dozen other chemical trade names for ethanolamine due to its relationship to similar industrial compounds, such as 2-aminoethanol, monoethanolamine which is known as ETA or MEA on some labels, 2-amino-1-ethanol, glycinol and others. It is generally classified as a primary amino chemical, but may also be labeled as a primary alcohol and is most frequently used as both an agricultural fungicide and microbicide in nations such as New Zealand. Ethanolamine’s ability to bind to various other compounds makes it useful as a scavenging agent to remove highly toxic hydrogen sulfide gas, H2S in crude oil production or carbon dioxide gas, CO2, in various industries. This also makes it useful as a binder in dry cleaning, treating wool, and improving the performance characteristics of various paints and polishes.
Because ethanolamine poses serious risks to human health through corrosive skin burns, eye damage, or respiratory tract damage by inhalation, it should be handled with caution. Research has shown that ingesting 150 grams (5.3 oz) or more of ethanolamine can be fatal. The vapors or mists of the compound can cause serious eye damage, with as little as 0.005 milliliters being shown to cause serious eye damage in lab tests on rabbits. Prolonged exposure of humans to very low concentrations of the compound has also been shown to degrade teeth and jaw bones, as well as lead to respiratory ailments such as bronchial pneumonia, as well as having harmful effects on the internal organs of the liver and kidneys . Exposure can also cause asthma reactions in susceptible individuals, and some animal research also suggests that it has toxic effects on unborn fetuses at low concentrations that would not otherwise affect the pregnant mother.
Because of ethanolamine’s many uses, it has been studied extensively by organizations both in the European Union, as well as by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States and elsewhere. However, industrial restrictions on the compound and its use are limited. This is because its health risks are primarily classified as an occupational hazard and exposure must be through direct physical contact or aerosol form for it to pose a health hazard.
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