Evaluation of ethyl acetate on three dimensions: Investigation of behavioral, physiological and psychological indicators of adverse chemosensory effects

A variety of national occupational exposure limits for ethyl acetate exist based on different studies, mostly relying on subjective evaluations of ethyl acetate as an irritant. Only one study also used physiological methods with inconsistent results in subjective and objective data. The present study was designed to investigate ethyl acetate on three different dimensions: behavioral, physiological and psychological indicators of adverse chemosensory effects were investigated during acute exposures to different concentrations of ethyl acetate. Twenty-four subjects were challenged with ethyl acetate in three exposure patterns (2 ppm, 400 ppm, 400 ppm including peaks of 800 ppm). While the odor intensity is rated “strong”, trigeminal perceptions were rated less than “moderate”. The absence of substantial trigeminal ratings was supported by physiological data. There was neither an effect of concentration on blinking frequency nor on nasal resistance which both are indicators of irritation. Furthermore, there are no effects of ethyl acetate concentration on behavioral measures indicating no olfactory or trigeminally mediated disturbance of cognitive processing. In conclusion, the results of this multilevel approach revealed no adverse chemosensory effects at ethyl acetate concentrations as recommended by the German MAK-value.