Isoamyl Alcohol

log Kow= 1.16

1.16

1.28

1.16

CHARACTERISTIC, DISAGREEABLE ODOR

Disagreeable odor.

0.81 at 68 °F (USCG, 1999) - Less dense than water; will float

0.813 @ 15 °C/4 °C

Relative density (water = 1): 0.8

0.807 - 0.813

0.81 at 68 °F

0.8104 @ 20°C

Danger

H226 (99.2%): Flammable liquid and vapor [Warning Flammable liquids]

P210, P233, P240, P241, P242, P243, P261, P264, P264+P265, P270, P271, P280, P301+P317, P302+P352, P303+P361+P353, P304+P340, P305+P351+P338, P305+P354+P338, P317, P319, P321, P330, P332+P317, P337+P317, P362+P364, P370+P378, P403+P233, P403+P235, P405, and P501 (click each P-code to see the statement)

Aggregated GHS information provided per 2589 reports by companies from 47 notifications to the ECHA C&L Inventory. Each notification may be associated with multiple companies.

Warning

H226 (52.2%): Flammable liquid and vapor [Warning Flammable liquids]

Chemical: 1-Butanol, 3-methyl-

Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 (amended)

1-Butanol, 3-methyl- is listed on the EPA's Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) system. Manufacturers and importers of 1-Butanol, 3-methyl- are required to report information about their production and use of this chemical to the EPA under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). (40 eCFR Part 711)

Status: Active Update: 04-01-2023 https://echa.europa.eu/registration-dossier/-/registered-dossier/13936

1-Butanol, 3-methyl-: HSNO Approval: HSR001172 Approved with controls

The New Jersey Worker and Community Right to Know Act requires public and private employers to provide information about hazardous substances at their workplaces. (N.J.S.A. 34:5A-1 et. seq.)

Excerpt from ERG Guide 129 [Flammable Liquids (Water-Miscible / Noxious)]:

Flammable. Above 42 °C explosive vapour/air mixtures may be formed.

Isoamyl alcohol is a food additive permitted for direct addition to food for human consumption as a synthetic flavoring substance and adjuvant in accordance with the following conditions: 1) the quantity added to food does not exceed the amount reasonably required to accomplish its intended physical, nutritive, or other technical effect in food, and 2) when intended for use in or on food it is of appropriate food grade and is prepared and handled as a food ingredient.

Fire Extinguishing Agents: Water spray, dry chemical, alcohol foam, or carbon dioxide. (USCG, 1999)

Use water spray, alcohol-resistant foam, powder, carbon dioxide. In case of fire: keep drums, etc., cool by spraying with water.

Fresh air, rest. Refer for medical attention.

Remove contaminated clothes. Rinse skin with plenty of water or shower.

First rinse with plenty of water for several minutes (remove contact lenses if easily possible), then refer for medical attention.

Rinse mouth. Give nothing to drink. Do NOT induce vomiting. Refer immediately for medical attention.

Excerpt from NIOSH Pocket Guide for Isoamyl alcohol (primary):

(General first aid procedures)

4452.0 [ppm]

20.0 [ppm]

Use water, powder, "alcohol" foam or carbon tetrachloride. Water spray is effective for cooling fire-exposed containers, dispersing spills before burning, and protection from heat those persons engaged to stop leakage during the fire.

If material on fire or involved in fire: Do not extinguish fire unless flow can be stopped. Use water in flooding quantities as fog. Solid streams of water may be ineffective. Cool all affected containers with flooding quantities of water. Apply water from as far a distance as possible. Use "alcohol" foam, carbon dioxide or dry chemical.

IN GENERAL, MATERIALS WHICH ARE TOXIC AS STORED OR WHICH CAN DECOMP INTO TOXIC COMPONENTS ... SHOULD BE STORED IN A COOL, WELL-VENTILATED PLACE, OUT OF DIRECT RAYS OF THE SUN, AWAY FROM AREAS OF HIGH FIRE HAZARD, & SHOULD BE PERIODICALLY INSPECTED ... INCOMPATIBLE MATERIALS SHOULD BE ISOLATED FROM EACH OTHER.

Remove source of ignition. Keep containers closed. Store in prescribed, controllable places.

1. Remove all ignition sources. 2. Ventilate area of spill or leak. 3. For small quantities, absorb on paper towels. Evaporate in a safe place (such as a fume hood). Allow sufficient time for evaporating vapors to completely clear the hood ductwork. Burn the paper in a suitable location away from combustible materials. ... Isoamyl alcohol should not be allowed to enter a confined space, such as a sewer, because of the possibility of an explosion.

SRP: At the time of review, criteria for land treatment or burial (sanitary landfill) disposal practices are subject to significant revision. Prior to implementing land disposal of waste residue (including waste sludge), consult with environmental regulatory agencies for guidance on acceptable disposal practices.

Spray into the furnace. Incineration will become easier by mixing with a more flammable solvent.

1. By absorbing it in vermiculite, dry sand, earth or a similar material and disposing in a secured sanitary landfill. 2. By atomizing in a suitable combustion chamber.

Personal protection: protective clothing, safety goggles and filter respirator for organic gases and vapours adapted to the airborne concentration of the substance. Collect leaking and spilled liquid in sealable non-plastic containers as far as possible. Absorb liquid in sand or inert absorbent. Wash away remainder with plenty of water.

SRP: Local exhaust ventilation should be applied wherever there is an incidence of point source emissions or dispersion of regulated contaminants in the work area. Ventilation control of the contaminant as close to its point of generation is both the most economical and safest method to minimize personnel exposure to airborne contaminants.

SRP: The scientific literature for the use of contact lenses in industry is conflicting. The benefit or detrimental effects of wearing contact lenses depend not only upon the substance, but also on factors including the form of the substance, characteristics and duration of the exposure, the uses of other eye protection equipment, and the hygiene of the lenses. However, there may be individual substances whose irritating or corrosive properties are such that the wearing of contact lenses would be harmful to the eye. In those specific cases, contact lenses should not be worn. In any event, the usual eye protection equipment should be worn even when contact lenses are in place.

The worker should immediately wash the skin when it becomes contaminated.

Work clothing that becomes wet or significantly contaminated should be removed and replaced.

For more Preventive Measures (Complete) data for ISOAMYL ALCOHOL (7 total), please visit the HSDB record page.

In a study in which the exhaled breaths of 26 smokers and 43 non-smokers were analyzed, 16% of the breaths of non-smokers and 77% of that of smokers contained isopentanol(1). In an earlier study of components of expired air of 8 male volunteers, three of the eight contained isopentanol and were expired at 2.6, 0.002, and 0.11 ug/hr(2). Two of these subjects were smokers(2). The isopentanol was believed to be of metabolic origin(2). As part of EPA's National Human Adipose Tissue Survey, 46 composite adipose fat samples were analyzed. Eighty-three percent of these samples contained isopentanol ranging from 1.51 to 14.82 ppm(3).

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether isopentanol, the most abundant hiqher chain alcohol in alcoholic beverages, contributes to induction of different forms of hepatic p450s associated with consumption of these beverages. Induction of p450 by isopentanol alone and in combination with ethanol in cultured chick and rat hepatocytes. The forms of induced p450 were identified both enzymaticaly and immunochemically. In cultured chick hepatocytes, both isopentanol and ethanol induced p450 2E, but combined treatment with these alcohols had no greater effect than treatment with ethanol alone. In cultured rat hepatocytes, isopentanol alone did not induce p450 2E or 2B1/2 and had no effect on the ethanol mediated induction of p450 2E. However, isopentanol combined with ethanol caused a synergistic induction of p450 2B1/2 in cultered rat hepatocytes and an additive to synergistic induction of p450 2H1/2 in cultered chick hepatocytes.

TERRESTRIAL FATE: In view of isopentanol's relatively high vapor pressure, 2.37 mm Hg at 25 °C(1), moderate Henry's Law constant, 1.41X10-5 atm-cu m/mol(2), and low adsorptivity to soil, isopentanol would be expected to volatilize from dry and moist soil(SRC). It is highly mobile in soil and should leach. Isopentanol is readily biodegraded in screening tests as well as in water grab sample tests and therefore would be expected to biodegrade in soil. (SRC)

AQUATIC FATE: If released in water, isopentanol will be lost by volatilization. The volatilization half-life of isopentanol from a model river estimated from its Henry's Law constant, 1.41X10-5 atm-cu m/mol(1), is 2.55 days(2). It should also biodegrade. The half-life of isopentanol in groundwater, river water and Lake Superior harbor water in Minnesota were 15, 11, and 6.1 days, respectively(3). Isopentanol would not be expected to adsorb to sediment or bioconcentrate in aquatic organisms.

ATMOSPHERIC FATE: Isopentanol will react with photochemically-produced hydroxyl radicals in the atmosphere. The rate constant estimated for this reaction is 7.8X10-12 cu cm/molec-sec(1). Assuming a hydroxyl radical concn of 5X10+5 radicals/cu cm, the half-life of isopentanol in the atmosphere will be 2.0 days(SRC).

Isopentanol has been identified, but not quantified, in peanut oil(1), blue cheese(2) and a cheese made in the French Alps(3), filberts(4), beer(5), wine(7), meat(8-9), chickpeas(10), oranges(11), bananas(12), Concord grapes(13), and nectarines(6). Eighty proof whiskey contained 154.4 mg/L of isopentanol(14).

The substance can be absorbed into the body by inhalation and by ingestion.

inhalation, ingestion, skin and/or eye contact

Sore throat. Cough. Burning sensation.

Dry skin. Redness.

Redness. Pain.

Abdominal pain. Headache. Drowsiness. Weakness. Nausea. Vomiting. Unconsciousness.

irritation eyes, skin, nose, throat; headache, dizziness; cough, dyspnea (breathing difficulty), nausea, vomiting, diarrhea; skin cracking; In Animals: narcosis

In an analysis of 455 wastewater samples from 35 industrial categories, isopentanol was only identified in 1 sample from the synfuels industry(2). In a comprehensive survey of wastewater from 4000 industrial and publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) sponsored by the Effluent Guidelines Division of the U.S. EPA, isopentanol was identified in discharges of the following industrial category (positive occurrences, median concn in ppb): synfuels (7; 39.8), publicly owned treatment works (1; 176.7). The highest effluent concn was in a publically-owned treatment works at 177 ppb(3). The mean and range of isopentanol emissions from four whiskey fermentation vats was 0.166 and 0.141-0.183 g per cu m of grain input, respectively(1). The maximum concn of isopentanol in the vat gas was about 9 mg/cu m and occurred 40 hr into the process(1).

Employees should be screened for history of certain medical conditions which might place the employee at increased risk from isoamyl alcohol exposure. /These include/ skin disease ... liver disease ... kidney disease ... /and/ chronic respiratory disease. ... Any employee developing the above-listed conditions should be referred for further medical examination.

The Koc for isopentanol estimated from its water solubility, 26.7 mg/L(1), using recommended regression equations are 720(2) and 679(4). However, the chemicals used in developing these equations were mainly pesticides and their structures are not similar to isopentanol. The Koc for isopentanol estimated from molecular structure is 4(3). This should be a reasonable estimate for the Koc because it is close to the experimental value for the structurally similar chemical, 1-pentanol, 1.6(6). According to a suggested classification scheme(5), the estimated Kocs based on molecular structure suggests that isopentanol is very highly mobile in soil(SRC).

Isopentanol is a plant volatile(2-6) and is also emitted from animal wastes(2,7) and by microorganisms(2). Isopentanol is the principal component of fusel oil, a by-product of alcoholic fermentation of starches and sugars(1).

CONSTITUTES MAJOR PORTION OF FUSEL OIL; ALSO KNOWN AS FERMENTATION AMYL ALCOHOL. ... IDENTIFIED AS ESTER AMONG CONSTITUENTS OF ROMAN CAMOMILE OIL, & IN SEVERAL ESSENTIAL OILS ... ALSO IN AROMAS OF STRAWBERRY & RASPBERRY; IDENTIFIED IN RUM.

Isoamyl alcohol is a food additive permitted for direct addition to food for human consumption as a synthetic flavoring substance and adjuvant in accordance with the following conditions: 1) the quantity added to food does not exceed the amount reasonably required to accomplish its intended physical, nutritive, or other technical effect in food, and 2) when intended for use in or on food it is of appropriate food grade and is prepared and handled as a food ingredient.

... OXIDIZED BY WAY OF CORRESPONDING ALDEHYDES & FATTY ACIDS ... MAIN SITE OF PRIMARY OXIDATION APPEARS TO BE LIVER ... GLUCURONIC CONJUGATION TAKES PLACE TO EXTENT OF 9% ... ISOLATED IN URINE OF RABBITS.

... Small amounts of ... 3-methyl-1-butanol /are/ excreted in the air or urine following ip injections of 1 g/kg to rats: Percent excreted: 0.97 expired air; 0.27 urine; and 1.24 total. /From table/

3-Methyl-1-butanol, following serial (four 15-minute intervals) ip injections in the rat, is very rapidly metabolized ... . Only 1-1.5% of the administered doses of 3-methyl-1-butanol were excreted in the expired air plus urine as the pentanol. The blood concentration of 3-methyl-1-butanol decreased from 37 mg/100 ml at 1 hr (ie, 15 min after the last pentanol injection) to <1 mg/100 ml at 5 hr. In the rabbit, limited amounts of 3-methyl-1-butanol and the other primary pentanols are conjugated to yield the glucuronide, and 7-10% of the administered dose is excreted as the urinary glucuronide.

Used as a solvent, paint stripper, and intermediate in the photographic and pharmaceutical industries; [ACGIH]

Painting (Solvents) [Category: Paint]

SYNTHETIC FLAVOR; INTERMEDIATE IN PREPN OF PHARMACEUTICALS; FOR ISOAMYL ACETATE AND OTHER ESTERS; FOR DITHIOPHOSPHATE ESTERS (LUBRICATING OIL ADDITIVE AND HYDRAULIC FLUID ADDITIVE)

SOLVENT FOR FATS, RESINS, ALKALOIDS, ETC; MFR ISOAMYL (AMYL) COMPD, ISOVALERIC ACID, MERCURY FULMINATE; MFR PYROXYLIN, ARTIFICIAL SILK, LACQUERS, SMOKELESS POWDERS; IN MICROSCOPY; FOR DEHYDRATING CELLOIDIN SOLN; FOR DETERMINING FAT IN MILK

REPORTED USES: NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES 17 PPM, ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES 100 PPM, ICE CREAM, ICES, ETC 7.6 PPM, CANDY 52 PPM, BAKED GOODS 24 PPM, GELATINS & PUDDINGS 46 PPM, CHEWING GUM 300 PPM.

2023: 50,000 - <75,000 lb

(1962) 5.5-6.8X10+9 GRAMS (ALL AMYL ALCOHOLS)

FROM ISOBUTYLENE, VIA THE OXO PROCESS

FROM LIGHT PETROLEUM BY FRACTIONAL DISTILLATION, DEHYDRATION OF PENTANE FRACTION WHICH IS THEN HEATED & RE-FRACTIONATED, & AMYLCHLORIDE FRACTION AGAIN FRACTIONALLY DISTILLED, GIVING MONO-CHLORO-PENTANE MIXTURE. THIS IS SUBJECTED TO HYDROLYSIS WITH SODIUM OLEATE SOLN IN PRESENCE OF CATALYST.

... MFR BY FRACTIONATION OF FUSEL OIL & VIA CHLORINATION OF PENTANES, & PROPERTIES

PREPN FROM BUTADIENE, CARBON MONOXIDE, WATER, PLUS CATALYST; FROM METHYLBUTENES

MAJOR COMPONENT OF COMMERCIAL AMYL ALCOHOL, FUSEL OIL & POTATO-SPIRIT OIL.

GRADE: TECHNICAL

FUSEL OIL

Fragrance Ingredients

Flavouring Agent -> FLAVOURING_AGENT -> JECFA Functional Classes

Flavoring Agents -> JECFA Flavorings Index

Flavouring Agent -> FLAVOURING_AGENT -> JECFA Functional Classes

Cosmetics -> Solvent

Mining (except Oil and Gas) and support activities

1-Butanol, 3-methyl-: ACTIVE