1,4-Dimethoxybenzene

Fresh air, rest.

Remove contaminated clothes. Rinse and then wash skin with water and soap. Refer for medical attention .

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

Rinse mouth.

EYES: First check the victim for contact lenses and remove if present. Flush victim's eyes with water or normal saline solution for 20 to 30 minutes while simultaneously calling a hospital or poison control center. Do not put any ointments, oils, or medication in the victim's eyes without specific instructions from a physician. IMMEDIATELY transport the victim after flushing eyes to a hospital even if no symptoms (such as redness or irritation) develop.

SMALL SPILLS AND LEAKAGE: Should a spill occur while you are handling this chemical, FIRST REMOVE ALL SOURCES OF IGNITION, then you should dampen the solid spill material with ethanol and transfer the dampened material to a suitable container. Use absorbent paper dampened with ethanol to pick up any remaining material. Seal the absorbent paper, and any of your clothes, which may be contaminated, in a vapor-tight plastic bag for eventual disposal. Solvent wash all contaminated surfaces with ethanol followed by washing with a soap and water solution. Do not reenter the contaminated area until the Safety Officer (or other responsible person) has verified that the area has been properly cleaned.

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.

Personal protection: particulate filter respirator adapted to the airborne concentration of the substance. Ventilation. Remove all ignition sources. Sweep spilled substance into covered sealable containers. Carefully collect remainder. Then store and dispose of according to local regulations.

TERRESTRIAL FATE: An estimated Koc of 300(1,SRC), calculated from an experimental log Kow of 2.03(2,SRC), suggests that hydroquinone dimethyl ether will have moderate mobility in soil(SRC), based upon a recommended classification scheme(3). Hydroquinone dimethyl ether may volatilize from moist soil surfaces based on an estimated Henry's Law constant of 3.5X10-3 atm-cu m/mole(4,SRC). It may volatilize from dry soil surfaces based on an estimated vapor pressure of 8.7X10-2 mm Hg(5,SRC). Incomplete information is available regarding the biodegradation potential of hydroquinone dimethyl ether; however, this compound was completely biodegraded within eight days under aerobic conditions using a mixed soil population(6); another soil isolate was unable to biodegrade this compound(7).

AQUATIC FATE: Hydroquinone dimethyl ether is expected to volatilize from water surfaces based on an estimated Henry's Law constant of 3.54X10-3 atm-cu m/mole(1,SRC). The volatilization half-life from a model river was estimated as 4 hours and from a model lake, 5 days(2,SRC) Photooxidation half-lives of 60 hours for continuous sunlight on the water's surface and 150 hours of continous sunlight at a 1 meter depth was measured for hydroquinone dimethyl ether in natural water(3). An estimated BCF value of 20(2,SRC), calculated from an experimental log Kow(4), indicates that hydroquinone dimethyl ether should not bioconcentrate in aquatic organisms(2,SRC). Incomplete information is available regarding the biodegradation potential of hydroquinone dimethyl ether, however, this compound was completely biodegraded within eight days under aerobic conditions using a mixed soil population(5); another soil isolate was unable to biodegrade this compound(6).

ATMOSPHERIC FATE: Based on an estimated vapor pressure of 8.7X10-2 mm Hg at 25 °C(1,SRC), hydroquinone dimethyl ether will exist mainly in the vapor phase(2,SRC). Hydroquinone dimethyl ether will degrade in the vapor phase by reaction with photochemically produced hydroxyl radicals (5X10+5 hydroxyl radicals per cu cm) with an estimated half-life of about 19 hours(3,SRC).

IDENTIFICATION AND USE: Hydroquinone dimethyl ether exists as white flakes or leaflets. It has a sweet clover or nut like odor and has an oily phenolic taste. It is slightly soluble in water; very soluble in ether, benzene, alcohol and acetone. It is used as a flavoring agent, weathering agent in paints and plastics, and as a fixative in perfumes, also used in dyes; resin intermediates, and in cosmetics, and flavoring agent. HUMAN EXPOSURE AND TOXICITY: Chronic neurotoxic effects include vision disturbances. Exposure to this chemical could result from industrial handling. ANIMAL STUDIES: In female rats fed a diet containing this chemical at a concentration of 2% or greater produced questionable results on growth. In dogs fed hydroquinone ethers only minor body weight loss was noted. A solution in olive oil containing this chemical caused a slight or moderate irritation to Guinea pig skin.

Based on an experimental log Kow of 2.03(1), the Koc of hydroquinone dimethyl ether is estimated as approximately 300 using a regression-derived equation(2,SRC). According to a suggested classification scheme(3), this estimated Koc value suggests that hydroquinone dimethyl ether will have moderate mobility in soil(SRC).

Cell lines Raji and K 562, lacking tyrosinase, and two melanotic human melanoma cell lines (IRE 1 and IRE 2), were exposed to concentrations from 5 X 10(-3) M to 10(-51 M of different phenols which are substrates of tyrosinase, ie 1-dopa, dopamine, hydroquinone, tertbutylcatechol, and of phenols which are not substrates of the tyrosinase ie resorcinol butylated hydroxyanisole and hydroquinone dimethyl ether. Cultures were carried out in the presence or in the absence of oxygen radical scavenger enzymes superoxide dismutase catalase and peroxidase. The stability of each substance in culture medium was assayed by high performance liquid chromatography. Results showed that: catechols which are substrates of tyrosinase decompose fully after 24 hr in medium; they are equally toxic for melanona and non-melanoma cell lines; their toxicity is significantly reduced by addition of scavenger enzymes; on the contrary phenols not substrates of tyrosinase are stable in medium and their toxicity is not reduced by scavenger enzynes. Tyrosinase does not play a major role in catechol toxicity in vitro.

Chronic neurotoxic effects include vision disturbances. /From table/ /Quinones/

Hydroquinone dimethyl ether's production and subsequent use as a weathering agent in paints and plastics, as a fixative in perfumes and in cosmetics, as an intermediate in the production of dyes and resins, and as a flavoring(1) may result in its release to the environment through various waste streams(SRC).

Eight days were required to completely degrade hydroquinone dimethyl ether using a mixed soil population, as measured by loss of UV absorbance (indicates ring cleavage)(1). Hydroquinone dimethyl ether, when present as the sole carbon source, was not utilized by a bacterial soil isolate for growth over 30 days(2).

An estimated BCF value of 20 was calculated for hydroquinone dimethyl ether(SRC), using an experimental log Kow of 2.03(2) and a recommended regression-derived equation(1). This BCF value suggests that hydroquinone dimethyl ether will not bioconcentrate in aquatic organisms(SRC).