A review of propylene glycol dinitrate toxicology and epidemiology

Propylene glycol dinitrate (PGDN) is a rapidly metabolized, nitrated ester explosive propellant with acute cardiovascular effects at lower levels of exposure and methemoglobinemia and vascular collapse at higher ones. Exposure can be by dermal or inhalation routes. Toxicology has played an important role in setting workplace permissible exposure limits, which have been limited by vascular headaches and subtle, transient decrements in central nervous system performance. Less well characterized is the etiology of excess, long-term cardiac morbidity in PGDN-exposed workers. Human central nervous system degeneration and links to infectious diseases are unsubstantiated concerns.