Dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether: a 13-week inhalation toxicity study in rats and rabbits

Fischer 344 rats (10/sex/exposure concentration) and New Zealand White rabbits (7/sex/exposure concentration) were exposed to 0, 15, 50, or 200 ppm (0, 91, 303, or 1212 mg/m3) of dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether (DPGME) for 6 hr/day, 5 days/week for 13 weeks. Criteria of response included general observations, body weights, clinical chemistry, hematology, urinalyses (rats only), necropsy, organ weights, and histopathology. There were no effects attributed to exposure to DPGME at any exposure concentration in either male or female rats or rabbits. The highest concentration tested (200 ppm) was approximately 40% of a saturated DPGME atmosphere. Based on the low vapor pressure of DPGME, and results in this 13-week study, DPGME appears to have a low subchronic vapor inhalation toxicity hazard.