About – ortho-Toluidine

About o-Toluidine

Below is some information about o-toluidine and the health problems it may cause. This information may be helpful to determine whether you are or have been exposed to o-toluidine in your job or whether symptoms you’ve experienced could be related to o-toluidine exposure.

What it looks like

• At room temperature, it is a thick, light yellow liquid
• When exposed to air and light, it will darken to reddish/orange brown

What it smells like

• It has a fishy odor
• It has a low odor threshold, which means most people will smell it even at very low levels.

How you can be exposed

• Breathing it in
• Getting it on your skin

Who is most likely exposed

• Industrial workers who use it

Beyond the industrial setting, there is little information available about o-toluidine exposure among other workers and the general public. We know that others may also be exposed, but probably at lower levels, including:

• Hair stylists because o-toluidine is used in some hair dyes.
• Laboratory workers who use o-toluidine to stain tissues or as part of a reagent to analyze glucose.
• The general public because o-toluidine is in
  • cigarette smoke
  • certain hair dyes
  • Prilocaine, a cream that is applied to the skin to numb it for minor dental and surgical procedures and blood draws. Our bodies convert Prilocaine to o-toluidine after it is absorbed.
  • air, soil, or water contaminated with o-toluidine

Health problems it may cause

Short-term effects

• skin, eye, and respiratory irritation
• cyanosis from a decrease in the supply of oxygen to the body due to methemoglobinemia. This condition occurs when o-toluidine changes hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the blood, to methemoglobin, which hinders the release of oxygen.
• central nervous system depression including dizziness, headache, and confusion

Long-term effects

• bladder cancer
• anemia
• decreased appetite and weight loss
• cyanosis and methemoglobinemia
• skin lesions
• central nervous system depression including dizziness, headache, and confusion

If you are an industrial worker who works with o-toluidine, learn how to keep yourself and your family safe.