United States    		Pollution Prevention      February 1995
Environmental Protection 	and Toxics         	  EPA 749-F-95-015
Agency (7407)

                     OPPT Chemical Fact Sheets
                    Nitrobenzene (CAS No. 98-95-3)




Chemicals can be released to the environment as a result of their
manufacture, processing, and use.  EPA has developed information
summaries on selected chemicals to describe how you might be exposed
to these chemicals, how exposure to them might affect you and the
environment, what happens to them in the environment, who regulates
them, and whom to contact for additional information.  EPA is
committed to reducing environmental releases of chemicals through
source reduction and other practices that reduce creation of
pollutants.




WHAT IS NITROBENZENE, HOW IS IT USED, AND HOW MIGHT I BE EXPOSED?

    Nitrobenzene is an oily, flammable liquid.  It smells like bitter
almonds.  Nitrobenzene does not occur naturally.  It is produced in
very large amounts (1.4 billion pounds in 1991) in the United States
by four companies.  U.S. demand is expected to increase about 3% to
4% per year for the next several years.  The largest users of
nitrobenzene are companies that make aniline.  Other companies use
smaller amounts of nitrobenzene to make explosives, aniline dyes,
pesticides, and drugs.  Companies also use nitrobenzene as a solvent
in products like paint and shoe, floor, and metal polishes.

    Exposure can occur in the workplace during its manufacture,
processing, and use, or in the environment following releases to
air, water, land, and groundwater.  Exposure can also occur when
people use nitrobenzene-containing paints and polishes. 
Nitrobenzene enters the body when people breathe air or consume food
or water contaminated with nitrobenzene.  It can also be absorbed
through skin contact.  It does not remain in the body due to its
breakdown and removal.


WHAT HAPPENS TO NITROBENZENE IN THE ENVIRONMENT?

    Nitrobenzene can evaporate when exposed to air.  It dissolves
when mixed with water.  Most  releases of nitrobenzene to the U.S.
environment are to underground injection sites.  In 1992, only a
small percent (6%) of environmental releases of nitrobenzene was to
air.  It can also evaporate slowly from water and soil exposed to
air.  Once in air, nitrobenzene breaks down to other chemicals. 
Microorganisms living in water and in soil also break down
nitrobenzene.  Because it is a liquid that does not bind well to
soil, nitrobenzene that makes its way into the ground can move
through the ground and enter groundwater.  Nitrobenzene may be
stored in plants, but is not expected to accumulate in fish.
HOW DOES NITROBENZENE AFFECT HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT?

    Effects of nitrobenzene on human health and the environment
depend on how much nitrobenzene is present and the length and
frequency of exposure.  Effects also depend on the health of a
person or the condition of the environment when exposure occurs.  

    Workers exposed to large amounts of nitrobenzene in air have
experienced headaches, muscle spasms, nausea, convulsions, and coma. 
These effects occur because nitrobenzene decreases the capacity of
blood to carry oxygen and because it affects the human nervous
system directly.  These effects are not likely to occur at levels of
nitrobenzene that are normally found in the U.S. environment.

    Adverse human health effects associated with breathing or
otherwise consuming small amounts of nitrobenzene over long periods
of time are not known.  Repeat exposure to nitrobenzene in air over
a lifetime causes cancer in animals.  Nitrobenzene may likewise
cause cancer in humans.  Laboratory studies, exposing animals orally
and by air, have shown that nitrobenzene causes adverse reproductive
system effects.  Laboratory studies show that repeat exposure to
nitrobenzene in air adversely affects the blood, liver, kidneys,
adrenal gland, and nervous system of animals.

     Nitrobenzene is moderately toxic to aquatic life.  Nitrobenzene
is not likely to cause adverse environmental effects at levels
normally found in the U.S. environment.


WHAT EPA OFFICES OR OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES OR OTHER GROUPS CAN I
CONTACT FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON NITROBENZENE?

EPA OFFICE            STATUTE                  		PHONE NUMBER

Pollution Prevention  Pollution Prevention Act 		(202) 260-1023
 & Toxics               (PPA)   
                      Emergency Planning and 
                        Community Right-to-Know Act 
                        (EPCRA) (313/TRI)     		(800) 424-9346
                      Toxic Substances Control Act 
                        (TSCA) (4, 8D)        		(202) 554-1404
Air                   Clean Air Act            		(919) 541-0888
Water                 Clean Water Act     		(202) 260-7588
Solid Waste &         Resource Conservation and 
Emergency Response     Recovery Act (RCRA)		(800) 424-9346
                      Comprehensive Environmental 
                        Response, Compensation, and 
                        Liability Act (CERCLA) 		(800) 424-9346


    OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY/DEPARTMENT OR GROUP        	PHONE NUMBER

    Agency of Toxic Substances & Disease Registry   	(404) 639-6000
    American Conference of Governmental 
      Industrial Hygienists                            	(513) 742-2020
    Consumer Product Safety Commission                  (301) 504-0994
    Food & Drug Administration                      	(301) 443-3170  
    National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (800) 356-4674
    Occupational Safety & Health Administration 
    (Check local phone book for phone number under Department of Labor)

The Support Document for this and other OPPT Chemical Fact Sheets can
be found on the Internet at: http://www.epa.gov/chemfact/