Diethylene Glycol - Toxicology

Toxicology

Despite the discovery of DEG’s toxicity in 1937 and its involvement in mass poisonings around the world, the information available regarding human toxicity is limited. Some authors suggest the minimum toxic dose is estimated at 0.14 mg/kg of body weight and the lethal dose is between 1.0 and 1.63 g/kg of body weight, while some suggest the LD₅₀ in adults is of ~1 mL/kg, and others suggest this is the LD₃₀. Because of its adverse effects on humans, diethylene glycol is not allowed for use in food and drugs. The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations allows no more than 0.2% of diethylene glycol in polyethylene glycol when the latter is used as a food additive. The Australian government does not allow DEG as a food additive; it is only allowed at less than 0.25% w/w of DEG as an impurity of polyethylene glycol (PEG) even in toothpaste.

Diethylene glycol has moderate acute toxicity in animal experiments. The LD₅₀ for small mammals has been tested at between 2 and 25 g/kg, less toxic than its relative ethylene glycol, but still capable of causing toxicity in humans. It appears diethylene glycol is more hazardous to humans than implied by oral toxicity data in laboratory animals.