Editing Butanone (section)

==Safety==
===Flammability===
Butanone can react with most oxidizing materials and can produce fires.<ref name="TurnerMcCreery"/> It is moderately explosive, requiring only a small flame or spark to cause a vigorous reaction.<ref name="TurnerMcCreery"/> The vapor is heavier than air, so it can accumulate at low points. It is explosive at concentrations between 1.4 and 11.4%.<ref name=medrev/> Concentrations in the air high enough to be flammable are intolerable to humans due to the irritating nature of the vapor.<ref name="Fairhall"/> Butanone fires should be extinguished with [[carbon dioxide]], dry agents, or [[Firefighting foam|alcohol-resistant foam]].<ref name="TurnerMcCreery"/>

The ignition of butanone vapor was the [[proximate cause]] of the 2007 [[Xcel Energy Cabin Creek fire]], resulting in the deaths of five workers in a hydroelectric [[penstock]]. After the incident, the [[U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board]] specifically noted the danger posed by butanone in confined spaces, and suggested [[1,1,1-trichloroethane]] or [[limonene]] as safer alternatives.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.csb.gov/file.aspx?DocumentId=5703 |title=Investigation Report: Xcel Energy Hydroelectric Plant Penstock Fire |author=U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board |author-link=U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board |date=August 2010 |publisher=U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board}}</ref>

===Health effects===
Butanone is a constituent of [[tobacco smoke]].<ref name="TalhoutSchulz2011">{{cite journal|last1=Talhout|first1=Reinskje|last2=Schulz|first2=Thomas|last3=Florek|first3=Ewa|last4=Van Benthem|first4=Jan|last5=Wester|first5=Piet|last6=Opperhuizen|first6=Antoon|title=Hazardous Compounds in Tobacco Smoke|journal=International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health|volume=8|issue=12|year=2011|pages=613–628|issn=1660-4601|doi=10.3390/ijerph8020613|pmid=21556207|pmc=3084482|doi-access=free}}</ref> It is an [[irritation|irritant]], causing irritation to the eyes and nose of humans.<ref name="Fairhall"/>  Serious animal health effects have been seen only at very high levels. There are no long-term studies with animals breathing or drinking it,<ref name=iris>{{cite web|title=Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) (CASRN 78-93-3)|url=http://www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0071.htm|website=Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)|publisher=EPA|access-date=16 March 2015|date=26 September 2003}}</ref> and no studies for carcinogenicity in animals breathing or drinking it.<ref name=tox>{{cite web|title=US Toxicological review of Methyl ethyl ketone In Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)|date= September 2003|url=http://www.epa.gov/iris/toxreviews/0071tr.pdf|publisher=US Environmental Protection Agency|access-date=16 March 2015|pages=152}}</ref>{{rp|96}}
There is some evidence that butanone can [[potentiator|potentiate]] the toxicity of other solvents, in contrast to the calculation of mixed solvent exposures by simply adding exposures.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1136/oem.2005.022400| title = Solvent neurotoxicity| date = 2006| last1 = Dick| first1 = F. D.| journal = Occupational and Environmental Medicine| volume = 63| issue = 3| pages = 221–226| pmid = 16497867| pmc = 2078137}}</ref>

{{As of|2010}}, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) listed butanone as a toxic chemical. There are reports of neuropsychological effects. It is rapidly absorbed through undamaged skin and lungs. It contributes to the formation of [[ground-level ozone]], which is [[ground-level ozone#Health effects|toxic in low concentrations]].<ref name=medrev>{{cite journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121103345/http://www.jofcr.com/jcrarchives/vol28/v28i4thompson.pdf|archive-date=2022-01-21|url=http://www.jofcr.com/jcrarchives/vol28/v28i4thompson.pdf|title=Implications for cognitive rehabilitation and brain injury from exposure to Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK): a review|author=Simon B.N. Thompson|journal=Journal of Cognitive Rehabilitation|date=Winter 2010|volume=28(Winter)|pages=4–14}}</ref>

===Regulation===

Butanone is listed as a Table II precursor under the [[United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances]].<ref>[http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/red.pdf List of Precursors and Chemicals Frequently Used in the Illicit Manufacture of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Under International Control] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227224025/http://www.incb.org/pdf/e/list/red.pdf |date=February 27, 2008 }}, International Narcotics Control Board</ref>

Emission of butanone was regulated in the US as a [[hazardous air pollutant]], because it is a [[volatile organic compound]] contributing to the formation of [[tropospheric]] (ground-level) [[ozone]]. In 2005, the [[US Environmental Protection Agency]] removed butanone from the list of [[hazardous air pollutant]]s (HAPs).<ref>Federal Register Volume 70, Issue 242 (December 19, 2005)</ref><ref>{{cite web|author1=Barbara Kanegsberg |title=MEK No Longer a HAP |url=http://www.bfksolutions.com/index.php/newsletter/archived-newsletters/133-mek-no-longer-a-hap |publisher=Bfksolutions newsletter |access-date=2 April 2015 |date=n.d. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402144959/http://www.bfksolutions.com/index.php/newsletter/archived-newsletters/133-mek-no-longer-a-hap |archive-date=2 April 2015 }} After technical review and consideration of public comments, EPA concluded that potential exposures to butanone emitted from industrial processes may not reasonably be anticipated to cause human health or environmental problems.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pcimag.com/articles/85504-epa-de-lists-mek-from-caa-hap-list|title=EPA De-Lists MEK from CAA HAP List|website=www.pcimag.com|access-date=2016-07-30}}</ref>