Hexamethylenediamine, solid is a colorless crystalline solid. It is soluble in water. It is corrosive to metals and tissue. Produces toxic oxides of nitrogen during combustion.
Following oral administration of (14)C-labeled 1,6-diaminohexane to male rats, approx 20% of the administered dose was recovered as (14)CO2 after 72 hr. Urinary and fecal excretion accounted for 47 and 27% of the administered radioactivity, respectively. Of several tissues examined, the highest concn of residual radioactivity were found in the prostate at 24 and 72 hr post-administration.
An isocyanate generation apparatus was developed and stable isocyanate atmospheres were obtained. At a concn of 5 ug 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate (HD) per cu m the precision was found to be 7% (n = 5). Three volunteers were each exposed to the different concn of HI (11.9, 20.5, and 22.1 micrograms/ cu m) and three concns of isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) (12.1, 17.7, and 50.7 micrograms/cu m), in an exposure chamber. The duration of the exposure was 2 hr. Urine and blood samples were collected, and hydrolyzed under alkaline conditions to the HI and IPDI corresponding amines, 1,6-hexamethylene diamine (HDA) and isophorone diamine (IPDA), determined as their pentafluoropropionic anhydride amides (HDA-PFPA and IPDA-PFPA). The HDA- and IPDA-PFPA derivatives were analyzed using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry with thermospray monitoring negative ions. When working up samples from the exposed persons without hydrolysis, no HDA or IPDA was seen. The average urinary excretion of the corresponding amine was 39% for HI and 27% for IPDI . An association between the estimated inhaled dose and the total excreted amount was seen. The average urinary elimination half-time for HDA was 2.5 hr and for IPDA, 2.8 hr. The hydrolysis condition giving the highest yield of HDA and IPDA in urine was found to be hydrolysis wi the 3 M sodium hydroxide during 4 hr. No HDA or IPDA could be found in hydrolyzed plasma (< ca 0.1 micrograms/l) .