Hydrazines environmental sources

Hydrazine occurs naturally as a product of nitrogen fixation by some algae and in tobacco and tobacco smoke (lARC 1974). However, the major environmental sources of hydrazine are anthropogenic. There are no known natural sources of dimethylhydrazines. The estimated total annual environmental release of hydrazine and 1,1-dimethylhydrazine from manufacture and processing reported to the... 

This statement was prepared to give you information about hydrazines and to emphasize the human health effects that may result from exposure to these chemicals. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identifies the most serious hazardous waste sites in the nation. These sites make up the National Priorities List (NPL) and are the sites targeted for long-term federal clean-up activities. Hydrazines have been found in at least 8 of the 1,430 current or former NPL sites. However, the total number of NPL sites evaluated is not known. As more sites are evaluated, the number of sites at which hydrazines are found may increase. This information is important because exposure to hydrazines may cause harmful health effects and because these sites are potential or actual sources ofhuman exposure to hydrazines. 

Exposure Levels in Environmental Media. Hydrazine and dimethylhydrazines have not been detected in ambient air, water, or soil, since they are highly reactive and degrade readily in environmental media. Hydrazine and 1,1-dimethylhydrazine have been detected in workplace air and in tobacco (Cook et al. 1979 Schmeltz et al. 1977). Since these chemicals are highly reactive and exposure of the general population is not expected to be of concern, monitoring of ambient environmental media does not appear to be required. However, monitoring of workplace air would help to determine potential sources and magnitude of exposure. 

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