Knowledge
Monoethanolamine (MEA): Unpacking its Path, Purpose, and Possibilities
Historical Development
Tracing the journey of Monoethanolamine (MEA) highlights much about how the chemical industry has learned from necessity and resourcefulness. In the early 20th century, as demands for treating industrial gases began to outpace simple methods, producers started seeking organic compounds with better absorption abilities. The introduction of MEA transformed ammonia and natural gas processing, making desulfurization and CO2 removal manageable. Its discovery grew from the intersection of the textile, detergent, and fertilizer fields, where engineers noticed the promising action of amines for manipulating acidity and breaking down contaminant loads. For decades, plants that ran steel production, chemical synthesis, and even pulp and paper operations invested in MEA as a backbone chemical, not just a workaround. Today's landscape, shaped equally by environmental regulation and technical progress, still counts on this compound for a spectrum of tasks, showing how solutions that sprung up nearly a hundred years ago refuse to become outdated.
Product Overview
Monoethanolamine, which carries the formula HOCH2CH2NH2, joins the amine and alcohol families in a single, straightforward molecule. Both these functional groups give it more flexibility than many single-purpose chemicals. Plants often ship MEA as a clear, viscous liquid, with purity grades set to match the needs of specialty processes or bulk operations. As a base ingredient, it opens the doors for a living catalog of derivatives, including detergents, surfactants, and chemical intermediates. Most industries see MEA in storage tanks, drums, or tanker trucks, always accompanied by labeling that tracks concentration and production method. Companies who rely on MEA appreciate not only its direct chemical jobs—but also its reliability in blending with water, acids, oils, and other reactants. That sort of adaptability rarely fades from use.
Physical & Chemical Properties
Those who handle MEA quickly learn its signature characteristics: a colorless, syrupy consistency, and a faint but unmistakable ammoniacal odor. At room temperature, MEA remains a liquid up to 170°C, with a melting point that barely dips below freezing. Its miscibility with water runs almost total, which means storage tanks and process pipes don’t struggle with separation or sludging. In laboratory settings, it's easy to track with specific gravity—usually hovering around 1.017—and with measurements like vapor pressure, which stays low enough to simplify handling under ordinary conditions. MEA's boiling point and volatility permit use in reactions without significant product loss to evaporation, unless things get overheated. Its classification as both a weak base and a mild alcohol creates a middle ground between highly reactive caustic chemicals and less energetic solvents. In practice, shops use this trait to leverage MEA as a scrubber, buffer, or building block, trusting that it won’t induce runaway reactions in most workflows.
Technical Specifications & Labeling
Each drum or tank of MEA carries labels that clarify content—commonly ranging from 85% to near-pure, with remainder water included by design. Tech sheets spell out limits for metals and byproducts such as diethanolamine, so buyers know what impurities may ride along for the trip. Standard specifications cite acidity, water content, color value, and sometimes trace elements, reflecting the rigorous attention companies pay to even minor contaminants. These specifications become more strict when the end use points toward pharmaceuticals, electronics, or specialty polymers, where even trace interferences spell trouble. Health and safety hazards appear on every label, with advice for personal protection, first aid, and spill response, recognizing both acute exposure risks and the need for environmental precautions in any storage area.
Preparation Method
Factories make MEA at scale through a reaction between ethylene oxide and aqueous ammonia, a process that demands both heat and a keen eye on pressure controls. Adding ethylene oxide to ammonia under regulated conditions produces not just MEA, but also diethanolamine and triethanolamine. Chemistry teams manage these proportions with careful adjustments to temperature, reactant feed rate, and concentration. Downstream separation usually calls for distillation columns, where product steams off at defined cuts that correspond to MEA's boiling point. In smaller facilities or specialty labs, the same reaction occurs in glassware or small reactors, backed up by purity checks and analysis for both yield and byproduct minimization. As demand for greener and less wasteful methods rises, companies continuously review catalysts, reactor design, and recycle loops, hoping to squeeze out higher purity and lower energy steps at every scale.
Chemical Reactions & Modifications
MEA stands out for its ability to participate in both nucleophilic and electrophilic reactions. In plant environments, it acts as a reactant with acids—forming salts like ethanolamine hydrochloride, or with fatty acids to produce surfactants used in detergents. Chemists often reach for MEA to make ethyleneamines, morpholine, and other intermediates through alkylation or cyclization. Its role reaches deeper into polymer science, acting as an initiator for urethane systems or a neutralizing agent in acrylic latex manufacture. Those in gas processing rely on MEA's affinity for acidic gases; carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide attach themselves readily to the amine group, allowing scrubbing systems to remove environmental hazards or reclaim valuable product streams. Tweaks to MEA's structure spawn a range of modified compounds, used for specialty solvents, corrosion inhibitors, and even emulsifiers—each with performance traits linked to the straightforward backbone of ethanolamine.
Synonyms & Product Names
MEA often appears under names such as 2-aminoethanol, ethanolamine, or monoethanolaminum when listed in international markets or regulatory documents. Language shifts depending on the context—paint factories may list "MEA," personal care groups prefer "ethanolamine," while pharmaceutical circles attach a specific salt form like "ethanolamine hydrochloride." Catalogs from chemical giants include trade names linked to purity, formulation, or regional labeling. This diversity in naming reflects both the many roles played by MEA and the patchwork of safety codes, transport rules, and customs tariffs. Seasoned professionals spot these names in technical papers and shipping manifests, understanding that the subtle spelling changes often matter as much as any batch analysis.
Safety & Operational Standards
Safety routines follow every use of MEA, partly because its dual identity as both an amine and an alcohol brings specific risks. Direct skin or eye contact causes irritation or worse, which drives workers to suit up with gloves, goggles, and in high-risk zones, respiratory protection. Facilities use ventilation, local exhaust hoods, and spill containment for storage areas where drums, totes, or pipelines cross busy walkways. Emergency procedures guide rapid neutralization with acids or copious water, but prevention stays on center stage—training, supervision, and constant review of incident reports keep exposure likelihood low. Companies must also track environmental discharges, since improper handling can disrupt wastewater plants or harm aquatic life. Strict compliance with regional, national, and international standards from agencies like OSHA, REACH, and GHS isn't just bureaucracy—it reflects how seriously industry takes its safeguards against health and environmental harm.
Application Area
MEA fills roles both indispensable and obscure across varied sectors. Gas treatment plants depend heavily on MEA for removing carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide—gas cleaning towers run continuous cycles of amine absorption and regeneration, ensuring refinery and power facility emissions stay within bounds. Agricultural groups see MEA in herbicide and pesticide formulations, tweaking molecule structures for controlled reactivity and low runoff. Detergents and personal care products rely on MEA to adjust pH or boost cleaning power by nudging other ingredients into solution. Water treatment relies on it for buffering. Paint and coatings manufacturers use MEA to neutralize acidic components, stabilizing emulsion and latex systems. In pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, MEA appears in custom-tailored forms—neutralizing agent, salt former, or pH adjuster, always stamped with a purity grade and application note. This versatility across such a wide technical spectrum points back to one thing: MEA's chemical structure offers a foundation that just works, in settings where adaptability and consistency matter as much as experimental results.
Research & Development
Across university labs and industrial R&D, MEA remains a canvas for new process design. Teams invest resources investigating energy-efficient gas-liquid contact towers, hoping to stretch MEA absorption capacity and lower process footprints. Others chase greener routes—biocatalytic production or innovative recycling methodologies that recapture MEA after service, instead of relying on primary manufacture. Alternative solvents and next-generation amines also get compared head-to-head with MEA, each promising tweaks to selectivity, safety, or environmental impact, but rarely matching its cost-performance balance in bulk gas cleaning. Polymer scientists keep studying MEA as a raw material in new synthesis strategies for biodegradable plastics, and formulators in the coatings industry screen its blends for advanced adhesion and film properties. In short, even as new chemicals emerge, the research community circles back, trying to either improve MEA or to build from the lessons its use teaches over generations.
Toxicity Research
Those who study MEA's effect on health and ecosystems get a nuanced picture. Animal studies show that at high or prolonged exposure, MEA can cause skin, eye, and respiratory irritation, and the effect increases with concentration and frequency. Chronic exposure on the job, without engineering or personal controls, raises risks for dermatitis and, at worst, respiratory tract damage. In environmental models, MEA breaks down in water and soil under aerobic conditions, but the products of that breakdown can be more or less harmful depending on context—ammonia, acetaldehyde, and nitrate spikes have driven stricter scrutiny for certain disposal methods. Regulatory bodies regularly update allowable exposure limits, signaling careful tracking, but incident data show relatively low risks with modern controls. As alternatives with less toxicity get evaluated, many organizations stay transparent, publishing workplace incident records and encouraging open science about chronic hazards and ecological endpoints.
Future Prospects
The story of MEA isn’t running out of chapters. Climate mandates keep raising the bar on clean air, pushing for scrubbing systems that pull more greenhouse gases from stack emissions; MEA keeps its foothold by delivering efficient, proven results at an accessible price. Interest grows in capturing carbon for storage or reuse, and scale-up pilots test more robust, lower-energy cycles based on ethanolamine frameworks. Demand for surfactants and polymer intermediates also shows little sign of dropping, especially as markets in Asia and South America increase chemical manufacturing capacity. R&D keeps aiming at tweaks—lower toxicity, improved regeneration capability, and even blends with bio-based feedstocks. Real sustainability gains won’t come just from new chemicals, but also from making better use of what already anchors so many industries. The future may hold competition, but for workhorse molecules like MEA, the record shows that good design and steady performance can outlast waves of change.
Cleaning up the Air: MEA and Gas Treatment
Factories and power plants need to deal with carbon emissions. MEA has built its reputation as a reliable tool for cleaning up acidic gases from these exhaust streams. Flue gas carries carbon dioxide, and MEA helps trap that CO₂ before it escapes. Chemical engineers use MEA as a sorbent in gas treating units, where it reacts directly with carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. As someone who’s spent time working in chemical manufacturing settings, I’ve watched operators handle MEA absorption columns with meticulous care. The solution takes in dirty gases, strips them of their most harmful parts, then gets regenerated and reused. Hundreds of carbon capture projects worldwide pick MEA for this job, partly because it’s affordable and can be regenerated repeatedly with decent energy efficiency. As climate concerns grow, advancements in MEA-based technologies keep showing up in academic journals and industry updates alike.
MEAs everywhere: Detergents and Soaps
Every morning, a bar of soap or a bottle of shampoo helps start the day on a clean note. It’s easy to miss the ingredients list, though, and most people don’t realize that MEA contributes to these home essentials. In many liquid detergents, MEA’s job comes down to helping dissolve oily dirt and blend together water and grease. Manufacturers use MEA to balance the acidity in soaps and shampoos, because getting the right pH protects skin and keeps hair looking its best. It also acts as a thickener, giving products the rich feel people expect. Regulatory agencies require companies to prove MEA’s safety, and decades of data keep these products in stores. Having worked on technical teams that develop cleaning formulas, I’ve seen how small tweaks in MEA content can make or break the comfort and effectiveness users notice.
Making the World Smoother with MEA in Cement and Lubricants
Cement, that unsung hero turning dust and water into skyscrapers, benefits from MEA in blindingly practical ways. During grinding, cement clinker can clump together, slowing production lines. Engineers add low levels of MEA as a grinding aid—it stops particles from sticking and keeps the mixture flowing. The result is smoother, more consistent cement at the plant and, ultimately, more reliable concrete at the construction site. Looking beyond building materials, MEA helps produce lubricants and coolants that keep engines and industrial machines humming. It neutralizes acids that form during production, extending fluid life and engine health. These roles rarely earn a mention in consumer guides, but anyone who’s had a premature engine failure or seen a construction project delayed by faulty cement knows their importance.
Pharmaceuticals and Personal Touch
In medicine, every detail counts. MEA helps in making pharmaceutical creams and ointments, working as an ingredient that keeps formulas stable, mixes oil and water, and sometimes adjusts pH to levels friendly to the human body. I’ve consulted for small pharmaceutical companies where effective, stable products meant someone’s pain relief or skin condition got better. The right formulation keeps hospitals supplied with creams that don’t separate or spoil.
Time for a Closer Look
MEA enters daily experience more than most people guess, from the fuel in cars to the soap in showers. Its safety profile brings careful scrutiny, and regulators continue tightening guidelines on workplace handling and residual limits in finished goods. Forward-looking firms keep investing in safer process designs, recovery systems, and alternatives to ensure environmental and user protection. Low-cost, adaptable, and time-tested, MEA has earned its place alongside the more famous building blocks of modern society.
Understanding What You’re Working With
Monoethanolamine (MEA) works like a double-edged sword in many industries. It pulls its weight in gas treatment, cleaning products, and even pharmaceutical formulations, but a tool this strong calls for respect. MEA can irritate the skin and eyes, and if you breathe in the vapor or mist, your respiratory tract won't thank you. Direct contact sometimes leads to burns, so walking into a workspace unprepared isn't just careless—it's a shortcut to trouble.
Personal Protective Gear: The Simple Backbone
The basics actually matter. Wearing chemical-resistant gloves stops MEA from getting through to your skin. Splash-proof goggles or full-face shields keep your eyes out of danger. Covering up with a lab coat or chemical suit and using closed-toe shoes cuts down on direct exposure. Once, I forgot to button my sleeves and noticed redness on my wrists in just a short time. A tight routine each time before working with chemicals pays off.
Clean Air Is a Must
Good ventilation isn’t a fancy perk. MEA vapor can cause headaches and dizziness, so working in a stuffy room quickly turns into a bad situation. Use local exhaust ventilation or open windows when possible. In spots where fumes might collect, a proper fume hood or mechanical ventilation does the heavy lifting. In small shops, even a portable fan aimed to move air out can make a difference.
Storage and Labeling: No Guesswork
Storing MEA in airtight, clearly labeled containers keeps confusion at bay. Labels do more than just tick a safety box—they prevent accidents. MEA doesn’t mix well with acids or oxidizers, so keep the storage area uncluttered and separated. Store away from direct sunlight; heat will break down the chemical faster and increase risks.
Spill and Emergency Response: Think Fast, Act Fast
Anyone using MEA benefits from learning spill basics. Small spills get neutralized with absorbent pads or sand, then placed in sealed disposal bags. For larger spills, alert everyone nearby and use emergency showers and eyewash stations. MEA stings the eyes and damages tissue, so a fifteen-minute eyewash might save someone’s vision. My own close call during a university project taught me the value of practicing spill drills beforehand; real panic slows everything down.
Staff Training Makes the Difference
No equipment or set of rules beats training. People who know the risks and have clear steps for every scenario don’t freeze under pressure. Regular practice transforms safety policies from paperwork into habits. This creates a culture where the group watches out for each other, catching slip-ups before they lead to larger problems.
Waste Disposal: Protecting More Than Just Employees
Improper disposal turns today’s shortcut into tomorrow’s environmental problem. Used MEA solutions go into sealed, labeled containers for hazardous waste pickup—not the nearest drain. Local rules often dictate how to handle it, and cutting corners only leads to fines and public health issues later.
Continuous Improvement—Why It Matters
Complacency ranks among the top enemies in any environment handling chemicals. Reviewing procedures after every incident—good or bad—keeps everyone sharp. Feedback from those who work with MEA daily shapes safer, more practical guidelines. Real experience often uncovers risks that official sheets miss.
Paying Attention to Safety From the Start
Mono Ethanol Amine (MEA) carries a reputation as a strong base with a tendency to pull moisture from the air. That means sloppy storage can quickly turn into a nasty cleanup or worse, a health concern. In the labs where I got my early chemistry bearings, some junior staff treated MEA a bit too casually. It only took one leaky drum—smelling faintly of ammonia and stinging eyes—to reset the attitude in the whole building. Storing MEA demands more than a “just stick it on the shelf” approach.
Choosing the Right Container and Spot
Steel drums coated with a chemical-resistant liner or tightly sealed polyethylene containers stand up well to MEA’s corrosive bite. MEA chews through plain steel over time, so skimping on drum quality carries long-term risks. Loose lids or re-used containers often lead to cracked seals, and that allows air and humidity in—raising the chance of contaminating the product or damaging the storage plain.
The storage area needs to stay dry and cool, away from any direct sunlight or sources of heat. Sunlight speeds up chemical reactions and boosts pressure inside sealed drums. A shadowed corner, away from forklifts and foot traffic, works best. Those who sideline safety with “out of sight, out of mind” thinking tend to run into problems quickly, especially when basic rules like keeping water away get ignored. Spill response tools like neutralizing agents and absorbent pads should never gather dust—accidents always happen faster than you think.
What Mixing and Segregation Really Mean
Never store MEA with acids or other chemicals that give off heat on contact. Combining these can release fumes or spark a fire. That warning isn’t just for formal reports; I've seen warehouse staff ignore it, leading to sharp reprimands and near-misses. Every serious workplace should post a chemical compatibility chart. Even experienced workers check it instead of trusting memory or hunches.
Anyone managing warehouses should run regular checks on labels and inventory logs. One faded sticker can mean real trouble, especially with transfer drums, where content identification gets murkier over time. Keeping clear signage and fresh paint on drum labels isn’t just for show.
Ventilation, Temperature, and Moisture
Good air circulation stops vapor build-up inside storage rooms. Positive ventilation—meaning air flows out, not in—helps keep odors and toxic vapors from making work hazardous. Climate control is not a luxury here; MEA breaks down faster at higher temperatures, and increased vapor pressure makes leaks easier. Even short spikes in heat speed up product degradation.
MEA soaks up water, so high humidity or condensation inside storage spaces guarantees watery product and potential corrosion. Desiccants or dehumidifiers fight that battle in humid areas. Neglecting this detail leads to operational headaches later, with clogged pumps or diluted batches.
The Value of Direct Training and Checks
Training isn’t a one-off PowerPoint—regular drills and hands-on reviews with new staff help everyone stay sharp. Checking drum seals, testing floor absorbency, and spotting label issues play a bigger role than glossy management manuals admit. Bad habits set in fast, especially with fast-moving warehouse shifts.
Better Practices, Safer Operations
Dumping chemical safety onto a checklist won’t cut it. In my experience, the teams who encourage questions and give staff a real voice in safety updates respond faster and spot problems earlier. Industry data backs that up—facilities investing in both storage upgrades and worker engagement see a dramatic drop in incidents. Responsible storage doesn’t just keep up appearances—it protects people, equipment, and the bottom line.
MEA: The Formula and Its Place in Real Life
MEA stands for monoethanolamine, and its chemical formula is C2H7NO. Plenty of folks know MEA mostly from industrial work, but its reach goes beyond factory settings. Looking over the last decade, I’ve watched MEA get pulled off shelves in water treatment plants and universities, packed and marked with that formula as a badge of reliability and proven chemistry. Even if you’ve never set foot in a lab, you might have bumped into MEA's results — it helps make gas streams safer and keeps certain everyday products working right.
Why MEA’s Formula Matters
Calling out the exact formula — two carbons, seven hydrogens, one nitrogen, one oxygen — feels simple, but that structure shapes everything MEA can do. With its one alcohol group and one amine group, it delivers a punch for scrubbers and chemical reactions. From what I’ve seen, its molecular makeup gives engineers control when designing processes to remove carbon dioxide from natural gas and flue gases. That’s not just textbook chemistry; that’s enabling lower emissions at the local power plant.
MEA also threads into pharmaceuticals, textiles, cosmetics, and surfactants. This one formula stands behind safer pills, softer fabric, and shampoo that lathers right. Its balance makes it reactive without acting wild, which is a claim a lot of reagents wish they could make.
The Safety Story
During my years around MEA, one theme always comes up: safety. This compound may not explode at the drop of a hat, but exposure needs smart handling. Excess inhalation or skin contact leaves a mark. That formula, C2H7NO, signals both its utility and its risks. Reading up on cases of spills or overexposure, the lesson is clear — personal protective equipment and good ventilation mark the line between a routine shift and a bad day. The facts echo: agencies across the globe classify MEA as an irritant, and it earns its hazard labels for good reason.
MEA in Our Changing World
Pulling carbon dioxide out of the air is not just theory anymore. I’ve met teams using MEA-based solvents to clean up emissions in pilot plants and even commercial capture rigs. The hope is to scale up and make a real dent in climate problems, but it’s not all smooth sailing. MEA gets degraded by oxygen and heat, producing unwanted byproducts. That drags down efficiency and means more chemical waste. Balancing the benefits against challenges means keeping an eye on both the chemistry and the real-world impact.
Researchers haven’t stopped — they’re chasing ingredients that can mimic or top MEA’s absorption rate while dodging environmental headaches. Still, C2H7NO shows up as a yardstick for what works. I’ve watched operators tweak temperatures, swap out additives, and watch for that formula on shipping manifests. No one wants to throw away a proven tool, but most folks in the chemical world know progress rarely sits still. Solutions likely come from a mix of smarter recycling, better containment, and steady research into replacements that work just as hard.
What Is MEA?
Monoethanolamine, often called MEA, typically pops up as a cleaning ingredient, pH adjuster in cosmetics, and even in some industrial gases. At a glance, things that carry a sci-fi-sounding name like MEA might seem scary. The real danger shows up not just through labels but in how people use and dispose of such chemicals.
MEA at Work and Home
Most folks won’t spend hours thinking about what goes into their laundry detergent or bathroom cleaner. MEA manages grease and grime in kitchens. It balances acidity in shampoos or lotions. Many hair dye kits list MEA among their chemicals because it helps blend color evenly. It appears in paints and ink as well. The reach of MEA seems broad. That’s why taking a closer look matters.
Health Hazards: Immediate and Long-Term
Mixing up cleaning solutions with bare hands or breathing vapors day after day brings real risks. Skin and eye irritation can hit fast, leaving people uncomfortable or worse. Some might feel a burning sensation or see redness after even a short exposure. Lab tests have flagged MEA as a trigger for allergic reactions or dermatitis in sensitive individuals. Breathing in vapor or mist during heavy cleaning can hurt the respiratory tract. There have even been rare reports of headaches and nausea among workers exposed in factories or commercial laundries.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has not called MEA a known or probable carcinogen, but repeat exposure—especially at work—deserves attention. Some studies with lab animals point toward liver or kidney strain after swallowing or breathing lots of MEA. It all adds up to a picture that says: handle with care and don’t treat it like soap and water.
Environmental Impact: More Than Just Water
MEA doesn’t just vanish when a scrub bucket gets dumped down the drain. In wastewater, MEA tends to break down pretty quickly, mainly through bacteria. But before it disappears, it can feed runaway algae growth in streams and rivers. That can starve fish and other creatures of oxygen. The United States Environmental Protection Agency highlights MEA’s toxicity to aquatic life, especially at high concentrations. Fish exposed to contaminated water can suffer from gill irritation and eventually die off in worst-case spills.
On the air side, MEA can react with carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides. It sometimes creates nitrosamines—compounds flagged as possibly cancer-causing. Factories must pay special attention to venting systems and scrubbing emissions. What goes up in the air drops back down one way or another.
Making Safer Choices
Using gloves, good ventilation, and switching to less-harsh products where possible puts MEA risks in check at home. At workplaces, education and clear safety rules save health. It pays to check product labels and safety data sheets when picking cleaners—or ask manufacturers for details if a label seems vague. Minimum exposure means maximum protection, every time.
Laws already limit how much MEA enters rivers and lakes, but household habits count just as much as factories. Pouring leftovers into a proper chemical collection box, skipping the storm drain, and seeking eco-friendly cleaners all drive down environmental risk. Community buy-in and up-to-date rules from regulators both matter. Future research may help dial in even safer substitutes for jobs where MEA works hardest.
| Names | |
| Preferred IUPAC name | 2-aminoethan-1-ol |
| Other names |
Ethanolamine
2-Aminoethanol MEA Monoethanolamine Aminoethylethanolamine |
| Pronunciation | /ˌmɒnoʊ iˌθænəˌl əˈmiːn/ |
| Identifiers | |
| CAS Number | 141-43-5 |
| Beilstein Reference | 1719228 |
| ChEBI | CHEBI:16236 |
| ChEMBL | CHEMBL715 |
| ChemSpider | 558 |
| DrugBank | DB03798 |
| ECHA InfoCard | RTECS: KJ5775000 |
| EC Number | 205-483-3 |
| Gmelin Reference | 8229 |
| KEGG | C00189 |
| MeSH | Ethanolamines |
| PubChem CID | 8900 |
| RTECS number | KJ5775000 |
| UNII | MIHHRUQ99Q |
| UN number | UN2051 |
| Properties | |
| Chemical formula | C2H7NO |
| Molar mass | 61.08 g/mol |
| Appearance | Colorless to pale yellow, clear, viscous liquid |
| Odor | Ammonia-like odor |
| Density | 0.890 g/cm³ |
| Solubility in water | Miscible |
| log P | -1.31 |
| Vapor pressure | 1 mmHg (at 20°C) |
| Acidity (pKa) | 9.5 |
| Basicity (pKb) | 4.75 |
| Magnetic susceptibility (χ) | '-7.3 × 10⁻⁶ cm³/mol' |
| Refractive index (nD) | 1.454 |
| Viscosity | 10-20 cP |
| Dipole moment | 1.31 D |
| Thermochemistry | |
| Std molar entropy (S⦵298) | 228.0 J·mol⁻¹·K⁻¹ |
| Std enthalpy of formation (ΔfH⦵298) | -467.11 kJ/mol |
| Std enthalpy of combustion (ΔcH⦵298) | -1367 kJ/mol |
| Pharmacology | |
| ATC code | No ATC code |
| Hazards | |
| Main hazards | Corrosive, causes severe skin burns and eye damage, harmful if inhaled, toxic to aquatic life |
| GHS labelling | GHS02, GHS05, GHS07 |
| Pictograms | GHS05,GHS07 |
| Signal word | Warning |
| Hazard statements | Harmful if swallowed. Causes severe skin burns and eye damage. Harmful if inhaled. May cause respiratory irritation. |
| Precautionary statements | P264, P280, P301+P330+P331, P303+P361+P353, P304+P340, P305+P351+P338, P310, P321, P363, P405, P501 |
| NFPA 704 (fire diamond) | 3-1-2-W |
| Flash point | 96°C |
| Autoignition temperature | 400°C |
| Explosive limits | 4% - 85.5% |
| Lethal dose or concentration | LD50 (oral, rat): 1720 mg/kg |
| LD50 (median dose) | LD50, Oral (Rat): 1720 mg/kg |
| NIOSH | MEA1000 |
| PEL (Permissible) | 3 ppm |
| REL (Recommended) | 3 ppm |
| IDLH (Immediate danger) | MEA: 300 ppm |
| Related compounds | |
| Related compounds |
Diethanolamine (DEA)
Triethanolamine (TEA) Ethanolamine Aminomethylpropanol Isopropanolamine |
