Where Can I Buy Benzyl Alcohol
Sixteen neonatal deaths thought to be caused by the benzyl alcoholpreservative used in some intravascular solutions have been reportedto the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by 2 medical centers (1,2).The deaths occurred in pre-term neonates weighing 2500 gms who hadcentral intravascular catheters flushed periodically each day withbacteriostatic normal saline containing 9 mg/ml benzyl alcohol. Tendeaths occurred in 1 institution over a 6-month period and 6 deathsoccurred in the other institution over a 16-month period.Investigators in the 2 hospitals have reported that similar deathshave not occurred since flush solutions without preservatives havebeen substituted for those with the benzyl alcohol.
where can i buy benzyl alcohol
Gas chromatographic analysis demonstrated benzyl alcohol or itsmetabolites in blood and urine samples from infants in 1 hospital.Retrospective analysis of urine samples from 5 infants in the otherhospital for organic acid profile by gas-liquid chromatography showedurine benzoate levels of 4.4-16.1 mg/mg creatinine and hippuratelevels of 7.4-33.3 mg/mg creatinine (normal values = 0-trace); serumbenzoic acid levels were 8.4-28.7 mEq/L (normal = 0). Review of themedical records of the affected infants resulted in estimates of dailyintake of benzyl alcohol ranging from 99 to 405 mg/kg/day.
Based on these reports, the FDA has recommended that intravascularflush solutions containing benzyl alcohol not be used for newborns andthat diluents with this preservative not be used as medications forthese infants.
Illness suspected of having been caused by use of benzyl alcoholshould be reported promptly to the FDA, Division of Drug Experience,Attn: Judith K. Jones, M.D., Ph.D., Room 15-B-07, HFD-210, 5600Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857; telephone (301)443-4580.Reported by JJ Gershanik, B Beecher, W George, A Sole, M Leither, CKapadious, Southern Baptist Hospital, New Orleans, Louisiana; WJBrown, NRM Buist, HTC Gipson, RK Huston, NG Kennaway, Oregon HealthSciences University, Portland; Div of Drug Experience, Office ofBiometrics and Epidemiology, Bureau of Drugs and Biologics, FDA;Chronic Disease Div, Center for Environmental Health, HospitalInfections Program, Center for Infectious Diseases, CDC.
Editorial Note: Benzyl alcohol is an aromatic alcohol usually used ina concentration of 0.9% as a bacteriostatic preservative inmultiple-dose vials of solutions or drugs for parenteral therapy.Bacteriostatic sodium chloride, USP, is frequently used in themanagement of critically ill patients to flush intravascular cathetersafter the addition of medications or the withdrawal of blood; andsterile bacteriostatic water for injection, USP, is used to dilute orreconstitute medications for intravenous use. In addition,medications, such as some formulations of sodium heparin, USP, thatare frequently used for infants and other critically ill patients maybe preserved with benzyl alcohol.
Toxic effects of benzyl alcohol, including respiratory failure,vasodilation, hypotension, convulsions, and paralysis have been knownfor years (3-5). However, little is known about the toxic effects orlevels of benzyl alcohol in neonates, especially in sick prematureinfants. Animal toxicity studies (6) show an LD((50)) ofapproximately 33 ml/kg (300 mg/kg) in rats treated by rapidintravenous infusion with 0.9% benzyl alcohol, although 40 ml/kg (360mg/kg) by slow intravenous infusion was tolerated without mortality.Adult dogs were killed by doses of 88-113 ml/kg (830-1060 mg/kg) of0.9% benzyl alcohol intravenously, but tolerated smaller infusionswithout signs of toxicity. The serum half-life of benzyl alcohol inadult dogs is estimated at 1.5 hours. On the basis of the animalstudies, it has been estimated that rapid intravenous infusion ofadult humans with as much as 30 ml of 0.9% benzyl alcohol(approximately 4.5 mg/kg) in saline should be safe (6).
Benzyl alcohol is normally oxidized rapidly to benzoic acid,conjugated with glycine in the liver, and excreted as hippuric acid.However, this metabolic pathway may not be well developed in prematureinfants. The benzyl alcohol may therefore have been metabolized tobenzoic acid, which could not be conjugated by the immature liver butaccumulated, causing metabolic acidosis (2).
These reports of neonatal toxicity from benzyl alcohol are highlynoteworthy. However, caution must be exercised in attributingindividual illness to benzyl alcohol since many of the describedclinical features commonly occur in neonates seriously ill from othercauses. Newborns most likely to receive large volumes of flushsolutions, relative to body weight, are the very small, sick prematureinfants who already have a high risk of mortality. Thus, mortalitypotentially attributable to benzyl alcohol should also be assessed bya careful comparison of neonatal mortality in newborns receiving largeamounts of non-bacteriostatic flush solutions and medications withcomparable newborns receiving large amounts of bacteriostaticsolutions and medications. Retrospective analyses of newborns whoreceived saline flushes with benzyl alcohol and survived are alsoneeded to establish whether a dose-response relationship existsbetween clinical and laboratory findings and the intensity ofexposures to benzyl alcohol, and to identify more completely thepathologic and clinical features of toxicity in newborns.
Benzyl Alcohol, having the formula C6H5CH2OH, is often termed as Aromatic Alcohol. Benzyl Alcohol is a clear liquid with a faint aromatic odor. Because of its polarity, low toxicity, and low vapor pressure, it is a valuable solvent having miscibility with alcohols, diethyl ether, and modest solubility in water. Lab Grade chemicals are often known as Laboratory Reagent (LR) and Chemically Pure (CP). Lab grade chemicals possess reasonable purity but do not comply with any official standards for quality or purity. Lab Alley is selling its premium quality Lab Grade Benzyl Alcohol in the United States of America (USA) and highly recommends its use in educational institutes and research labs.
Dehydroacetic acid & Benzyl alcohol are both Organic compounds which are accepted for use in natural cosmetics, offering a broad spectrum of stability at a wide range of pH. The Organic preservative compound is a non paraben, non-formaldehyde, non-isothiazolone based preservative system.
Dehydroacetic acid & Benzyl alcohol is suitable for use in various cosmetic applications such as shampoos, conditioners, moisturisers, cream lotions, bubble baths, wet wipes and sunscreens. The Organic preservative compound makes it suitable for use in products containing other Organic ingredients.
An investigation was made of the effects of cholesterol and benzyl alcohol on the partitioning of n-alkanes between lipid bilayer membranes and bulk lipid/alkane solutions (in the torus). Bilayers were formed from solutions containing alkanes of different chain lengths, together with phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol in varying proportions. The partitioning of the alkanes was determined from measurements of the very low frequency (1 Hz) capacitance of the membranes. Perturbation of the internal membrane structure by the inclusion of cholesterol and benzyl alcohol produced very significant changes in the n-alkane partition coefficient, cholesterol causing a decrease and benzyl alcohol an increase in the alkane partitioning into the bilayer. A correlation exists between the effects of these compounds on the alkane partitioning and their effect on the segmental chain order of the acyl chains in the bilayer and this correlation is consistent with a statistical-mechanical model of the lipid/alkane bilayers in the liquid crystalline state. The perturbation by cholesterol and benzyl alcohol of the internal structure of membranes bears on the conflicting reports of the effects of these substances on artificial lipid bilayers and could also be relevant to their known physiological effects.
TOL plasmid pWW0 specifies enzymes for the oxidative catabolism of toluene and xylenes. The upper pathway converts the aromatic hydrocarbons to aromatic carboxylic acids via corresponding alcohols and aldehydes and involves three enzymes: xylene oxygenase, benzyl alcohol dehydrogenase, and benzaldehyde dehydrogenase. The synthesis of these enzymes is positively regulated by the product of xylR. Determination of upper pathway enzyme levels in bacteria carrying Tn5 insertion mutant derivatives of plasmid pWW0-161 has shown that the genes for upper pathway enzymes are organized in an operon with the following order: promoter-xylC (benzaldehyde dehydrogenase gene[s])-xylA (xylene oxygenase gene[s])-xylB (benzyl alcohol dehydrogenase gene). Subcloning of the upper pathway genes in a lambda pL promoter-containing vector and analysis of their expression in Escherichia coli K-12 confirmed this order. Two distinct enzymes were found to attack benzyl alcohol, namely, xylene oxygenase and benzyl alcohol dehydrogenase; and their catalytic activities were additive in the conversion of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde. The fact that benzyl alcohol is both a product and a substrate of xylene oxygenase indicates that this enzyme has a relaxed substrate specificity.
The open circuit potential (OCP) established by the quasi-equilibrated electrode reaction of H2 and H3O+(hydr.), complicates catalytic reactions significantly. The hydrogenolysis rate of benzylic alcohol on Pd/C increases 2-3 orders of magnitude with the pH decreasing from 7 to 0.6. The reaction follows a pathway of protonated benzyl alcohol dehydration to a benzylic carbenium ion, followed by a hydride addition to form toluene. The dehydration of protonated benzyl alcohol is kinetic relevent, thus, being enhanced at lower pH. The OCP stabilizes all cationic species in the elementary steps. Particularly, the initial state (benzyl alcohol oxonium ion) is less stabilized than the dehydration transition state and the product (benzylic carbenium), thus, lowering the free energy barrier of the rate-determining step. In accordance, the rate increased with increasingly negative OCP. Beside OCP, an external negative electric potential in an electrocatlaytic system was also demonstrated to enhance the rate in the same way. 041b061a72