Return to Boron trifluoride Index Page

Activity: Fumigant (Inorganic)
Structure:

Adverse Effects:
Body Weight Decrease
Blood
Bone
CNS
Eye
Kidney
Lung

Blood (click on for all fluorinated pesticides)

-- Target Organs: Lungs, blood, bones and teeth.
Ref: Material Safety Data Sheet for Boron Trifluoride (BF3). May 2001.
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/Boron.Trifluoride.MSDS.htm

Body Weight Decrease (click on for all fluorinated pesticides)

- In a 2 week study, all animals exposed to 180 mg/cu m died prior to the sixth exposure, rats exposed at concn of 66 and 24 mg/cu m showed clinical signs of respiratory irritation, body weight gain depressions, increased lung weights, and depressed liver weights.
Ref: TOXNET profile from Hazardous Substances Data Bank for Boron Trifluoride.
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/Boron.Trifluoride.TOXNET.htm

Bone (click on for all fluorinated pesticides)

-- Target Organs: Lungs, blood, bones and teeth.
-- Signs and Symptoms of Exposure: Acute exposure: coughing, shortness of breath, headache, vertigo, chills and nausea. Subchronic: dental fluorosis, increased bone, serum and urinary fluoride levels, hypocalcemia.
-- Chronic and Subchronic Data: Two of forty rats exposed to 6 ppm for 6 hours/day, 5 days/week for 13 weeks exhibited renal toxicity and signs of respiratory irritation. Six month exposures of rats, rabbits and guinea pigs produced dental fluorosis and pneumonitis at similar levels. This material is listed in the Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances (RTECS), but no information on its carcinogenicity is available.
Ref: Material Safety Data Sheet for Boron Trifluoride (BF3). May 2001.
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/Boron.Trifluoride.MSDS.htm#Contents

[Note: Dental fluorosis hasn't been included in the bone category even though it was noted in many studies for this and other pesticides. However, we will keep this study in to remind us that this category was omitted.- EC]
... Exposure of six animal species to 0.28 mg/L of boron trifluoride for 4 to 7 hours a day, 5 days a week killed all animals within 30 days. Rats, rabbits, and guinea pigs were exposed to boron trifluoride via inhalation. Guinea pigs died of respiratory failure after being exposed to 0.036 mg/L for 19 days; rats experienced fluorosis of the teeth at this concentration.
Ref. USEPA/OPPT. Support Document for the Health and Ecological Toxicity Review of TRI Expansion Chemicals. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (1993). As cited by US EPA in: Federal Register: January 12, 1994. Part IV. 40 CFR Part 372. Addition of Certain Chemicals; Toxic Chemical Release Reporting; Community Right-to-Know; Proposed Rule.

-- Boron trifluoride is primarily a respiratory irritant which predisposed the exposed /guinea pigs/ to respiratory infection. Exposure at 100 ppm (277 mg/cu m) was fatal to all animals. Physiological responses prior to death included respiratory irritation and infection, kidney damage, retarded growth, and severe progressive fluorosis in rat teeth...
Ref: TOXNET profile from Hazardous Substances Data Bank for Boron Trifluoride.
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/Boron.Trifluoride.TOXNET.htm

CNS (click on for all fluorinated pesticides)

Animal Toxicity Studies: Non-Human Toxicity Excerpts: The principal feature in acute action ... is the irritation of mucous membranes of respiratory tract & eyes. In animal acute experiments, a concn of 42 mg/cu m proved fatal in some cases. Exam revealed a fall in inorg phosphorus level in blood & autopsy showed pneumonia & degenerative changes in renal tubules. Long-term (4 mo) exposure to 3 & 10 mg/cu m ... produced irritation of resp tract, dysproteinemia, reduction in cholinesterase activity & increased nervous system lability. Exposure to high concn results in reduction of acetyl carbonic acid & inorg phosphorus levels in blood, & dental fluorosis. [International Labour Office. Encyclopedia of Occupational Health and Safety. Vols. I&II. Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Office, 1983. 320]
Ref: TOXNET profile from Hazardous Substances Data Bank for BORON TRIFLUORIDE.
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/Boron.Trifluoride.TOXNET.htm

Eye (click on for all fluorinated pesticides)

-- Boron trifluoride is a colorless gas that is corrosive to tissues due to its rapid hydrolysis to hydrofluoric acid and boric acid. The principal acute effect in animals is irritation of the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract and eyes; post mortem examination also revealed pneumonia and degenerative changes in renal tubules.
Ref. USEPA/OPPT. Support Document for the Health and Ecological Toxicity Review of TRI Expansion Chemicals. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (1993). As cited by US EPA in: Federal Register: January 12, 1994. Part IV. 40 CFR Part 372. Addition of Certain Chemicals; Toxic Chemical Release Reporting; Community Right-to-Know; Proposed Rule.

Kidney (click on for all fluorinated pesticides)

-- Exposure of 6 animal species to 100 ppm, 4-7 hr/day, 5 days/wk in a 30 day experiment killed all animals, most within the test period. Guinea pigs were most susceptible ... dogs least ... The primary site of damage was the lung ... Kidney damage ... also occurs. [Mackison, F. W., R. S. Stricoff, and L. J. Partridge, Jr. (eds.). NIOSH/OSHA - Occupational Health Guidelines for Chemical Hazards. DHHS(NIOSH) PublicationNo. 81-123 (3 VOLS). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, Jan. 1981.
-- An acute study of boron trifluoride (BF3) in rats indicated the 4 hr LC50 to be 1.21 mg/l. In a 2 week study, all animals exposed to 180 mg/cu m died prior to the sixth exposure, rats exposed at concn of 66 and 24 mg/cu m showed clinical signs of respiratory irritation, body weight gain depressions, increased lung weights, and depressed liver weights. Histopathology showed necrosis and pyknosis of the proximal tubular epithelium of the kidneys. This effect was limited to the high-concn exposure group. Based on the results of these studies, Fischer 344 rats were exposed 6 hr/day, 5 days/week for 13 weeks to a respirable, liquid aerosol of BF3 at concn of 0, 2.0, 6.0, and 17 mg/cu m. One rat in the high exposure group died. The most significant finding in this group was necrosis of the proximal tubular epithelium of the kidneys....
-- Boron trifluoride is primarily a respiratory irritant which predisposed the exposed /guinea pigs/ to respiratory infection. Exposure at 100 ppm (277 mg/cu m) was fatal to all animals. Physiological responses prior to death included respiratory irritation and infection, kidney damage, retarded growth, and severe progressive fluorosis in rat teeth...
Ref: TOXNET profile from Hazardous Substances Data Bank for Boron Trifluoride.
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/Boron.Trifluoride.TOXNET.htm

-- The principal acute effect in animals is irritation of the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract and eyes; post mortem examination also revealed pneumonia and degenerative changes in renal tubules. The kidneys are most severely affected because boric acid concentrates in this organ.
Ref. USEPA/OPPT. Support Document for the Health and Ecological Toxicity Review of TRI Expansion Chemicals. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (1993). As cited by US EPA in: Federal Register: January 12, 1994. Part IV. 40 CFR Part 372. Addition of Certain Chemicals; Toxic Chemical Release Reporting; Community Right-to-Know; Proposed Rule.

Lung (click on for all fluorinated pesticides)

-- Target Organs: Lungs, blood, bones and teeth.
-- Signs and Symptoms of Exposure: Acute exposure: coughing, shortness of breath, headache, vertigo, chills and nausea. Subchronic: dental fluorosis, increased bone, serum and urinary fluoride levels, hypocalcemia.
-- Chronic and Subchronic Data: Two of forty rats exposed to 6 ppm for 6 hours/day, 5 days/week for 13 weeks exhibited renal toxicity and signs of respiratory irritation. Six month exposures of rats, rabbits and guinea pigs produced dental fluorosis and pneumonitis at similar levels. This material is listed in the Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances (RTECS), but no information on its carcinogenicity is available.
Ref: Material Safety Data Sheet for Boron Trifluoride (BF3). May 2001.
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/Boron.Trifluoride.MSDS.htm

-- Clinical Effects: SUMMARY OF EXPOSURE 0.2.1.1 ACUTE EXPOSURE o Boron trifluoride is a severe irritant to the lungs and eyes and corrosive on skin contact. Effects are similar to that of hydrogen fluoride but less severe.
-- CHRONIC EXPOSURE o Lowered pulmonary function, dried mucous membranes and nosebleeds, severe irritation of the eyes and eyelids, as well as inflammation and congestion of the lungs may occur with chronic exposure to this compound (HSDB, 1992).
-- Exposure of 6 animal species to 100 ppm, 4-7 hr/day, 5 days/wk in a 30 day experiment killed all animals, most within the test period. Guinea pigs were most susceptible ... dogs least ... The primary site of damage was the lung ... Kidney damage ... also occurs. [Mackison, F. W., R. S. Stricoff, and L. J. Partridge, Jr. (eds.). NIOSH/OSHA - Occupational Health Guidelines for Chemical Hazards. DHHS(NIOSH) PublicationNo. 81-123 (3 VOLS). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, Jan. 1981. 1]
-- Boron trifluoride is primarily a respiratory irritant which predisposed the exposed /guinea pigs/ to respiratory infection. Exposure at 100 ppm (277 mg/cu m) was fatal to all animals. Physiological responses prior to death included respiratory irritation and infection, kidney damage, retarded growth, and severe progressive fluorosis in rat teeth. Exposure at 15 ppm (41.5 mg/cu m) did not produce fluorosis, but did predispose guinea pigs to a rate of respiratory infection greater than that found in controls. [NIOSH; Criteria Document: Boron trifluoride p.27 (1976) DHEW Pub. NIOSH 77-122]
-- Ten male guinea pigs and 14 female rats were exposed to boron trifluoride at a nominal concentration of 12.8 ppm (35 mg/cu m), 7 hours/day, 5 days/week, for up to 3 months. Examinations showed the guinea pigs had difficulty in breathing and appeared asthmatic. Exposed guinea pigs had increased lung weights averaging 0.80 g/100 g of body weight, compared to lung weights of 0.64 g/100 of body weight for the control animals. Gross examination revealed pneumonitis, suggesting chemical damage, in the hilar region of the lungs. Examined microscopically, the lung showed areas of collapse and emphysema adjacent to the areas of more severe pneumonitis. The exposed rats were considered to have normal appearance and organ weights, but gross and microscopic tissue examination showed pulmonary changes indicating chemical irritation. The hilar regions of the lung were the most affected and the injuries were manifested as pneumonitis. [NIOSH; Criteria Document: Boron trifluoride p.29-30 (1976) DHEW Pub. NIOSH 77-122]
Ref: TOXNET profile from Hazardous Substances Data Bank for Boron Trifluoride.
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/Boron.Trifluoride.TOXNET.htm