ACRYLONITRILE Characteristics

Acrylonitrile (CAS No. 107-13-11), a volatile and flammable gas, is a colourless to slightly yellow liquid at ambient temperature and pressure. Its odour has been described as sweet and faintly pungent, resembling that of peach seeds, onion and garlic, or mustard. Acrylonitrile is used primarily in the fabrication of acrylic fiber, resins, rubbers and elastomers. Emissions of acrylonitrile from the industrial facilities in Alberta have been below the criteria for reporting to the National Pollutant Release Inventory. Since the half-life is of the order of days, acrylonitrile may disperse from the source areas. In the atmosphere it undergoes a photochemical reaction with hydroxyl radicals and produces mainly formaldehyde and, in lesser amounts, other compounds such as formic acid, formyl cyanide, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen cyanide. The detection limit for measurements in ambient air is 0.5 ppb by the US Environmental Protectio