Substance fact sheet
The National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) provides information on the types and amounts of pollutants being emitted in the Australian community.
This page provides facts about carbon disulfide. It describes how you might be exposed to this substance, how exposure might effect you and the environment, common uses, comparative data about carbon disulfide and its physical and chemical properties.
For more information about some of the terms used in this page, see the NPI glossary.
The National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) holds data for all sources of carbon disulfide emissions in Australia .
Carbon disulfide breaks down into other chemical substances after it enters the body. Medical tests can measure levels of these substances in urine and blood, but the tests are not reliable indicators of total exposure.
Acute effects: At very high levels, carbon disulfide may be life-threatening because of its effects on the nervous system or heart. Exposure can be through inhalation, absorption through the skin, ingestion, or skin or eye contact. In acute poisoning, early excitation of the central nervous system resembling alcoholic intoxication occurs, followed by depression, stupor, restlessness, unconsciousness, and possible death. If recovery occurs, narcosis, nausea, vomiting, and headache can occur.
Chronic effects: In chronic poisoning, there are sensory changes such as a crawling sensation in the skin, sensations of heaviness and coldness, and "veiling" of objects so that they appear indistinct. Exposure can cause changes in breathing, chest pains, muscle pain, weakness, loss of feeling in the hands or feet, eye problems, skin blisters, chronic fatigue, loss of memory, personality changes, irritability, dizziness, anorexia, weight loss, psychosis, polyneuropathy, gastritis, kidney and liver damage, dermatitis, mental deterioration, Parkinsonian paralysis, and insanity.
Carbon disulfide may damage the developing foetus. It may decrease fertility in men and women, causing sperm abnormalities and spontaneous abortions.
Probable routes of human exposure to carbon disulfide are inhalation, ingestion, and skin contact.
The people most often exposed to carbon disulfide are workers in plants that use carbon disulfide in their manufacturing processes. Releases of carbon disulfide from industrial processes are almost exclusively to the air; individuals in proximity to these sites may be exposed. Exposure may result from breathing air, drinking water, or eating foods that contain it. People may also be exposed through skin contact with soil, water, or other substances that contain carbon disulfide.
See Sources for more information.
Worksafe Australia
Maximum time weighted average TWA: 10 ppm 31 mg/m<3
Harmful: concentration cut-off level: 0.20 % weight/weight
Toxic: concentration cut-off level: 1 % weight/weight
Irritant: concentration cut-off level: 20 % weight/weight
The Australian NOHSC National Exposure Standards Database link is probably the most useful source of information.
Note that the emissions data in the NPI database is not directly comparable with these guidelines.
Acute (short-term) ecological effects: Acute toxic effects may include the death of animals, birds, or fish, and death or low growth rate in plants. Acute effects are seen two to four days after animals or plants are exposed to a toxic chemical substance. Carbon disulfide has moderate acute toxicity to aquatic life. No data are available on the short-term effects of carbon disulfide to plants, birds, or land animals.
Chronic (long-term) ecological effects: Chronic toxic effects may include shortened lifespan, reproductive problems, lower fertility, and changes in appearance or behaviour. Chronic effects can be seen long after first exposure(s) to a toxic chemical. Carbon disulfide has high chronic toxicity to aquatic life. No data are available on the long-term effects of carbon disulfide to plants, birds, or land animals.
Carbon disulfide evaporates rapidly when released to the environment. Carbon disulfide does not stay dissolved in water very long, and it also moves quickly through soils.
Carbon disulfide reacts with the hydroxyl (OH) radical in the atmosphere, with the effective rate constant depending on O2 concentration and total pressure. Based on the literature rate constant at one atmosphere of air, the calculated half-life of carbon disulfide due to its reaction with the OH radical are about 8 days. Its reaction products include carbonyl sulfide and sulfur dioxide.
Carbon disulfide is non-persistent in water, with a half-life of less than 2 days. About 99.8% of carbon disulfide will eventually end up in air; the rest will end up in the water.
Carbon disulfide by itself is not likely to cause environmental harm at levels normally found in the environment. Carbon disulfide can contribute to the formation of photochemical smog when it reacts with other volatile organic substance in air.
Bioaccumulation in most organisms is limited by the metabolism and rapid excretion of carbon disulfide. Bioaccumulation in the food chain is expected to be low.
No national guidelines.
Carbon disulfide is made for commercial use by combining carbon and sulfur at very high temperatures. It has been an important industrial chemical since the 1800s because of its many useful properties, including its ability to solubilise fats, rubbers, phosphorus, sulfur, and other elements. Its fat-solvent properties also make it indispensable in preparing fats, lacquers, and camphor; in refining petroleum jelly and paraffin; and in extracting oil from bones, palmstones, olives, and rags. It was also used in processing India rubber sap from tropical trees. In all these extraction processes, it has now been replaced by other solvents.
Carbon disulfide's most important industrial use has been in the manufacture of regenerated cellulose rayon (by the viscose process) and cellophane. Another principal industrial use for carbon disulfide has been as a feedstock for carbon tetrachloride production. It has also been used to protect fresh fruit from insects and fungus during shipping, in adhesives for food packaging, and in the solvent extraction of growth inhibitors.
Carbon disulfide has been highly suitable for other industrial applications including the vulcanisation and manufacture of rubber and rubber accessories; the production of resins, xanthates, thiocyanates, plywood adhesives, and flotation agents; solvent and spinning-solution applications, primarily in the manufacture of rayon and polymerisation inhibition of vinyl chloride; conversion and processing of hydrocarbons; petroleum-well cleaning; brightening of precious metals in electroplating; rust removal from metals; and removal and recovery of metals and other elements from waste water and other media. In agriculture, carbon disulfide has been widely used as a fumigant to control insects in stored grain, and to remove botfly larva infestations from the stomachs of horses and ectoparasites from swine. Use of carbon disulfide as a grain fumigant in the USA was voluntarily cancelled after 1985.
Releases to air from industries producing, using, or handling carbon disulfide; sanitary landfills, and natural gas production and distribution.
Sub-threshold facilities.
Very small amounts of carbon disulfide occur in coal tar and in crude petroleum. Carbon disulfide is a natural product of anaerobic biodegradation and is released to the atmosphere from oceans and landmasses as well as geothermal sources. The ocean appears to be a major source of carbon disulfide. Coastal and marshland areas of high biological activity are also a major source.
No mobile sources.
Consumer products are unlikely to contain significant proportions of carbon disulfide, but some products in which the manufacturing process uses carbon disulfide may contain traces.
Approximately 400 substances were considered for inclusion on the NPI reporting list. A ranking and total hazard score was given based on health and environmental hazards and human and environmental exposure to the substance.
Carbon disulfide was ranked as 56 out of 400. The total hazard score taking into account both human health and environmental criteria is 2.7.
On a health hazard rating of 0 - 3 carbon disulfide registers 1.7. A score of 3 represents a very high hazard to health, 2 represents a medium hazard and 1 is harmful to health.
On an environmental rating of 0 - 3 carbon disulfide registers 1.0. A score of 3 represents a very high hazard to the environment and 0 a negligible hazard.
Factors taken into account to obtain this ranking and these scores include the extent of the material's toxic or poisonous nature and/or its lack of toxicity, and the measure of its ability to remain active in the environment and whether it accumulates in living organisms. It does not take into account exposure to the substance. Environmental exposure is reflected in the NPI rank for this substance (see comparative data below). A substance that scores highly as an environmental hazard is oxides of nitrogen at 3.0 and one of the lower scores is carbon monoxide at 0.8. A substance that scores highly as a health hazard is arsenic at 2.3 and one of the lowest scores is ammonia at 1.0.
| Substance name | Carbon disulfide |
| CASR number | 75-15-0 |
| Molecular formula | CS2 |
| Synonyms | carbon disulphide; carbon bisulfide; carbon bisulphide; dithiocarbonic anhydride; alcohol of sulfur; carbon bisulfuret; carbon sulfide; carbon sulphide; weeviltox; sulfocarbonic anhydride |
| Physical properties: Pure carbon disulfide is a colourless liquid with a pleasant odour that is like the smell of chloroform. The impure carbon disulfide that is usually used in most laboratory and industry processes is a colourless to faintly yellow liquid with a strong, disagreeable cabbage-like odour detectable at 0.016 to 0.42 ppm. It is highly refractive. Slightly soluble in water. It is miscible with anhydrous methanol, ethanol, ether, benzene, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, and oils. Melting Point (°C): -111.5 |
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| Chemical properties: Very highly flammable, very low flash point. |
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There is more information that may be useful in understanding some of the issues surrounding the NPI.