" Understood that the anhydride would be more
 reactive, but due to its low vapor pressure, do
 you feel that there would
 be significant
 exposure to a beekeeper"

So much depends on conditions any answer I give is error filled.  I have whiffed acetic anhydride, which is much more volatile, many times in small amounts and never experienced any nasty effects.  But, with the butyric anhydride spread all over a fume board and out in sun shine where it could get pretty hot I would be careful.  If it can kill some bees it can harm you if you get significant exposure.  A lot also depends on your particular reaction to chemical odors.  Some people seem very intolerant, perhaps due to psychological reasons, but still can suffer a lot from the panic.  I can not find any work place air concentrations established by OSHA so at room temp volatility is low enough to make it safe to handle.  Likely the biggest danger would be skin exposure as if not washed off pretty fast I expect it to burn as it soaks in.  So wear gloves or have a bucket of water handy to wash your hands.  Frankly if I were using the stuff I would do the wash rather than gloves.  Without gloves you are more aware and also have better dexterity.  Plus a torn glove can trap the stuff right on your skin.  Someone with lung issues could well be a lot more sensitive.

One of the big problems in talking about safe levels of exposure is we all have different metabolisms.  We had a group that worked with cholinesterase inhibitors routinely.  We did weekly blood tests to make sure they were not getting significant exposures.  One guy in particular kept coming in with a low cholinesterase reading.  This guy was meticulous in his work hygiene habits.  It just seemed he had an abnormally slow recovery resulting in very tiny exposures having an impact on him lasting much longer than normal.  We moved him to another group where he had no exposure at all rather than run a risk.  The ideal exposure is always zero.  You do your best to get in that direction.

Would I worry a lot about it?  No I would not.  But, I also would try hard to minimize my exposure.  I doubt if I would even wear a respirator if I was using it on a fume board unless I had a day where the exposure gave me a cough.  I have worn respirators for so many days I do not even notice they are there.  Some people can not stand them.  If I came home with burning eyes I would find an alternative.  It is impractical to wear a scott air pack for eye protection while working bees.  If you are not experiencing lung or eye irritation it is a lot safer than smoking.  It is not a mutagen or something extra nasty that whacks your DNA.

And, if you think butyric acid smells bad it is not all that bad.  In grad school I made a small acid only a bit bigger than butyric acid that smelled just like ripe arm pits.  It was named the Cryberg arm pit compound by my fellow students.  Boy did that odor linger on your clothes no matter how careful you were.

Dick


" Any discovery made by the human mind can be explained in its essentials to the curious learner."  Professor Benjamin Schumacher talking about teaching quantum mechanics to non scientists.   "For every complex problem there is a solution which is simple, neat and wrong."  H. L. Mencken

             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html