Succinic acid

Synonyms

1,2-Ethanedicarboxylic acid; 1,4-Butanedioic acid; Acidum succinicum; Amber acid; Asuccin; Bernsteinsaure [German]; Butandisaeure; Butanedioic acid; Dihydrofumaric acid; Ethylene dicarboxylic acid; Kyselina jantarova [Czech]; SUCCINIC ACID; Wormwood; Wormwood acid; [ChemIDplus]

Category

Organic Acids

Description

Colorless odorless solid; [Hawley] White odorless solid; [HSDB] White fine crystals and fragments; [MSDSonline]

Sources/Uses

Found in fossils, fungi, and lichens; [Merck Index] Present in nearly all plant and animal tissues; Used to make lacquers, dyes, esters for perfumes, alkyd resins, pharmaceuticals, plasticizers, lubricants, and pesticides; Also used in photography, as a sequestrant in foods, a buffering and neutralizing agent, for radiation dosimetry, and to promote plant growth and increased yields in food crops; [HSDB]

Comments

Maximum tolerated dose was 2-2.5% when given in drinking water to rats; Caused severe weight loss in the 10% group, and all the rats died within the first 4 weeks; Has anxiolytic activity when given orally to rats at 3-6 mg/kg; [HSDB] Causes somnolence in lethal-dose feeding studies; [RTECS] A skin, eye, mucous membrane, and upper respiratory tract irritant; [CAMEO] An irritant; [MSDSonline]

Biomedical References

2 mg/m3, inhalable fraction

1.9E-07 mm Hg

Other CNS neurotoxin

Processes

Industrial Processes with risk of exposure:

• Farming (Pesticides)
• Photographic Processing