ABSTRACT
4-Methylpyridine may be released to the environment via effluents at sites where it is produced or used as a chemical intermediate in medicine, agriculture and other industries It is also released to the environment with the manufacture and use of coal-derived liquid fuels and during the disposal of coal liquefication and gasification waste by-products. The complete miscibility of 4-methylpyridinein water suggests that physical removal from air by wet deposition (rainfall, dissolution in clouds, etc.) may occur. The most probable human exposure would be occupational exposure, which may occur through dermal contact or inhalation at workplaces where coal-derived fuels are produced or used. Based on the vapor pressure, 4-methylpyridine is expected to exist almost entirely in the vapor phase in ambient air. In the atmosphere, vapor-phase reactions with photochemically produced hydroxyl radicals may be important.
