At a glance
| Chemical family | A tertiary-amine catalyst — an industrial reactive compound used to manufacture polyurethane foam |
| CAS number | 3033-62-3 (formula C₈H₂₀N₂O) |
| Classification | Not a carcinogen (OSHA database: carcinogenic classification not listed). A potent irritant with very low occupational limits — ACGIH TLV 0.05 ppm with a skin notation |
| Where you encounter it | As a blowing catalyst in flexible polyurethane foam manufacture (e.g. Niax A-1); a processing aid, not a deliberate finished-product ingredient |
| Sleep micro-environment relevance | Mostly consumed during the foaming reaction; the open question is trace residual amine emission from new foam — far below the occupational levels behind the hazard numbers |
| Activated carbon capture | Amines are reasonably well-adsorbed; airing and ventilating new foam is the main practical lever |
Regulatory & certification status
Where BDMAEE stands across the major regulatory systems and the certifications a bedroom product might carry. Each row links to the governing instrument; where a jurisdiction has no specific measure, that is stated plainly rather than left blank.
| European Union | CAS 3033-62-3 (bis(2-dimethylaminoethyl) ether; ECHA registration name N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-2,2'-oxybis(ethylamine), EC 221-220-5) is REACH-registered. It carries no harmonised CLP classification in Annex VI; the EU hazard picture comes from ECHA C&L Inventory notifications (industry self-classification, not a harmonised entry), where the most-reported codes are Acute Tox. 3 / Skin Corr. 1B — toxic in contact with skin (H311), causes severe skin burns and eye damage (H314), harmful if swallowed (H302) and harmful if inhaled (H332). No entry was identified for it on the REACH SVHC Candidate List, the Authorisation List (Annex XIV), the Annex XVII restrictions, or the EU POPs Regulation, but ECHA's lists could not be queried directly here, so these absences are not independently confirmed. Regulatory — ECHA · PubChem CID 18204 |
| United States | On the TSCA inventory and reported to EPA's Chemical Data Reporting as an active commercial substance; it is not the subject of any TSCA risk evaluation or rule. It is NOT on the California Proposition 65 list: a direct search of the current OEHHA Proposition 65 list (last updated December 5, 2025) returned no entry for CAS 3033-62-3 or bis(2-dimethylaminoethyl) ether. Regulatory — OEHHA · PubChem CID 18204 |
| Canada | No listing on a Canadian regulatory instrument could be confirmed against an official source. It is not identified on CEPA Schedule 1, and its status on the Domestic Substances List could not be verified directly via Environment and Climate Change Canada. No specific restriction identified; treat the Canadian status as unverified rather than as a confirmed absence. Regulatory — Government of Canada |
| Australia | Listed on the Australian Inventory of Industrial Chemicals (AICIS) under the name 'Ethanamine, 2,2'-oxybis[N,N-dimethyl-' (CAS 3033-62-3), so it may be introduced (imported/manufactured) as an existing industrial chemical. No specific IChEMS risk-management restriction identified. Regulatory — PubChem CID 18204 |
| United Kingdom | Under UK REACH / GB CLP (HSE) the substance carries over the EU baseline. No GB-specific mandatory (Annex VI-equivalent) harmonised classification, SVHC, or restriction was identified that is distinct from the EU position; as in the EU, the published hazard profile is an industry self-classification (toxic in contact with skin; severe skin/eye burns) rather than a harmonised entry. This inheritance is inferred from the shared EU baseline and was not independently confirmed against an HSE GB-MCL record for this CAS. Regulatory — HSE · ECHA |
| Certifications | CertiPUR-US: not named as a prohibited substance. The 2025 Slabstock Technical Guidelines prohibit specific categories (ozone depleters, certain phthalates, named CMR flame retardants such as PBDEs/TDCPP/TCEP/TEPA/TDBPP, mercury/lead and other heavy metals, formaldehyde, TDA/MDA, tributyltin) and cap total VOC emissions, with a stated TVOC limit of <0.5 mg/m3 (per ISO 16000-9/-11 chamber testing); BDMAEE is not listed by name and would only register indirectly within that total-VOC limit. OEKO-TEX Standard 100: a textile content-limit certification that does not specifically name this polyurethane-foam amine catalyst. GREENGUARD / GREENGUARD Gold: a low-VOC emissions certification that screens emitted VOCs generally rather than testing for this compound by name. Industry — CertiPUR-US |
| The 72-hour test window | Partially captured. BDMAEE is a semi-volatile tertiary-amine catalyst (boiling point ~189 degC) and a known foam off-gassing species, so a 72h chamber test that traps VOCs on Tenax (e.g. ISO 16000-9) can pick up amine emissions while the foam is fresh. Because it is only borderline-volatile, a short test is likely to under-represent the fraction that lingers in the foam and migrates out slowly over time. Inferred — from the compound's volatility/emission profile versus the VOC focus of short chamber tests |
What it is
BDMAEE is a tertiary amine — a small, volatile molecule whose job is to make a chemical reaction go faster. In polyurethane foam, two reactions compete: the gelling reaction that builds the polymer, and the blowing reaction in which water reacts with isocyanate to release carbon dioxide and inflate the foam. BDMAEE is a strongly selective blowing catalyst — by industry's own description one of the most active urethane-foam amine catalysts known, and the active ingredient (around 70%) in classic products such as Niax Catalyst A-1. Industry — Momentive Niax A-1 TDS Without a catalyst like it, the liquid mix would not rise into foam properly.
As a raw chemical it deserves respect. A 1997 acute-toxicity study found severe skin injury — erythema, oedema, ulceration, and necrosis in most rabbits after only a three-minute contact — along with severe eye injury and a six-hour inhalation LC50 of 166 ppm in rats, with signs of respiratory and eye irritation. Peer-reviewed — Ballantyne 1997, Vet. Hum. Toxicol. Occupational limits reflect that potency: the ACGIH threshold limit value is just 0.05 ppm with a skin notation. Regulatory — OSHA Occupational Chemical Database What it is not is a carcinogen — the OSHA database lists its carcinogenic classification as not listed. Regulatory — OSHA
How it relates to the bedroom
A catalyst in the foam recipe
BDMAEE's place in the Atlas is the same as TEDA/DABCO's: it is one of the amine catalysts that turn a liquid mix into the foam in a mattress. Industry — Momentive It is dosed in small amounts and is meant to do its work during manufacture, not to remain in the product. That framing matters, because the chemical's headline hazards belong to the factory, where workers handle the neat catalyst, far more than to the bedroom, where the catalyst has mostly already reacted.
Residual emissions and the amine note
Tertiary-amine catalysts are volatile, and not every molecule is consumed in the reaction. The leftover can be released slowly from fresh foam, contributing to the faint amine character some people notice in a brand-new product. Inferred — from BDMAEE's volatility and the known emission behaviour of amine foam catalysts This residual-emission problem is precisely why the foam industry developed lower-emission and reactive (built-in) catalysts that chemically anchor into the polymer so they cannot off-gas. Inferred — the rationale behind reactive-catalyst development How much BDMAEE actually reaches the air of a bedroom from a finished consumer mattress has not, to our knowledge, been quantified — that is an open measurement, not an established exposure.
Reading the hazard numbers honestly
This is the page's real lesson. The severe-injury findings and the 0.05 ppm air limit describe the concentrated industrial liquid being handled, splashed, or breathed in a manufacturing setting. Peer-reviewed — Ballantyne 1997 Regulatory — OSHA They are worker-protection numbers. They do not describe sleeping on cured foam, where any residual amine is present at a tiny fraction of those levels. Stating the hazard plainly and then placing it in the right context — occupational, not consumer — is the honest move. Inferred — calibrating neat-chemical hazard to finished-product exposure
What the research says
- The raw chemical is a potent irritant. Severe skin and eye injury; inhalation LC50 166 ppm in rats. Peer-reviewed — Ballantyne 1997
- Occupational limits are very low; it is not a carcinogen. ACGIH TLV 0.05 ppm with skin notation; carcinogenicity not listed. Regulatory — OSHA
- It is a high-activity foam blowing catalyst. The active ingredient in Niax A-1 and similar products. Industry — Momentive
- Residual emission from finished foam is plausible but unquantified. Inferred
What helps reduce it
Recognise it's mostly a factory exposure. BDMAEE does its work during manufacturing and is meant to stay bound in the polymer; what reaches a finished mattress is trace residual at most. The controls that matter for it — enclosure, local exhaust, respiratory protection — live in the foam plant, not the bedroom.
Air out a new foam product anyway. If a fresh foam carries a faint amine note, the ordinary remedy covers it: unwrap it, ventilate the room, and give it the first days to weeks to clear.
Prefer reactive-catalyst foams where the option exists. Catalysts that bond into the polymer leave less free amine behind, and finished-foam emission certifications test for exactly this. Inferred — reactive catalysts anchor the amine into the polymer
What does NOT help
- Reading occupational numbers as bedroom exposures. The LC50 and the 0.05 ppm limit are factory-handling figures; treating them as what you breathe in bed badly overstates the consumer picture. Inferred
- Worrying about cancer here. BDMAEE is not classified as a carcinogen; the real attribute is irritancy of the raw chemical. Regulatory — OSHA
Open research questions
- How much residual BDMAEE is actually emitted from a finished consumer mattress, and over what timescale. Speculation
- The relative contribution of BDMAEE versus other tertiary-amine catalysts to the amine character of new-foam odour. Speculation
Citations
- Ballantyne B (1997). The acute toxicity and irritancy of bis[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl]ether. Veterinary and Human Toxicology, 39(5):290–295. PMID 9311086 Peer-reviewed
- U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Bis(2-dimethylaminoethyl) ether — Occupational Chemical Database (CAS 3033-62-3). ACGIH TLV-TWA 0.05 ppm, STEL 0.15 ppm, skin notation; Cal/OSHA PEL-TWA 0.05 ppm; carcinogenic classification not listed. osha.gov Regulatory
- Momentive. Niax Catalyst A-1 — Technical Data Sheet for a high-activity flexible-foam blowing catalyst containing approximately 70% bis(2-dimethylaminoethyl) ether. momentive.com Industry
Frequently asked questions
What is BDMAEE used for?
BDMAEE — bis(2-dimethylaminoethyl) ether — is a tertiary-amine catalyst, one of the most active known for making polyurethane foam. It accelerates the water–isocyanate reaction that generates the gas which makes foam rise, so it is sometimes called a blowing catalyst (it is the active ingredient in products such as Niax A-1). It is a manufacturing aid: most of it is consumed or bound during the foaming reaction rather than remaining as a finished-product ingredient.
Is BDMAEE dangerous in my mattress?
The dramatic toxicity figures for BDMAEE describe the neat industrial chemical handled in a foam plant — severe skin and eye injury, and a low occupational air limit. Those are worker-protection numbers, not a description of sleeping on cured foam. In a finished mattress most of the catalyst has already reacted, and only trace residual amine can be emitted, at levels far below occupational limits. It is worth airing out new foam, but the alarming raw-chemical hazard does not transfer to the consumer product.
Is BDMAEE a carcinogen?
No. The U.S. OSHA Occupational Chemical Database lists its carcinogenic classification as "not listed," and it does not carry an IARC cancer classification. The genuine concern with BDMAEE is irritation and acute toxicity of the raw chemical, reflected in its very low occupational exposure limit (an ACGIH TLV of 0.05 ppm with a skin notation), not cancer.
How do I reduce BDMAEE from new foam?
The same simple steps that handle any new-foam amine note: unwrap and air out new foam products in a well-ventilated space before sleeping on them, and keep the bedroom ventilated for the first days to weeks. Because residual amine catalysts are part of why the foam industry developed low-emission and reactive (built-in) catalysts, choosing low-emission or independently emission-tested foam also reduces the residue at the source.
Related compounds
Embr is a sleep environment company researching and addressing the chemistry of the bedroom. Research and product development in progress.
Last reviewed 2026-06-27. If you find a factual error, contact us.