GraflexTM treated fiberglass cloth

SECTION 2: Hazards identification

The products covered by this data sheet do not pose a generalised health risk and no hazard specific labelling is required. Users need to be aware that they are fabricated from materials which have the potential to cause irritation to the skin, eyes, mucous membranes or upper respiratory tract. Those susceptible are likely to encounter skin-irritation on first-contact. The effects are usually short-lived and frequently disappear when the source of irritation has been removed. With long-term exposure, the skin surface usually hardens, leading to either a reduction or elimination of symptoms. Workers who make use of barrier creams and employ sensible hygiene precautions do not usually report ongoing problems. If workers are withdrawn from frequent exposure (to glass fibres), the skin surface usually re-softens. Those people with a history of skin complaints may be particularly susceptible to the effects listed above. They should be carefully managed to minimise or avoid contact, making use of personal protective equipment such as gloves (see section 8). We have been careful to minimise the potential for irritation by selecting the filament-size of glass used in the construction of these products to be below 11 micron in diameter, (above that size the potential for irritation increases). This point being made, care should still be taken to control and eliminate contact with loose fibres insofar as is reasonably practicable. The products do not constitute a respirable hazard due to the fact that the smallest diameter of glass filament from which they are made is greatly in excess of the 3-micron limit below which a fibre is generally categorised as being respirable. If they are subjected to harsh mechanical abrasion, individual fibres may break horizontally into smaller lengths, but they will not divide longitudinally to form fibrils of a smaller diameter.