Nitrous Oxide/Sulphur Dioxide Mixture Mixture

SECTION 2: Hazards identification

Emergency Overview WARNING! High-pressure, oxidizing gas. Vigorously accelerates combustion. Can cause rapid suffication. Can cause anesthetic effects. May cause dizziness and drowiness. May cause nervous system and blood cell damage. Reproductive hazard. Self-contained breathing apparatus may be required by rescue workers.

Principle Routes of Exposure

Absorbed through skin. Eye contact. Inhalation. Ingestion. EFFECTS OF A SINGLE (ACUTE) OVEREXPOSURE: INHALATION: May cause excitation, euphoria, dizziness, drowsiness, incoordination, and narcosis. Exposure to concentrations of 50% and greater will produce clinical anaesthesia. High concentrations may cause asphyxia and death. This mixture contains Sulphur dioxide added as an odorizing agent. Sulfur Dioxide is a highly irritating gas that readily elicits respiratory reflexes. It is extremely irritating to the eyes, throat and respiratory tract. SKIN CONTACT: Cryogenic burns (similar to severe frostbite) may occur as a result of the rapid evaporation of the liquefied gas. SKIN No evidence of adverse effects from available information. ABSORPTION: SWALLOWING: An unlikely route of exposure. This product is a gas at normal temperature and pressure. EYE CONTACT: Cryogenic burns to the eyes may occur as a result of contact with the liquefied gas. EFFECTS OF REPEATED (CHRONIC) OVEREXPOSURE: Metabolic injury to the nervous system has resulted from frequent exposure to anaesthetic concentrations of Nitrous Oxide. Complaints include numbness, tingling of hands and legs, loss of feeling in fingers, poor balance, and muscular weakness. OTHER EFFECTS OF OVEREXPOSURE: Exposure to this product has produced embryofetal toxicity in laboratory animals as evidenced by reduced fetal weight, delayed ossification, and increased incidence of visceral and skeletal variations. Exposure to this product may be associated with an increased incidence of abortion in humans. Single prolonged exposure to high concentrations of this material has resulted in bone marrow injury and adverse effects on the blood.

Medical Conditions Generally Aggravated by Exposure

OVEREXPOSURE Haemostatic gases in general, and Nitrous Oxide in particular, may suppress immunological function when administered for anaesthetic purpose. This may reduce the resistance to infection and other immuno-dependent disease process. SIGNIFICANT LABORATORY DATA WITH POSSIBLE RELEVANCE TO HUMAN HEALTH HAZARD EVALUATION: None. CARCINOGENICITY: Not listed as carcinogen by OSHA, NTP or IARC.