Lead

SECTION 2: Hazards identification

Flammability Toxicity @ Health Body Contact @ Flammability Reactivity Chronic O 1 2 3 4 Fire Diamond Min Low Moderate High Extreme ANSI Signal Word a Danger! Poison wowewveve Emergency Overview * % % ve Bluish-white, silvery, or gray metal. Cumulative poison. Chronic Effects: severe neurological effects, blood/kidney damage, sterility, decreased fertility, developmental damage to fetus. Possible cancer hazard.

Potential health effects

Target Organs: blood, central nervous system (CNS), peripheral nervous system, kidneys, gastrointestinal (GI) tract

Principle Routes of Exposure

inhalation, ingestion Acute Effects Inhalation: The dust may be discomforting to the upper respiratory tract and may be harmful if inhaled. Eye: The dust may be discomforting to the eyes. Skin: The material may be mildly discomforting to the skin. Prolonged exposure may cause skin reactions. Skin absorption is not considered a significant route of exposure. Ingestion: The material is moderately discomforting to the gastrointestinal tract and may be harmful if swallowed. Copyright © 2006 by Genium Group, Inc. Any commercial use or reproduction without the publisher’s permission is prohibited. Judgments as to the suitability of information herein for the purchaser’ s purposes are necessarily the purchaser’s responsibility. Although reasonable care has been taken in the preparation of such information, Genium Group, Inc. extends no warranties, makes no representations, and assumes no responsibility as to the accuracy or suitability of such information for application to the purchaser’s intended purpose or for consequences of its use. In rats intestinal lead absorption is bidirectional and does not follow a linear relationship with oral dose. Acute effects of exposure are generally minor because of its relative insolubility and physical form. Unusual instances of exposure have been reported in inadequately ventilated indoor firing ranges (as fume), in the application of surma, a mascara-like cosmetic agent, to the conjunctival surfaces in Asian countries and in lead-smelting and associated occupations. In humans lead metabolism fits into a three compartment model. The first compartment in which lead has a half-life of about 35 days includes the blood; it receives blood from the gut and delivers some of it to the urine and communicates with the other two pools. The second compartment in which lead has a similar half-life includes the soft tissues which contain about half the blood level; they share lead with hair, nails, sweat, saliva, bile and other digestive secretions. The skeleton is the third compartment and contains the vast bulk of the total body burden, possesses a very long half-life and demonstrates a difference between the dense and less dense components to bind lead. Carcinogenicity: NTP - Not listed; IARC - Group 2B, Possibly carcinogenic to humans; OSHA - Not listed; NIOSH - Not listed; ACGIH - Not listed; EPA - Class B2, Probable human carcinogen based on animal studies; MAK - Not listed.

Potential chronic health

Symptoms of exposure include headache, fatigue, sleep disturbances, abdominal pains and decreased appetite. Overexposure to lead in the form of dust has toxic effects on the lungs and kidneys and on the nervous system resulting in mental disturbances and anemia. Skin absorption is not considered to be a significant route of exposure. Worker exposure to lead must be kept to a minimum, especially in cases where lead is worked at temperatures whereby lead vapors are evolved e.g. metal refining. Lead is an accumulative poison and exposure even to small amounts can raise the body's content to toxic levels. Potential adverse effects on the offspring of pregnant workers have been cited in the literature.