Sodium Hydroxide

SECTION 2: Hazards identification

Flammability Toxicity (3) Health Body Contact {Jae Reactivity ©) Chronic 1 2 3 Fire Diamond Min Low Moderate High Extreme ANSI Signal Word Fe Danger! = Corrosive wow Emergency Overview * % % % ¥ White, odorless, hydroscopic flakes, lumps, or pellets. Corrosive, causes severe burns to eyes/skin/respiratory tract. Chronic Effects: dermatitis. Reacts with water.

Potential health effects

Target Organs: eyes, digestive system, respiratory system, skin

Principle Routes of Exposure

ingestion, inhalation, skin contact, eye contact Acute Effects Inhalation: Generated dust may be highly discomforting and corrosive to the upper respiratory tract if inhaled and is capable of causing severe burns to the upper respiratory tract. 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. The material may produce respiratory tract irritation which produces an inflammatory response involving the recruitment and activation of many cell types, mainly derived from the vascular system. Unlike most organs the lung can respond to a chemical insult or agent by first trying to remove or neutralize the irritant and then repairing the damage. The repair process, which initially developed to protect mammalian lungs from foreign matter and antigens, may however, cause further damage the lungs when activated by hazardous chemicals. The result is often the impairment of gas exchange, the primary function of the lungs. Severe acute dust inhalation exposure may be fatal due to spasm, inflammation and edema of the larynx and bronchi, chemical pneumonitis and severe pulmonary edema. Symptoms of overexposure include burning sensation, coughing, wheezing, laryngitis, shortness of breath, headache, nausea and vomiting. Eye: The solid/dust is extremely corrosive to the eyes and is capable of causing severe damage with loss of sight. The material may produce severe irritation to the eye causing pronounced inflammation. Repeated or prolonged exposure to irritants may produce conjunctivitis. Skin: The solid/dust is highly discomforting and extremely corrosive to the skin and is capable of causing severe burns and ulceration. Bare unprotected skin should not be exposed to this material. The material may produce severe skin irritation after prolonged or repeated exposure, and may produce a contact dermatitis (nonallergic). This form of dermatitis is often characterized by skin redness (erythema) and swelling (edema) which may progress to vesiculation, scaling and thickening of the epidermis. Histologically there may be intercellular edema of the spongy layer (spongiosis) and intracellular edema of the epidermis. Burns are not immediately painful; onset of pain may be delayed minutes or hours; thus care should be taken to avoid contamination of gloves and boots. A 5% aqueous solution applied to the skin of rabbits for 4 hours produced severe necrosis. Instillation of a 1% solution into the conjunctival sac failed to produce ocular or conjunctival injury in rabbits provided the eye was promptly irrigated with copious amounts of water. Ingestion: Considered an unlikely route of entry in commercial/industrial environments. The solid is extremely corrosive to the gastrointestinal tract and may be fatal if swallowed. Ingestion may result in severe burns to the mouth, throat and stomach, pain, nausea and vomiting, swelling of the larynx and subsequent suffocation, perforation of the gastrointestinal tract. A 1% aqueous solution (pH 13.4) failed to cause gastric, esophageal or other damage in rabbits. Carcinogenicity: NTP - Not listed; IARC - Not listed; OSHA - Not listed; NIOSH - Not listed; ACGIH - Not listed; EPA - Not listed; MAK - Not listed.

Potential chronic health

Prolonged contact is unlikely, given the severity of response, but repeated exposures may produce severe ulceration.