Vinyl Chloride

SECTION 2: Hazards identification

Flammability Toxicity (3) Tia Body Contact @ Flammability Reactivity 2) Chronic 1 2 3 4 Fire Diamond Min Low Moderate High Extreme ANSI Signal Word Danger! 4 Flammable Compressed Gas youve Emergency Overview 0% Colorless gas; pleasant ethereal odor. Compressed gas can cause frostbite. Toxic. Other Acute Effects: CNS depression. Chronic Effects: reproductive effects, skin/blood changes, arthralgias, bone effects (hand), vascular disorder (fingers/toes). Cancer hazard. Flammable

Potential health effects

Target Organs: liver, central nervous system (CNS), respiratory system, lymphatic system, bone, connective tissue of the skin

Principle Routes of Exposure

inhalation, skin contact, eye contact Acute Effects Inhalation: The gas is highly discomforting and may be fatal if inhaled. Acute intoxication by halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons appears to take place over two stages. Signs of a reversible narcosis are evident in the first stage and in the second stage signs of injury to organs may become evident. A single organ alone is (almost) never involved. 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. Depression of the central nervous system is the most outstanding effect of most halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons. Inebriation and excitation, passing into narcosis, is a typical reaction. In severe acute exposures there is always a danger of death from respiratory failure or cardiac arrest due to a tendency to make the heart more susceptible to catecholamines (adrenalin). A single 5 minute inhalation exposure of 8000-25000 ppm caused nausea, headache and dizziness among volunteers. After cessation of exposure only 3-5% of the parent compound was exhaled unchanged. Metabolism by microsomal cytochrome P-450 results in the production of chloroethylene oxide and 2-chloroacetaldehyde and subsequent urinary elimination as thiodiglycolic acid. Half-life is 4-5 hours. Vinyl chloride and related vinyl monomers possess narcotic action and produce depending upon concentration, characteristic neurological effects, a state of euphoria, followed by a state of inebriation, similar to ethanol intoxication. Exposure of mice, rats and guinea pigs at 100,000-300,000 ppm caused concentration-dependent mortality. Pulmonary edema, inflammation, hyperemia, congestion and engorgement were recorded - liver and kidney involvement was surprisingly low. Deaths were due to central arrest in narcosis. Eye: The vapor is discomforting to the eyes and is capable of causing a mild, temporary redness of the conjunctiva (similar to wind-burn), temporary impairment of vision and/or other transient eye damage/ulceration. Skin: The vapor is mildly discomforting to the skin. Toxic effects may result from skin absorption. Vinyl chloride acts upon the skin and produces a sensation of heat. Vaporizing liquid causes rapid cooling and contact may cause cold burns, frostbite. Ingestion: Not normally a hazard due to physical form of product. Carcinogenicity: NTP - Class 1, Known to be a carcinogen; IARC - Group 1, Carcinogenic to humans; OSHA - Listed as a carcinogen; NIOSH - Listed as carcinogen; ACGIH - Class A3, Animal carcinogen; EPA - Listed; MAK - Class A1, Capable of inducing malignant tumors as shown by experience with humans.

Potential chronic health

Repeated exposure of laboratory animals to vinyl chloride produced little liver or kidney damage Repeated exposures produce neurological effects in man with somnolence prominent. Dyspeptic disturbances include epigastric pain, swelling, discomfort, heaviness in the right hypochondrium and anorexia. Congestive hepatomegaly may mimic toxic hepatitis without jaundice. Some case become chronic. Allergic dermatitis and schleroderma and Raynaud's syndrome have been observed. Repeated exposure of workers has caused increased liver enzyme concentrations, restricted blood flow, bone degeneration in the fingers, liver and spleen enlargement, nervous system disturbance, CNS depression, decreased respiratory function and emphysema. A dose-dependent relationship between exposure and the incidence of several tumor types has been established. Exposures to high concentrations have little additional effect because the action of metabolites is responsible for the carcinogenicity rather than the action of the parent molecule. Formation rates of the metabolites are limited and dose- dependent and once the enzyme systems responsible for vinyl chloride activation are saturated, greater doses do not produce a corresponding increase in tumor incidence. Reports of hepatic angiosarcoma and respiratory cancers in vinyl chloride workers have appeared over many years. Cancers of the respiratory system (primarily angiosarcoma), brain as well as lymphomas occur more often than might be expected among men occupationally exposed to vinyl chloride for at least one year.