3,4-Dihydroxybenzylamine hydrobromide

SECTION 2: Hazards identification

CHEMWATCH HAZARD RATINGS Min Max Flammability 1 Toxicity 2 Min/Nil=0 Body Contact 2 Low=1 Reactivity Moderate=2 1 High=3 Chronic 3 Extreme=4 CANADIAN WHMIS SYMBOLS EMERGENCY OVERVIEW RISK May cause SENSITISATION by skin contact. Irritating to eyes, respiratory system and skin.

Potential Acute Health Effects

SWALLOWED ■ Accidental ingestion of the material may be damaging to the health of the individual. ■ Bromide poisoning causes intense vomiting so the dose is often removed. Effects include drowsiness, irritability, inco-ordination, vertigo, confusion, mania, hallucinations and coma. EYE ■ This material can cause eye irritation and damage in some persons. SKIN ■ This material can cause inflammation of the skin oncontact in some persons. ■ The material may accentuate any pre-existing dermatitis condition. ■ Skin contact is not thought to have harmful health effects, however the material may still produce health damage following entry through wounds, lesions or abrasions. ■ Open cuts, abraded or irritated skin should not be exposed to this material. ■ Entry into the blood-stream, through, for example, cuts, abrasions or lesions, may produce systemic injury with harmful effects. Examine the skin prior to the use of the material and ensure that any external damage is suitably protected. INHALED ■ The material can cause respiratory irritation in some persons. The body's response to such irritation can cause further lung damage. ■ Persons with impaired respiratory function, airway diseases and conditions such as emphysema or chronic bronchitis, may incur further disability if excessive concentrations of particulate are inhaled.

Potential chronic health

■ Long-term exposure to respiratory irritants may result in disease of the airways involving difficult breathing and related systemic problems. Skin contact with the material is more likely to cause a sensitization reaction in some persons compared to the general population. Limited evidence suggests that repeated or long-term occupational exposure may produce cumulative health effects involving organs or biochemical systems. There is some evidence that human exposure to the material may result in developmental toxicity. This evidence is based on animal studies where effects have been observed in the absence of marked maternal toxicity, or at around the same dose levels as other toxic effects but which are not secondary non-specific consequences of the other toxic effects. Long term exposure to high dust concentrations may cause changes in lung function i.e. pneumoconiosis; caused by particles less than 0.5 micron penetrating and remaining in the lung. Chronic intoxication with ionic bromides, historically, has resulted from medical use of bromides but not from environmental or occupational exposure; depression, hallucinosis, and schizophreniform psychosis can be seen in the absence of other signs of intoxication. Bromides may also induce sedation, irritability, agitation, delirium, memory loss, confusion, disorientation, forgetfulness (aphasias), dysarthria, weakness, fatigue, vertigo, stupor, coma, decreased appetite, nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea, hallucinations, an acne like rash on the face, legs and trunk, known as bronchoderma (seen in 25-30% of case involving bromide ion), and a profuse discharge from the nostrils (coryza). Ataxia and generalised hyperreflexia have also been observed. Correlation of neurologic symptoms with blood levels of bromide is inexact. The use of substances such as brompheniramine, as antihistamines, largely reflect current day usage of bromides; ionic bromides have been largely withdrawn from therapeutic use due to their toxicity. Several cases of foetal abnormalities have been described in mothers who took large doses of bromides during pregnancy.