Adenine, Cell Culture

SECTION 2: Hazards identification

CHEMWATCH HAZARD RATINGS Min Max Flammability: 1 Toxicity: 2 Body Contact: 0 Min/Nil=0 Low=1 Reactivity: 1 CANADIAN WHMIS SYMBOLS 1 of 7 EMERGENCY OVERVIEW RISK Harmful if swallowed.

Potential Acute Health Effects

SWALLOWED Accidental ingestion of the material may be harmful; animal experiments indicate that ingestion of less than 150 gram may be fatal or may produce serious damage to the health of the individual. EYE Although the material is not thought to be an irritant, direct contact with the eye may cause transient discomfort characterized by tearing or conjunctival redness (as with windburn). Slight abrasive damage may also result. SKIN Skin contact is not thought to produce harmful health effects (as classified using animal models). Systemic harm, however, has been identified following exposure of animals by at least one other route and 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 is not thought to produce respiratory irritation (as classified using animal models). Nevertheless inhalation of dusts, or fume, especially for prolonged periods, may produce respiratory discomfort and occasionally, distress. Inhalation of dusts, generated by the material during the course of normal handling, may be damaging to the health of the individual. 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 the product is not thought to produce chronic effects adverse to the health (as classified using animal models); nevertheless exposure by all routes should be minimized as a matter of course. 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. The only toxic effect of purified adenine appears to be the deposition of the metabolite 2,8-dioxyadenine in the kidney tubules; this does not lead to any chronic disease and tubular function is re-established after discontinuation of the drug. [Martindale]