Apramycin Sulfate

SECTION 2: Hazards identification

CHEMWATCH HAZARD RATINGS Min Max Flammability: 1 Toxicity: 2 Body Contact: 2 Min/Nil=0 Low=1 Reactivity: 1 Moderate=2 High=3 Chronic: 2 Extreme=4 CANADIAN WHMIS SYMBOLS EMERGENCY OVERVIEW RISK

Potential Acute Health Effects

SWALLOWED Accidental ingestion of the material may be damaging to the health of the individual. May cause irreversible, partial or total deafness when aminoglycoside antibiotics are given by injection, by mouth or when applied as an aerosol to open wounds, or damaged skin. Effects are dose related. 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 The material is not thought to be a skin irritant (as classified using animal models). Abrasive damage however, may result from prolonged exposures. Skin contact with the material may damage the health of the individual; systemic effects may result following absorption. 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 either adverse health effects or irritation of the respiratory tract following inhalation (as classified using animal models). Nevertheless, adverse effects have been produced following exposure of animals by at least one other route and good hygiene practice requires that exposure be kept to a minimum and that suitable control measures be used in an occupational setting. 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

Limited evidence suggests that repeated or long-term occupational exposure may produce cumulative health effects involving organs or biochemical systems. Long-term exposure to aminoglycoside antibiotics (such as gentamicin) can damage the kidneys and malabsorption with a fatty, foul-smelling diarrhea. In some patients, there may be hearing loss and damage to the balancing system, after topical application or injection. The inhibitory effects of the aminoglycoside antibiotics on calcium ion homeostasis in peripheral neurones, vascular smooth muscle and the myocardium are thought to be the cause of disruption to haemodynamic control mechanisms. Therefore the adverse effect of aminoglycosides on blood circulation does not seem to be due to cytotoxic damage of cardiovascular tissues but is related to a reversible interaction with calcium ion binding sites of excitable membranes. Many of the biological actions of aminoglycosides in mammals, including cellular damage of the kidney an inner ear tissues, are also associated with disturbance of membrane phospholipids where calcium ion is normally distributed. Kerzee, J. Kevin et al: Cardiovascular Toxicology, Part 7, Third Edition; Edited Daniel Acosta Jr.; Published Taylor and Francis 2001. 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 exposure by laboratory animals to high doses produced decreased body weight gain, kidney toxicity, decreased red blood cell counts, decreased liver, heart and kidney weights and increased adrenal and brain weights. The material was not teratogenic or foetotoxic, nor did in impair reproductive capacity. In a life-time study the material was assessed as not being carcinogenic [Lilly]. Mutagenicity assays, using bacterial or mammalian systems, were negative.