Bismarck Brown Y

SECTION 2: Hazards identification

CANADIAN WHMIS SYMBOLS EMERGENCY OVERVIEW RISK Harmful if swallowed. May cause SENSITIZATION by skin contact. Limited evidence of a carcinogenic effect. Toxic to aquatic organisms.

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 ■ There is some evidence to suggest that this material can causeeye irritation and damage in some persons. ■ Injury produced by cationic dyes range from conjunctival oedema, hyperaemia and purulent (pus) discharge to total opacification and necrosis and sloughing of the corneal stratum. The typical course, following exposure of rabbit eyes to toxic quantities of cationic dyes, is an initial staining of the eye that persists even after attempts to wash it away. The stain disappears spontaneously within a day and the cornea becomes translucent, greyish and only slightly tinted. Opacity may increase, and the cornea may soften over the following 14 days, greatly bulging and weakened; sometimes necrosis occurs with sloughing. Permanent opacification from vascularisation and scarring occurs in most cases. 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. Good hygiene practice requires that exposure be kept to a minimum and that suitable gloves be used in an occupational setting. ■ 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

There has been concern that this material can cause cancer or mutations, but there is not enough data to make an assessment. 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. 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. Prime symptom is breathlessness; lung shadows show on X-ray. Some azo dyes may be able to cause mutations and be associated with thedevelopment of bladder cancer. Most arylamines are powerful poisons to the blood-making system. High chronic doses cause congestion of the spleen and tumor formation. Phenylenediamine derivatives can cause skin damage, which generallydisappears when exposure ceases.