Estradiol enanthate

SECTION 2: Hazards identification

CHEMWATCH HAZARD RATINGS Min Max Flammability: 1 Toxicity: 2 Body Contact: 2 Min/Nil=0 Low=1 Reactivity: 1 CANADIAN WHMIS SYMBOLS 1 of 7 EMERGENCY OVERVIEW RISK Danger of serious damage to health by prolonged exposure. Limited evidence of a carcinogenic effect. May impair fertility. May cause harm to the unborn child. Harmful: danger of serious damage to health by prolonged exposure through inhalation. Harmful by inhalation, in contact with skin and if swallowed. Toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment.

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 with the material may be harmful; systemic effects may resultfollowing absorption. The material is not thought to be a skin irritant (as classified using animal models). Abrasive damage however, may result from prolonged exposures. 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 Inhalation of dusts, generated by the material, during the course of normalhandling, may be harmful. 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. 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. This material can cause serious damage if one is exposed to it for long periods. It can be assumed that it contains a substance which can produce severe defects. Ample evidence exists from experimentation that reduced human fertility is directly caused by exposure to the material. Ample evidence exists, from results in experimentation, that developmental disorders are directly caused by human exposure to the material. When administered orally to female mice, oestradiol induced increased adenocarcinomas of the mammary gland, cervix and uterus, and osteosarcomas of the cranium and adenoacanthomas of the uterus. Subcutaneous or intramuscular injection induced increased incidences of lymphosarcomas in mice of both sexes. Subcutaneous implants induced mammary tumours, including adenocarcinomas, papillary carcinomas and anaplastic carcinomas in adult and newborn male and female mice and female rats; pituitary chromophobe adenomas in male rats, fibromyomas of the uterus, mesentary and abdomen in female guinea pigs; and malignant tumours in hamsters of both sexes. 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. Long term administration of estrogens can greatly increase the risk of endometrial cancer, especially after menopause. Males exposed can develop enlarged breasts and other feminizing effects, nipple pigmentation, withering of testicles, sterility, impotence and altered distribution of hair.