Trisodium trimetaphosphate

SECTION 2: Hazards identification

CHEMWATCH HAZARD RATINGS Min Max Flammability: 0 Toxicity: 2 Body Contact: 2 Min/Nil=0 Low=1 Reactivity: 0 Moderate=2 High=3 Chronic: 2 Extreme=4 CANADIAN WHMIS SYMBOLS EMERGENCY OVERVIEW RISK Repeated exposure may cause skin dryness and cracking. May cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment.

Potential Acute Health Effects

SWALLOWED Accidental ingestion of the material may be damaging to the health of the individual. Inorganic polyphosphates are used extensively in domestic and industrial products. Rats fed 10% sodium trimetaphosphate for a month exhibited transient tubular necrosis; those given 10% sodium metaphosphate exhibited growth retardation; 10% sodium hexametaphosphate produced pale and swollen kidneys. As absorption of phosphates from the bowel is poor, poisoning this way is less likely. Effects can include vomiting, tiredness, fever, diarrhea, low blood pressure, slow pulse, cyanosis, spasms of the wrist, coma and severe body spasms. EYE There is some evidence to suggest that this material can causeeye irritation and damage in some persons. Inorganic phosphates can produce severe eye irritation. The severity of the response is concentration dependent. SKIN 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. Repeated exposure may cause skin cracking, flaking or drying following normal handling and use. There is some evidence to suggest that this material can cause inflammation of the skin on contact in some persons. Irritation and skin reactions are possible with sensitive skin. 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. Undiluted inorganic phosphates may be severely irritating to the skin but in typical cosmetic formulations (where they act as chelators) they are only mildly irritating. In clinical testing, irritation is seen as a function of concentration; concentrations as high as 1% produced no irritation in contact allergy patients. 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

Prolonged or repeated skin contact may cause drying with cracking,irritation and possible dermatitis following. Limited evidence suggests that repeated or long-term occupational exposure may produce cumulative health effects involving organs or biochemical systems. In chronic animal studies inorganic polyphosphates produced growth inhibition, increased kidney weights (with calcium deposition and desquamation), bone decalcification, parathyroid hypertrophy and hyperplasia, inorganic phosphaturia, hepatic focal necrosis and alterations to the size of muscle fibres. Inorganic phosphates are not genotoxic in bacterial systems nor are they carcinogenic in rats. No reproductive or developmental toxicity was seen in studies using rats exposed to sodium hexametaphosphate or sodium trimetaphosphate. 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. Sodium phosphate dibasic can cause stones in the kidney, loss of mineral from the bones and loss of thyroid gland function.