Oxalic acid

SECTION 2: Hazards identification

Potential Acute Health Effects

Eye Contact: Causes severe eye irritation Can cause redness, pain and damage to the cornea. If damage is restricted to the outer layer of the eye, recovery may occur within a few days. Prolonged contact with solutions can produce irreversible eye damage. Skin Contact: Solutions of 5 to 10 percent acid are irritating to the skin after prolonged exposure and can cause corrosive injury. Excessive contact may produce a delayed localized pain and discoloration of the skin with fingernails becoming brittle and blue-colored. Inhalation: May irritate mouth, nose, and throat. Coughing, chest pains, and breathing difficulty may occur. Headache, nausea and vomiting may occur. Ingestion: Can cause severe poisoning or death, depending on the concentration and total amount of material ingested. Dilute solutions may cause no immediate irritation or pain, while concentrated material (such as 10% solutions or the solid) can cause burning pain in the mouth, throat and stomach, followed by profuse vomiting (sometimes bloody) (corrosive effects). Small doses of oxalate in the body may cause headache, pain and twitching in muscles and cramps. Larger doses can cause weak and irregular heartbeat, a drop in blood pressure and signs of heart failure. Large doses rapidly cause a shock-like state, convulsions, coma and possibly death. A delayed effect of ingestion is kidney damage, possibly leading to renal failure.