Carbon Monoxide
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Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet Common Name: CARBON MONOXIDE Synonyms: Carbonic Oxide; Exhaust Gas; Flue Gas CAS Number: 630-08-0 Chemical Name: Carbon Monoxide RTK Substance Number: 0345 Date: January 2010 Revision: December 2016 DOT Number: UN 1016 Description and Use EMERGENCY RESPONDERS >>>> SEE LAST PAGE Carbon Monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas. It is mainly Hazard Summary found as a product of incomplete combustion from vehicles Hazard Rating NJDHSS NFPA and oil and gas burners. It is used in metallurgy and plastics, HEALTH - 2 and as a chemical intermediate. FLAMMABILITY - 4 REACTIVITY - 0 TERATOGEN FLAMMABLE POISONOUS GASES ARE PRODUCED IN FIRE CONTAINERS MAY EXPLODE IN FIRE Reasons for Citation Hazard Rating Key: 0=minimal; 1=slight; 2=moderate; 3=serious; Carbon Monoxide is on the Right to Know Hazardous 4=severe Substance List because it is cited by OSHA, ACGIH, DOT, NIOSH and NFPA. Carbon Monoxide can affect you when inhaled. This chemical is on the Special Health Hazard Substance Carbon Monoxide may be a TERATOGEN. HANDLE List. WITH EXTREME CAUTION. Exposure during pregnancy can cause lowered birth weight in offspring. Skin contact with liquid Carbon Monoxide can cause frostbite. SEE GLOSSARY ON PAGE 5. Inhaling Carbon Monoxide can cause headache, dizziness, lightheadedness and fatigue. Higher exposure to Carbon Monoxide can cause FIRST AID sleepiness, hallucinations, convulsions, and loss of Eye Contact consciousness. Immediately flush with large amounts of water for at least 15 Carbon Monoxide can cause personality and memory minutes, lifting upper and lower lids. Remove contact changes, mental confusion and loss of vision. lenses, if worn, while rinsing. Extremely high exposure to Carbon Monoxide can cause the formation of Carboxyhemoglobin and decrease the ability Skin Contact of the blood to carry Oxygen. This can cause a bright red In case of contact with liquid Carbon Monoxide, immerse color to the skin and mucous membranes causing trouble affected part in warm water. Seek medical attention. breathing, collapse, convulsions, coma and death. Carbon Monoxide can affect the heart and damage the Inhalation nervous system. Carbon Monoxide is a FLAMMABLE GAS and a Remove the person from exposure. DANGEROUS FIRE HAZARD. Begin rescue breathing (using universal precautions) if breathing has stopped and CPR if heart action has stopped. Transfer promptly to a medical facility. Medical observation is recommended for several days after Workplace Exposure Limits exposure or if symptoms are present, as some symptoms OSHA: The legal airborne permissible exposure limit (PEL) is may be delayed. 50 ppm averaged over an 8-hour workshift. NIOSH: The recommended airborne exposure limit (REL) is EMERGENCY NUMBERS 35 ppm averaged over a 10-hour workshift and Poison Control: 1-800-222-1222 200 ppm, not to be exceeded during any 15-minute CHEMTREC: 1-800-424-9300 work period. NJDEP Hotline: 1-877-927-6337 ACGIH: The threshold limit value (TLV) is 25 ppm averaged National Response Center: 1-800-424-8802 over an 8-hour workshift. CARBON MONOXIDE Page 2 of 6 Determining Your Exposure Chronic Health Effects The following chronic (long-term) health effects can occur at Read the product manufacturer’s Material Safety Data some time after exposure to Carbon Monoxide and can last Sheet (MSDS) and the label to determine product for months or years: ingredients and important safety and health information about the product mixture. Cancer Hazard There is no evidence that Carbon Monoxide causes cancer For each individual hazardous ingredient, read the New in animals. This is based on test results presently available Jersey Department of Health Hazardous Substance Fact to the New Jersey Department of Health from published Sheet, available on the RTK Program website studies. (http://nj.gov/health/workplacehealthandsafety/right-to- know/) or in your facility’s RTK Central File or Hazard Reproductive Hazard Communication Standard file. Carbon Monoxide may be a TERATOGEN in humans since You have a right to this information under the New Jersey it is a teratogen in animals. There is limited evidence that Carbon Monoxide may Worker and Community Right to Know Act, the Public damage the male reproductive system (including decreasing Employees Occupational Safety and Health (PEOSH) Act the sperm count) in animals. if you are a public worker in New Jersey, and under the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) if you Other Effects are a private worker. Carbon Monoxide can affect the heart and damage the nervous system. The New Jersey Right to Know Act and the PEOSH Hazard Communication Standard (N.J.A.C. 12:100-7) requires most employers to label chemicals in the workplace and requires public employers to provide their Medical employees with information concerning chemical hazards Medical Testing and controls. The federal OSHA Hazard Communication For frequent or potentially high exposure (half the TLV or Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200) requires private employers greater), the following are recommended before beginning to provide similar information and training to their work and at regular times after that: employees. Carboxyhemoglobin levels (a combination of Carbon Monoxide and hemoglobin) should be tested for within a few This Fact Sheet is a summary of available information hours after exposure to the gas. regarding the health hazards that may result from exposure. EKG Duration of exposure, concentration of the substance and other Exam of the nervous system factors will affect your susceptibility to any of the potential effects described below. Any evaluation should include a careful history of past and present symptoms with an exam. Medical tests that look for damage already done are not a substitute for controlling Health Hazard Information exposure. Acute Health Effects The following acute (short-term) health effects may occur Request copies of your medical testing. You have a legal right immediately or shortly after exposure to Carbon Monoxide: to this information under the OSHA Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records Standard (29 CFR 1910.1020). Skin contact with liquid Carbon Monoxide can cause frostbite. Mixed Exposures Inhaling Carbon Monoxide can cause headache, dizziness, Smoking increases your exposure to Carbon Monoxide. lightheadedness and fatigue. Because smoking can cause heart disease, as well as lung Higher exposure to Carbon Monoxide can cause cancer, emphysema, and other respiratory problems, it may sleepiness, hallucinations, convulsions, and loss of worsen respiratory conditions caused by chemical exposure. consciousness. Even if you have smoked for a long time, stopping now will Carbon Monoxide can cause personality and memory reduce your risk of developing health problems. Exposure to changes, mental confusion and loss of vision. 30 ppm of Carbon Monoxide throughout the day is Extremely high exposure to Carbon Monoxide can cause equivalent to smoking 20 cigarettes a day. the formation of Carboxyhemoglobin and decrease the ability of the blood to carry Oxygen. This can cause a bright red Conditions Made Worse By Exposure color to the skin and mucous membranes causing trouble Individuals who have heart disease should not be exposed breathing, collapse, convulsions, coma and death. to levels of Carbon Monoxide above 25 ppm. CARBON MONOXIDE Page 3 of 6 Workplace Controls and Practices Safety equipment manufacturers recommend work gloves, and Tychem® BR, Responder®, and TK, or the equivalent, Very toxic chemicals, or those that are reproductive hazards or as protective materials for clothing. sensitizers, require expert advice on control measures if a less Where exposure to cold equipment, vapors, or liquid may toxic chemical cannot be substituted. Control measures occur, employees should be provided with insulated gloves include: (1) enclosing chemical processes for severely and special clothing designed to prevent the freezing of body irritating and corrosive chemicals, (2) using local exhaust tissues. ventilation for chemicals that may be harmful with a single All protective clothing (suits, gloves, footwear, headgear) exposure, and (3) using general ventilation to control should be clean, available each day, and put on before work. exposures to skin and eye irritants. For further information on Wear protective clothing made of material that does not workplace controls, consult the NIOSH document on Control generate static electricity. Banding at www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ctrlbanding/. The following work practices are also recommended: Eye Protection Wear non-vented, impact resistant goggles when working Label process containers. with fumes, gases, or vapors. Provide employees with hazard information and training. If additional protection is needed for the entire face, use in Monitor airborne chemical concentrations. combination with a face shield. A face shield should not be Use engineering controls if concentrations exceed used without another type of eye protection. recommended exposure levels. Provide eye wash fountains and emergency showers. Respiratory Protection Wash or shower if skin comes in contact with a hazardous Improper use of respirators is dangerous. Respirators material. should only be used if the employer has implemented a written Always wash at the end of the workshift. program that takes into account workplace conditions, Change into clean clothing if clothing becomes requirements for worker training, respirator fit testing,