Ammonium Nitrate
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Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet Common Name: AMMONIUM NITRATE Synonyms: Nitram; Ammonia Nitrate CAS Number: 6484-52-2 Chemical Name: Nitric Acid, Ammonium Salt RTK Substance Number: 0106 Date: July 2007 Revision: February 2016 DOT Number: UN 1942 Description and Use EMERGENCY RESPONDERS >>>> SEE BACK PAGE Ammonium Nitrate is an odorless, colorless, white to gray Hazard Summary crystalline (sand-like) flake, bead or granule. It is used to Hazard Rating NJDHSS NFPA make explosives, matches, fertilizers, and antibiotics. HEALTH - 2 FLAMMABILITY - 0 REACTIVITY - 3 REACTIVE POISONOUS GASES ARE PRODUCED IN FIRE CONTAINERS MAY EXPLODE IN FIRE OXIDIZER Reason for Citation Hazard Rating Key: 0=minimal; 1=slight; 2=moderate; 3=serious; Ammonium Nitrate is on the Right to Know Hazardous 4=severe Substance List because it is cited by DOT and NFPA. This chemical is on the Special Health Hazard Substance Ammonium Nitrate can affect you when inhaled and by List. passing through your skin. Contact can irritate and burn the skin and eyes. Inhaling Ammonium Nitrate can irritate the nose, throat and lungs. High levels may cause methemoglobinemia with headache, fatigue, and a blue color to the skin and lips. SEE GLOSSARY ON PAGE 5. Ammonium Nitrate is REACTIVE and a DANGEROUS EXPLOSION HAZARD. FIRST AID Eye Contact Immediately flush with large amounts of cool water for at least 15 minutes, occasionally lifting upper and lower lids. Remove contact lenses, if worn, while rinsing. Workplace Exposure Limits No occupational exposure limits have been established for Skin Contact Ammonium Nitrate. This does not mean that this substance Quickly remove contaminated clothing. Immediately wash is not harmful. Safe work practices should always be followed. contaminated skin with large amounts of water. Inhalation It should be recognized that Ammonium Nitrate can be Remove the person from exposure. absorbed through your skin, thereby increasing your Begin rescue breathing (using universal precautions) if exposure. breathing has stopped and CPR if heart action has stopped. Transfer promptly to a medical facility. EMERGENCY NUMBERS Poison Control: 1-800-222-1222 CHEMTREC: 1-800-424-9300 NJDEP Hotline: 1-877-927-6337 National Response Center: 1-800-424-8802 AMMONIUM NITRATE Page 2 of 6 Determining Your Exposure Reproductive Hazard According to the information presently available to the New Read the product manufacturer’s Material Safety Data Jersey Department of Health, Ammonium Nitrate has not Sheet (MSDS) and the label to determine product been tested for its ability to affect reproduction. ingredients and important safety and health information about the product mixture. Other Effects No chronic (long-term) health effects are known at this time. For each individual hazardous ingredient, read the New Jersey Department of Health and Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet, available on the RTK website Medical (http://nj.gov/health/workplacehealthandsafety/right-to- Medical Testing know/) or in your facility’s RTK Central File or Hazard If symptoms develop or overexposure is suspected, the Communication Standard file. following is recommended: You have a right to this information under the New Jersey Blood methemoglobin level Worker and Community Right to Know Act, the Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health (PEOSH) Act Any evaluation should include a careful history of past and if you are a public worker in New Jersey, and under the present symptoms with an exam. Medical tests that look for federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) if you damage already done are not a substitute for controlling exposure. are a private worker. The New Jersey Right to Know Act requires most Request copies of your medical testing. You have a legal right employers to label chemicals in the workplace and to this information under the OSHA Access to Employee requires public employers to provide their employees with Exposure and Medical Records Standard (29 CFR 1910.1020). information concerning chemical hazards and controls. The federal OSHA Hazard Communication Standard (29 Workplace Controls and Practices CFR 1910.1200) requires private employers to provide Very toxic chemicals, or those that are reproductive hazards or similar information and training to their employees. sensitizers, require expert advice on control measures if a less toxic chemical cannot be substituted. Control measures This Fact Sheet is a summary of available information include: (1) enclosing chemical processes for severely regarding the health hazards that may result from exposure. irritating and corrosive chemicals, (2) using local exhaust Duration of exposure, concentration of the substance and other ventilation for chemicals that may be harmful with a single factors will affect your susceptibility to any of the potential exposure, and (3) using general ventilation to control effects described below. exposures to skin and eye irritants. For further information on workplace controls, consult the NIOSH document on Control Banding at www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ctrlbanding/. Health Hazard Information Acute Health Effects The following work practices are also recommended: The following acute (short-term) health effects may occur immediately or shortly after exposure to Ammonium Nitrate: Label process containers. Provide employees with hazard information and training. Contact can irritate and burn the skin and eyes. Monitor airborne chemical concentrations. Inhaling Ammonium Nitrate can irritate the nose, throat and Use engineering controls if concentrations exceed lungs. recommended exposure levels. Overexposure can cause nausea, vomiting, flushing of the Provide eye wash fountains and emergency showers. face and neck, headache, weakness and collapse. Wash or shower if skin comes in contact with a hazardous High levels can interfere with the ability of the blood to carry material. Oxygen causing headache, fatigue, dizziness, and a blue Always wash at the end of the workshift. color to the skin and lips (methemoglobinemia). Higher Change into clean clothing if clothing becomes levels can cause trouble breathing, collapse and even death. contaminated. Do not take contaminated clothing home. Chronic Health Effects Get special training to wash contaminated clothing. The following chronic (long-term) health effects can occur at Do not eat, smoke, or drink in areas where chemicals are some time after exposure to Ammonium Nitrate and can last being handled, processed or stored. for months or years: Wash hands carefully before eating, smoking, drinking, applying cosmetics or using the toilet. When vacuuming, a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) Cancer Hazard filter should be used, not a standard shop vacuum. According to the information presently available to the New Jersey Department of Health, Ammonium Nitrate has not been tested for its ability to cause cancer in animals. AMMONIUM NITRATE Page 3 of 6 In addition, the following may be useful or required: Leave the area immediately if (1) while wearing a filter or cartridge respirator you can smell, taste, or otherwise detect Before entering a confined space where Ammonium Ammonium Nitrate, (2) while wearing particulate filters Nitrate may be present, check to make sure that an abnormal resistance to breathing is experienced, or (3) eye explosive concentration does not exist. irritation occurs while wearing a full facepiece respirator. Use a vacuum or a wet method to reduce dust during Check to make sure the respirator-to-face seal is still good. clean-up. DO NOT DRY SWEEP. If it is, replace the filter or cartridge. If the seal is no longer good, you may need a new respirator. Be sure to consider all potential exposures in your workplace. You may need a combination of filters, prefilters or cartridges Personal Protective Equipment to protect against different forms of a chemical (such as The OSHA Personal Protective Equipment Standard (29 CFR vapor and mist) or against a mixture of chemicals. 1910.132) requires employers to determine the appropriate Where the potential for high exposure exists, use a NIOSH approved supplied-air respirator with a full facepiece personal protective equipment for each hazard and to train operated in a pressure-demand or other positive-pressure employees on how and when to use protective equipment. mode. For increased protection use in combination with an auxiliary self-contained breathing apparatus operated in a The following recommendations are only guidelines and may pressure-demand or other positive-pressure mode. not apply to every situation. Gloves and Clothing Fire Hazards Avoid skin contact with Ammonium Nitrate. Wear personal If employees are expected to fight fires, they must be trained protective equipment made from material which can not be and equipped as stated in the OSHA Fire Brigades Standard permeated and/or degraded by this substance. Safety (29 CFR 1910.156). equipment suppliers/manufacturers can provide recommendations on the most protective glove/clothing material for your operation. To extinguish fire, flood with water. Safety equipment manufacturers recommend Butyl or DO NOT USE dry chemical, CO2 or halogenated Neoprene for gloves and CHEMFAB Challenger® 5200 as extinguishing agents. protective material for clothing. POISONOUS GASES ARE PRODUCED IN FIRE, including All protective clothing (suits, gloves, footwear, headgear) Nitrogen Oxides and Ammonia. should be clean, available each day, and put on before work. CONTAINERS MAY EXPLODE