Chlorine Pentafluoride Hazard Summary
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Common Name: CHLORINE PENTAFLUORIDE CAS Number: 13637-63-3 RTK Substance number: 0369 DOT Number: UN 2548 Date: July 2000 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- HAZARD SUMMARY WORKPLACE EXPOSURE LIMITS * Chlorine Pentafluoride can affect you when breathed in. The following exposure limits are for Hydrogen Fluoride * Chlorine Pentafluoride is a CORROSIVE CHEMICAL (measured as Fluorine): and contact may severely irritate and burn the skin and eyes with possible eye damage. OSHA: The legal airborne permissible exposure limit * Chlorine Pentafluoride is a HIGHLY REACTIVE (PEL) is 3 ppm averaged over an 8-hour CHEMICAL and a DANGEROUS EXPLOSION workshift. HAZARD. NIOSH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is IDENTIFICATION 3 ppm averaged over a 10-hour workshift and Chlorine Pentafluoride is a colorless gas with a sweet odor. 6 ppm, not to be exceeded during any 15 minute It is used as a fluorinating agent and in pulp bleaching. work period. REASON FOR CITATION ACGIH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is * Chlorine Pentafluoride is on the Hazardous Substance 3 ppm, which should not be exceeded at any List because it is regulated by OSHA and cited by time. ACGIH, DOT and NIOSH. * This chemical is on the Special Health Hazard Substance WAYS OF REDUCING EXPOSURE List because it is CORROSIVE and REACTIVE. * Where possible, enclose operations and use local exhaust * Definitions are provided on page 5. ventilation at the site of chemical release. If local exhaust ventilation or enclosure is not used, respirators should be HOW TO DETERMINE IF YOU ARE BEING worn. EXPOSED * Wear protective work clothing. The New Jersey Right to Know Act requires most employers * Wash thoroughly immediately after exposure to Chlorine to label chemicals in the workplace and requires public Pentafluoride and at the end of the workshift. employers to provide their employees with information and * Post hazard and warning information in the work area. In training concerning chemical hazards and controls. The addition, as part of an ongoing education and training federal OSHA Hazard Communication Standard, 1910.1200, effort, communicate all information on the health and requires private employers to provide similar training and safety hazards of Chlorine Pentafluoride to potentially information to their employees. exposed workers. * Exposure to hazardous substances should be routinely evaluated. This may include collecting personal and area air samples. You can obtain copies of sampling results from your employer. You have a legal right to this information under OSHA 1910.1020. * If you think you are experiencing any work-related health problems, see a doctor trained to recognize occupational diseases. Take this Fact Sheet with you. CHLORINE PENTAFLUORIDE page 2 of 6 This Fact Sheet is a summary source of information of all WORKPLACE CONTROLS AND PRACTICES potential and most severe health hazards that may result from exposure. Duration of exposure, concentration of the Unless a less toxic chemical can be substituted for a hazardous substance and other factors will affect your susceptibility to substance, ENGINEERING CONTROLS are the most any of the potential effects described below. effective way of reducing exposure. The best protection is to --------------------------------------------------------------------------- enclose operations and/or provide local exhaust ventilation at the site of chemical release. Isolating operations can also HEALTH HAZARD INFORMATION reduce exposure. Using respirators or protective equipment is less effective than the controls mentioned above, but is Acute Health Effects sometimes necessary. The following acute (short-term) health effects may occur immediately or shortly after exposure to Chlorine In evaluating the controls present in your workplace, consider: Pentafluoride: (1) how hazardous the substance is, (2) how much of the substance is released into the workplace and (3) whether * Contact may severely irritate and burn the skin and eyes harmful skin or eye contact could occur. Special controls with possible eye damage. should be in place for highly toxic chemicals or when significant skin, eye, or breathing exposures are possible. Chronic Health Effects The following chronic (long-term) health effects can occur at In addition, the following controls are recommended: some time after exposure to Chlorine Pentafluoride and can last for months or years: * Where possible, automatically transfer Chlorine Pentafluoride from cylinders or other storage containers Cancer Hazard to process containers. * According to the information presently available to the * Before entering a confined space where Chlorine New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Pentafluoride may be present, check to make sure that an Chlorine Pentafluoride has not been tested for its ability explosive concentration does not exist. to cause cancer in animals. Good WORK PRACTICES can help to reduce hazardous Reproductive Hazard exposures. The following work practices are recommended: * According to the information presently available to the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, * Workers whose clothing has been contaminated by Chlorine Pentafluoride has not been tested for its ability Chlorine Pentafluoride should change into clean clothing to affect reproduction. promptly. * Contaminated work clothes should be laundered by Other Long-Term Effects individuals who have been informed of the hazards of exposure to Chlorine Pentafluoride. * Chlorine Pentafluoride has not been tested for other * Eye wash fountains should be provided in the immediate chronic (long-term) health effects. work area for emergency use. MEDICAL * If there is the possibility of skin exposure, emergency shower facilities should be provided. Medical Testing * On skin contact with Chlorine Pentafluoride, immediately wash or shower to remove the chemical. At There is no special test for this chemical. However, if illness the end of the workshift, wash any areas of the body that occurs or overexposure is suspected, medical attention is may have contacted Chlorine Pentafluoride, whether or recommended. not known skin contact has occurred. * Do not eat, smoke, or drink where Chlorine Any evaluation should include a careful history of past and Pentafluoride is handled, processed, or stored, since the present symptoms with an exam. Medical tests that look for chemical can be swallowed. Wash hands carefully before damage already done are not a substitute for controlling eating, drinking, smoking, or using the toilet. exposure. Request copies of your medical testing. You have a legal PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT right to this information under OSHA 1910.1020. WORKPLACE CONTROLS ARE BETTER THAN PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. However, for some jobs (such as outside work, confined space entry, jobs done only once in a while, or jobs done while workplace controls are being installed), personal protective equipment may be appropriate. CHLORINE PENTAFLUORIDE page 3 of 6 OSHA 1910.132 requires employers to determine the * Chlorine Pentafluoride must be stored to avoid contact appropriate personal protective equipment for each hazard and with METALS; AMMONIA; CARBON MONOXIDE; to train employees on how and when to use protective HYDROGEN SULFIDE; SULFUR DIOXIDE; and equipment. HYDROGEN as violent reactions may occur. * Store in tightly closed containers in a cool, dry, well- The following recommendations are only guidelines and may ventilated area. not apply to every situation. * Use only non-sparking tools and equipment, especially when opening and closing containers of Chlorine Clothing Pentafluoride. * Avoid skin contact with Chlorine Pentafluoride. Wear * Wherever Chlorine Pentafluoride is used, handled, protective gloves and clothing. Safety equipment manufactured, or stored, use explosion-proof electrical suppliers/ manufacturers can provide recommendations on equipment and fittings. the most protective glove/clothing material for your operation. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS * All protective clothing (suits, gloves, footwear, headgear) should be clean, available each day, and put on before Q: If I have acute health effects, will I later get chronic work. health effects? A: Not always. Most chronic (long-term) effects result Eye Protection from repeated exposures to a chemical. * Wear non-vented, impact resistant goggles when working with fumes, gases, or vapors. Q: Can I get long-term effects without ever having short- * Wear a face shield along with goggles when working with term effects? corrosive, highly irritating or toxic substances. A: Yes, because long-term effects can occur from repeated * Contact lenses should not be worn when working with this exposures to a chemical at levels not high enough to substance. make you immediately sick. Respiratory Protection Q: What are my chances of getting sick when I have been IMPROPER USE OF RESPIRATORS IS DANGEROUS. exposed to chemicals? Such equipment should only be used if the employer has a A: The likelihood of becoming sick from chemicals is written program that takes into account workplace conditions, increased as the amount of exposure increases. This is requirements for worker training, respirator fit testing and determined by the length of time and the amount of medical exams, as described in OSHA 1910.134. material to which someone is exposed. * Where the potential exists for exposure over 3 ppm (as Q: When are higher