Common Name: POTASSIUM FLUORIDE HAZARD SUMMARY
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Common Name: POTASSIUM FLUORIDE CAS Number: 7789-23-3 RTK Substance number: 1565 DOT Number: UN 1812 Date: March 1998 Revision: November 2004 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- HAZARD SUMMARY * Potassium Fluoride can affect you when breathed in. * If you think you are experiencing any work-related health * Contact can severely irritate and burn the skin and eyes problems, see a doctor trained to recognize occupational leading to eye damage. diseases. Take this Fact Sheet with you. * Breathing Potassium Fluoride can irritate the nose, throat and lungs causing sneezing, coughing and sores in the WORKPLACE EXPOSURE LIMITS inner nose. The following exposure limits are for Fluorides: * High Potassium Fluoride levels can cause loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, and OSHA: The legal airborne permissible exposure limit abdominal pain. (PEL) is 2.5 mg/m3 averaged over an 8-hour * Potassium Fluoride may affect the kidneys. workshift. * Repeated high exposure can cause deposits of Fluorides in the bones and teeth, a condition called “Fluorisis.” This NIOSH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is can cause pain, disability and mottling of the teeth. 2.5 mg/m3 averaged over a 10-hour workshift. * These effects DO NOT occur at the level of Fluoride used in water for preventing cavities in teeth. ACGIH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is 2.5 mg/m3 averaged over an 8-hour workshift. IDENTIFICATION Potassium Fluoride is a white, crystalline (sand-like) powder WAYS OF REDUCING EXPOSURE with a sharp, salty taste. It is used in etching glass, as a * Where possible, enclose operations and use local exhaust preservative, and as an insecticide. ventilation at the site of chemical release. If local exhaust ventilation or enclosure is not used, respirators should be REASON FOR CITATION worn. * Potassium Fluoride is on the Hazardous Substance List * Wear protective work clothing. because it is regulated by OSHA and cited by ACGIH, * Wash thoroughly immediately after exposure to DOT, NIOSH and IARC. Potassium Fluoride and at the end of the workshift. * Definitions are provided on page 5. * Post hazard and warning information in the work area. In addition, as part of an ongoing education and training HOW TO DETERMINE IF YOU ARE BEING effort, communicate all information on the health and safety hazards of Potassium Fluoride to potentially EXPOSED exposed workers. The New Jersey Right to Know Act requires most employers to label chemicals in the workplace and requires public employers to provide their employees with information and training concerning chemical hazards and controls. The federal OSHA Hazard Communication Standard, 1910.1200, requires private employers to provide similar training and information to their employees. * 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. POTASSIUM FLUORIDE page 2 of 6 This Fact Sheet is a summary source of information of all If symptoms develop or overexposure is suspected, the potential and most severe health hazards that may result from following are recommended: exposure. Duration of exposure, concentration of the substance and other factors will affect your susceptibility to any of the * Lung function tests. potential effects described below. * Kidney function tests. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Any evaluation should include a careful history of past and HEALTH HAZARD INFORMATION present symptoms with an exam. Medical tests that look for damage already done are not a substitute for controlling Acute Health Effects exposure. The following acute (short-term) health effects may occur immediately or shortly after exposure to Potassium Fluoride: Request copies of your medical testing. You have a legal right to this information under OSHA 1910.1020. * Contact can severely irritate and burn the skin and eyes leading to eye damage. Mixed Exposures * Breathing Potassium Fluoride can irritate the nose and * Because smoking can cause heart disease, as well as lung throat causing sneezing, coughing and shortness of breath. cancer, emphysema, and other respiratory problems, it may worsen respiratory conditions caused by chemical exposure. Chronic Health Effects Even if you have smoked for a long time, stopping now will The following chronic (long-term) health effects can occur at reduce your risk of developing health problems. some time after exposure to Potassium Fluoride and can last for months or years: WORKPLACE CONTROLS AND PRACTICES Cancer Hazard Unless a less toxic chemical can be substituted for a hazardous * According to the information presently available to the New substance, ENGINEERING CONTROLS are the most Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, effective way of reducing exposure. The best protection is to Potassium Fluoride has not been tested for its ability to enclose operations and/or provide local exhaust ventilation at cause cancer in animals. the site of chemical release. Isolating operations can also reduce exposure. Using respirators or protective equipment is Reproductive Hazard less effective than the controls mentioned above, but is * According to the information presently available to the New sometimes necessary. Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Potassium Fluoride has not been tested for its ability to In evaluating the controls present in your workplace, consider: affect reproduction. (1) how hazardous the substance is, (2) how much of the substance is released into the workplace and (3) whether Other Long-Term Effects harmful skin or eye contact could occur. Special controls * Prolonged contact can cause sores in the inner nose. should be in place for highly toxic chemicals or when * Potassium Fluoride can irritate the lungs. Repeated significant skin, eye, or breathing exposures are possible. exposures may cause bronchitis to develop with cough, phlegm, and/or shortness of breath. In addition, the following control is recommended: * High Potassium Fluoride levels can cause loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, and abdominal * Where possible, automatically transfer Potassium Fluoride pain. from drums or other storage containers to process * Potassium Fluoride may affect the kidneys. containers. * Repeated high exposure can cause deposits of Fluorides in the bones and teeth, a condition called “Fluorosis.” This Good WORK PRACTICES can help to reduce hazardous can cause pain, disability and mottling of the teeth. exposures. The following work practices are recommended: MEDICAL * Workers whose clothing has been contaminated by Potassium Fluoride should change into clean clothing promptly. Medical Testing * Do not take contaminated work clothes home. Family For those with frequent or potentially high exposure (half the members could be exposed. PEL or greater), the following is recommended before * Contaminated work clothes should be laundered by beginning work and at regular times after that: individuals who have been informed of the hazards of exposure to Potassium Fluoride. * Urine Fluoride level above 4 mg/Liter indicates * Eye wash fountains should be provided in the immediate overexposure. work area for emergency use. POTASSIUM FLUORIDE page 3 of 6 * If there is the possibility of skin exposure, emergency prefilters, and filters for radon daughters, have been shower facilities should be provided. replaced with the N, R, and P series. Each series has three * On skin contact with Potassium Fluoride, immediately levels of filtering efficiency: 95%, 99%, and 99.9%. wash or shower to remove the chemical. At the end of the Check with your safety equipment supplier or your workshift, wash any areas of the body that may have respirator manufacturer to determine which respirator is contacted Potassium Fluoride, whether or not known skin appropriate for your facility. contact has occurred. * If while wearing a filter or cartridge respirator you can * Do not eat, smoke, or drink where Potassium Fluoride is smell, taste, or otherwise detect Potassium Fluoride, or if handled, processed, or stored, since the chemical can be while wearing particulate filters abnormal resistance to swallowed. Wash hands carefully before eating, drinking, breathing is experienced, or eye irritation occurs while smoking, or using the toilet. wearing a full facepiece respirator, leave the area * Use a vacuum or a wet method to reduce dust during clean- immediately. Check to make sure the respirator-to-face seal up. DO NOT DRY SWEEP. is still good. If it is, replace the filter or cartridge. If the seal is no longer good, you may need a new respirator. PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT * Be sure to consider all potential exposures in your workplace. You may need a combination of filters, WORKPLACE CONTROLS ARE BETTER THAN prefilters or cartridges to protect against different forms of a PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. However, for chemical (such as vapor and mist) or against a mixture of some jobs (such as outside work, confined space entry, jobs chemicals. done only once in a while, or jobs done while workplace * Where the potential exists for exposure over 25 mg/m3 (as controls are being installed), personal protective equipment Fluoride), use a NIOSH approved supplied-air respirator