Potassium Bromate
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Common Name: POTASSIUM BROMATE CAS Number: 7758-01-2 DOT Number: UN 1484 RTK Substance number: 1559 DOT Hazard Class: 5.1 (Oxidizer) Date: May 1998 Revision: July 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- HAZARD SUMMARY * Potassium Bromate can affect you when breathed in and * If you think you are experiencing any work-related health by passing through your skin. problems, see a doctor trained to recognize occupational * Potassium Bromate should be handled as a diseases. Take this Fact Sheet with you. CARCINOGEN--WITH EXTREME CAUTION. * Contact can irritate and burn the skin and eyes. WORKPLACE EXPOSURE LIMITS * Breathing Potassium Bromate can irritate the nose, throat No occupational exposure limits have been established for and lungs causing coughing, wheezing and/or shortness of Potassium Bromate. This does not mean that this substance breath. is not harmful. Safe work practices should always be * Repeated exposure to Potassium Bromate may affect the followed. nervous system causing headache, irritability, impaired thinking and personality changes. * Potassium Bromate may be a CARCINOGEN in humans. * Potassium Bromate may damage the kidneys. There may be no safe level of exposure to a carcinogen, so all contact should be reduced to the lowest possible level. IDENTIFICATION * It should be recognized that Potassium Bromate can be Potassium Bromate is a white crystalline (sand-like) powder. absorbed through your skin, thereby increasing your It is used as a laboratory reagent, oxidizing agent and food exposure. additive. WAYS OF REDUCING EXPOSURE REASON FOR CITATION * Enclose operations and use local exhaust ventilation at the * Potassium Bromate is on the Hazardous Substance List site of chemical release. If local exhaust ventilation or because it is cited by DOT, DEP, IARC and EPA. enclosure is not used, respirators should be worn. * This chemical is on the Special Health Hazard Substance * Wear protective work clothing. List because it is a CARCINOGEN. * Wash thoroughly immediately after exposure to * Definitions are provided on page 5. Potassium Bromate and at the end of the workshift. * Post hazard and warning information in the work area. In HOW TO DETERMINE IF YOU ARE BEING addition, as part of an ongoing education and training effort, communicate all information on the health and EXPOSED safety hazards of Potassium Bromate to potentially The New Jersey Right to Know Act requires most employers exposed workers. 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 BROMATE page 2 of 6 This Fact Sheet is a summary source of information of all Any evaluation should include a careful history of past and potential and most severe health hazards that may result from present symptoms with an exam. Medical tests that look for exposure. Duration of exposure, concentration of the substance damage already done are not a substitute for controlling and other factors will affect your susceptibility to any of the exposure. potential effects described below. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Request copies of your medical testing. You have a legal right to this information under OSHA 1910.1020. HEALTH HAZARD INFORMATION Mixed Exposures Acute Health Effects * Because smoking can cause heart disease, as well as lung The following acute (short-term) health effects may occur cancer, emphysema, and other respiratory problems, it may immediately or shortly after exposure to Potassium Bromate: worsen respiratory conditions caused by chemical exposure. Even if you have smoked for a long time, stopping now will * Contact can irritate and burn the skin and eyes. reduce your risk of developing health problems. * Breathing Potassium Bromate can irritate the nose, throat and lungs causing coughing, wheezing and/or shortness of WORKPLACE CONTROLS AND PRACTICES breath. Unless a less toxic chemical can be substituted for a hazardous Chronic Health Effects substance, ENGINEERING CONTROLS are the most The following chronic (long-term) health effects can occur at effective way of reducing exposure. The best protection is to some time after exposure to Potassium Bromate and can last enclose operations and/or provide local exhaust ventilation at for months or years: the site of chemical release. Isolating operations can also reduce exposure. Using respirators or protective equipment is Cancer Hazard less effective than the controls mentioned above, but is * Potassium Bromate may be a CARCINOGEN in humans sometimes necessary. since it has been shown to cause kidney, thyroid, and gastrointestinal cancer in animals. In evaluating the controls present in your workplace, consider: * Many scientists believe there is no safe level of exposure to (1) how hazardous the substance is, (2) how much of the a carcinogen. Such substances may also have the potential substance is released into the workplace and (3) whether for causing reproductive damage in humans. harmful skin or eye contact could occur. Special controls should be in place for highly toxic chemicals or when Reproductive Hazard significant skin, eye, or breathing exposures are possible. * According to the information presently available to the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, In addition, the following control is recommended: Potassium Bromate has not been tested for its ability to affect reproduction. * Where possible, automatically transfer Potassium Bromate from drums or other storage containers to process Other Long-Term Effects containers. * Potassium Bromate can irritate the lungs. Repeated exposure may cause bronchitis to develop with cough, Good WORK PRACTICES can help to reduce hazardous phlegm, and/or shortness of breath. exposures. The following work practices are recommended: * Repeated exposure to Potassium Bromate may affect the nervous system causing headache, irritability, impaired * Workers whose clothing has been contaminated by thinking and personality changes. Potassium Bromate should change into clean clothing promptly. * Potassium Bromate may damage the kidneys. * Do not take contaminated work clothes home. Family members could be exposed. * Contaminated work clothes should be laundered by MEDICAL individuals who have been informed of the hazards of exposure to Potassium Bromate. Medical Testing * Eye wash fountains should be provided in the immediate If symptoms develop or overexposure is suspected, the work area for emergency use. following are recommended: * If there is the possibility of skin exposure, emergency shower facilities should be provided. * Kidney function tests. * On skin contact with Potassium Bromate, immediately * Lung function tests. wash or shower to remove the chemical. At the end of the workshift, wash any areas of the body that may have contacted Potassium Bromate, whether or not known skin contact has occurred. * Do not eat, smoke, or drink where Potassium Bromate is handled, processed, or stored, since the chemical can be POTASSIUM BROMATE page 3 of 6 swallowed. Wash hands carefully before eating, drinking, * If while wearing a filter or cartridge respirator you can smoking, or using the toilet. smell, taste, or otherwise detect Potassium Bromate, or if * Use a vacuum or a wet method to reduce dust during clean- while wearing particulate filters abnormal resistance to up. DO NOT DRY SWEEP. breathing is experienced, or eye irritation occurs while wearing a full facepiece respirator, leave the area PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT immediately. Check to make sure the respirator-to-face seal is still good. If it is, replace the filter or cartridge. If the WORKPLACE CONTROLS ARE BETTER THAN seal is no longer good, you may need a new respirator. PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. However, for * Be sure to consider all potential exposures in your some jobs (such as outside work, confined space entry, jobs workplace. You may need a combination of filters, done only once in a while, or jobs done while workplace prefilters or cartridges to protect against different forms of a controls are being installed), personal protective equipment chemical (such as vapor and mist) or against a mixture of may be appropriate. chemicals. * Where the potential for high exposure exists, use a OSHA 1910.132 requires employers to determine the MSHA/NIOSH approved supplied-air respirator with a full appropriate personal protective equipment for each hazard and facepiece operated in a pressure-demand or other positive- to train employees on how and when to use protective pressure mode. For increased protection use in combination equipment. with an auxiliary self-contained breathing apparatus operated in a pressure-demand or other positive-pressure The following recommendations are only guidelines and may mode. not apply to every situation. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Clothing * Avoid skin contact with Potassium Bromate. Wear Q: If I have acute health effects, will I later get chronic protective gloves and clothing.