Ammonium Bifluoride Hazard Summary Identification
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Common Name: AMMONIUM BIFLUORIDE CAS Number: 1341-49-7 DOT Number: UN 1727 (solid) RTK Substance number: 0089 UN 2817 (solution) Date: January 1996 Revision: March 2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- HAZARD SUMMARY * Ammonium Bifluoride can affect you when breathed in * Exposure to hazardous substances should be routinely and by passing through your skin. evaluated. This may include collecting personal and area * Ammonium Bifluoride is a CORROSIVE CHEMICAL air samples. You can obtain copies of sampling results and contact can severely irritate and burn the skin and eyes from your employer. You have a legal right to this with possible eye damage. information under OSHA 1910.1020. * Breathing Ammonium Bifluoride can severely irritate * If you think you are experiencing any work-related health and burn the nose, throat and lungs, causing nosebleeds, problems, see a doctor trained to recognize occupational cough, wheezing and shortness of breath. diseases. Take this Fact Sheet with you. * High exposure can cause nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite. WORKPLACE EXPOSURE LIMITS * Very high exposure can cause Fluoride poisoning with The following exposure limits are for Fluorides (measured as stomach pain, weakness, convulsions, collapse and death. Fluorine): * Repeated high exposure can cause deposits of Fluorides in the bones and teeth, a condition called “Fluorosis.” This OSHA: The legal airborne permissible exposure limit may cause pain, disability and mottling of the teeth. (PEL) is 2.5 mg/m3 averaged over an 8-hour * The above health effects do NOT occur at the level of workshift. Fluoride used in water for preventing cavities in teeth. NIOSH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is 3 2.5 mg/m averaged over a 10-hour workshift 3 IDENTIFICATION and 5 mg/m , not to be exceeded during any 15 Ammonium Bifluoride is a white crystalline solid that is also minute work period. ACGIH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is commonly found in solution. It is used as a sterilizer, in 3 electroplating, and in the ceramic and glass industries. 2.5 mg/m averaged over an 8-hour workshift. REASON FOR CITATION * The above exposure limits are for air levels only. When skin contact also occurs, you may be overexposed, even * Ammonium Bifluoride is on the Hazardous Substance though air levels are less than the limits listed above. List because it is regulated by OSHA and cited by ACGIH, DOT, NIOSH and EPA. * This chemical is on the Special Health Hazard Substance WAYS OF REDUCING EXPOSURE List because it is CORROSIVE. * 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. * Wear protective work clothing. EXPOSED * Wash thoroughly immediately after exposure to The New Jersey Right to Know Act requires most employers Ammonium Bifluoride and at the end of the workshift. to label chemicals in the workplace and requires public * Post hazard and warning information in the work area. In employers to provide their employees with information and addition, as part of an ongoing education and training training concerning chemical hazards and controls. The effort, communicate all information on the health and federal OSHA Hazard Communication Standard, 1910.1200, safety hazards of Ammonium Bifluoride to potentially requires private employers to provide similar training and exposed workers. information to their employees. AMMONIUM BIFLUORIDE 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 WORKPLACE CONTROLS AND PRACTICES Acute Health Effects The following acute (short-term) health effects may occur Unless a less toxic chemical can be substituted for a hazardous immediately or shortly after exposure to Ammonium substance, ENGINEERING CONTROLS are the most Bifluoride: effective way of reducing exposure. The best protection is to enclose operations and/or provide local exhaust ventilation at * Contact can severely irritate and burn the skin and eyes the site of chemical release. Isolating operations can also with possible eye damage. reduce exposure. Using respirators or protective equipment is * Breathing Ammonium Bifluoride can severely irritate and less effective than the controls mentioned above, but is burn the nose, throat and lungs, causing nosebleeds, cough, sometimes necessary. wheezing and shortness of breath. In evaluating the controls present in your workplace, consider: * High exposure can cause nausea, vomiting and loss of (1) how hazardous the substance is, (2) how much of the appetite. substance is released into the workplace and (3) whether * Very high exposure can cause Fluoride poisoning with harmful skin or eye contact could occur. Special controls stomach pain, weakness, convulsions, collapse and death. 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 control is recommended: some time after exposure to Ammonium Bifluoride and can last for months or years: * Where possible, automatically transfer Ammonium Bifluoride or pump liquid Ammonium Bifluoride in Cancer Hazard solution from drums or other storage containers to process * According to the information presently available to the New containers. Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Ammonium Bifluoride has not been tested for its ability to Good WORK PRACTICES can help to reduce hazardous cause cancer in animals. exposures. The following work practices are recommended: Reproductive Hazard * Workers whose clothing has been contaminated by * According to the information presently available to the New Ammonium Bifluoride should change into clean clothing Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, promptly. Ammonium Bifluoride has not been tested for its ability to * Do not take contaminated work clothes home. Family affect reproduction. members could be exposed. * Contaminated work clothes should be laundered by Other Long-Term Effects individuals who have been informed of the hazards of * Repeated high exposure can cause deposits of Fluorides in exposure to Ammonium Bifluoride. the bones and teeth, a condition called “Fluorosis.” This * Eye wash fountains should be provided in the immediate may cause pain, disability and mottling of the teeth. work area for emergency use. * If there is the possibility of skin exposure, emergency MEDICAL shower facilities should be provided. * On skin contact with Ammonium Bifluoride, immediately Medical Testing wash or shower to remove the chemical. At the end of the For those with frequent or potentially high exposure (half the workshift, wash any areas of the body that may have PEL or greater), the following is recommended before contacted Ammonium Bifluoride, whether or not known beginning work and at regular times after that: skin contact has occurred. * Do not eat, smoke, or drink where Ammonium Bifluoride * Fluoride level in urine. Levels higher than 4 mg/Liter is handled, processed, or stored, since the chemical can be indicate overexposure. swallowed. Wash hands carefully before eating, drinking, applying cosmetics, smoking, or using the toilet. * For solid Ammonium Bifluoride use a vacuum or a wet method to reduce dust during clean-up. DO NOT DRY SWEEP. AMMONIUM BIFLUORIDE page 3 of 6 PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT * Where the potential for high exposure exists, use a NIOSH approved supplied-air respirator with a full facepiece WORKPLACE CONTROLS ARE BETTER THAN operated in a pressure-demand or other positive-pressure PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. However, for mode. For increased protection use in combination with an some jobs (such as outside work, confined space entry, jobs auxiliary self-contained breathing apparatus operated in a done only once in a while, or jobs done while workplace pressure-demand or other positive-pressure mode. controls are being installed), personal protective equipment * Exposure to 25 mg/m3 (as Fluorine) is immediately may be appropriate. dangerous to life and health. If the possibility of exposure above 25 mg/m3 (as Fluorine) exists, use a NIOSH OSHA 1910.132 requires employers to determine the approved self-contained breathing apparatus 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. equipment. The following recommendations are only guidelines and may QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS not apply to every situation. Q: If I have acute health effects, will I later get chronic Clothing health effects? A: Not always. Most chronic (long-term)