Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet Common Name: LEAD CYANIDE Synonyms: Pigment Yellow CAS Number: 592-05-2 Chemical Name: Lead Cyanide (Pb(CN)2) RTK Substance Number: 1103 Date: September 2007 Revision: January 2017 DOT Number: UN 1620 Description and Use EMERGENCY RESPONDERS >>>> SEE BACK PAGE Lead Cyanide is a white to yellowish powder. It is used in Hazard Summary metallurgy. Hazard Rating NJDOH NFPA HEALTH 3 - FLAMMABILITY 0 - REACTIVITY 0 - CARCINOGEN POISONOUS GASES ARE PRODUCED IN FIRE DOES NOT BURN Reasons for Citation Hazard Rating Key: 0=minimal; 1=slight; 2=moderate; 3=serious; Lead Cyanide is on the Right to Know Hazardous 4=severe Substance List because it is cited by OSHA, ACGIH, DOT, NIOSH, DEP, NTP, IARC and EPA. Lead Cyanide can affect you when inhaled or swallowed. This chemical is on the Special Health Hazard Substance Lead Cyanide is a CARCINOGEN. HANDLE WITH List. EXTREME CAUTION. Contact can cause headache, irritability, and muscle and joint pain. EE LOSSARY ON PAGE S G 5. Repeated exposure can cause Lead poisoning with metallic taste, colic and muscle cramps. FIRST AID Lead Cyanide may affect the nervous system. Eye Contact Exposure may cause kidney and brain damage, and anemia. Immediately flush with large amounts of cool water for at High exposure to Cyanide can cause DEATH, sometimes least 15 minutes, lifting upper and lower lids. Remove with little warning. contact lenses, if worn, while rinsing. Lead Cyanide is decomposed by ACIDS and WATER to give off toxic and flammable Hydrogen Cyanide gas. Skin Contact For more information, consult the Right to Know Hazardous Remove contaminated clothing. Wash contaminated skin Substance Fact Sheet on HYDROGEN CYANIDE. with soap and water. Inhalation Workplace Exposure Limits Remove the person from exposure. The following exposure limits are for Inorganic Lead Begin rescue breathing (using universal precautions) if compounds (measured as Lead): breathing has stopped and CPR if heart action has stopped. Transfer promptly to a medical facility. Antidotes and Special Procedures OSHA: The legal airborne permissible exposure limit (PEL) is Use US FDA approved standard cyanide antidotal kit or 0.05 mg/m3 averaged over an 8-hour workshift. Cyanokit if symptoms of cyanide poisoning develop. Do NOT use Amyl Nitrite with smoke inhalation exposures. All NIOSH: The recommended airborne exposure limit (REL) is area employees should be trained regularly in emergency 0.05 mg/m3 averaged over a 10-hour workshift. Air treatment of Cyanide poisoning and in CPR. A Cyanide antidote kit MUST be rapidly available and ingredients concentrations should be maintained so that blood replaced every 1 to 2 years to ensure freshness. Lead is less than 0.06 mg per 100 grams of whole blood. EMERGENCY NUMBERS Poison Control: 1-800-222-1222 ACGIH: The threshold limit value (TLV) is 0.05 mg/m3 CHEMTREC: 1-800-424-9300 averaged over an 8-hour workshift. NJDEP Hotline: 1-877-927-6337 National Response Center: 1-800-424-8802 (Continued on next page….) LEAD CYANIDE Page 2 of 6 The following exposure limits are for Sodium Cyanide Contact can cause upset stomach, poor appetite, weakness (measured as Cyanide): and fatigue. High exposure to Cyanide can cause DEATH, sometimes with little warning. OSHA: The legal airborne permissible exposure limit (PEL) is 3 5 mg/m averaged over an 8-hour workshift. Chronic Health Effects The following chronic (long-term) health effects can occur at NIOSH: The recommended airborne exposure limit (REL) is some time after exposure to Lead Cyanide and can last for 5 mg/m3 not to be exceeded during any 10-minute months or years: period. Cancer Hazard ACGIH: The threshold limit value (TLV) is 5 mg/m3 not to be Lead Cyanide is a PROBABLE CARCINOGEN in humans. There is some evidence that inorganic Lead compounds exceeded during any part of the working exposure. cause lung, brain, stomach, and kidney cancer in humans and they have been shown to cause kidney cancer in Lead Cyanide is a PROBABLE CARCINOGEN in humans. animals. There may be no safe level of exposure to a carcinogen, so Many scientists believe there is no safe level of exposure to all contact should be reduced to the lowest possible level. a carcinogen. Such substances may have the potential for causing reproductive damage in humans. Determining Your Exposure Reproductive Hazard While Lead Cyanide has not been identified as a teratogen Read the product manufacturer’s Material Safety Data or a reproductive hazard, Lead and certain Lead compounds Sheet (MSDS) and the label to determine product are teratogens and may also cause reproductive damage, ingredients and important safety and health information such as reduced fertility and interference with menstrual about the product mixture. cycles. Lead Cyanide should be handled WITH EXTREME CAUTION. For each individual hazardous ingredient, read the New Jersey Department of Health Hazardous Substance Fact Other Effects Sheet, available on the RTK Program website Repeated exposure to Lead Cyanide can cause Lead (http://nj.gov/health/workplacehealthandsafety/right-to- poisoning. Symptoms include metallic taste, poor appetite, know/) or in your facility’s RTK Central File or Hazard weight loss, colic, nausea, vomiting, and muscle cramps. Communication Standard file. Higher levels can cause muscle and joint pain, and You have a right to this information under the New Jersey weakness. Worker and Community Right to Know Act, the Public High or repeated exposure may damage the nerves causing Employees Occupational Safety and Health (PEOSH) Act weakness, “pins and needles,” and poor coordination in the if you are a public worker in New Jersey, and under the arms and legs. federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) if you Lead exposure increases the risk of high blood pressure. are a private worker. Lead Cyanide may cause kidney and brain damage, and damage to the blood cells causing anemia. The New Jersey Right to Know Act and the PEOSH Repeated exposure causes Lead to accumulate in the body. Hazard Communication Standard (N.J.A.C. 12:100-7) It can take years for the body to get rid of excess Lead. requires most employers to label chemicals in the workplace and requires public employers to provide their employees with information concerning chemical hazards and controls. The federal OSHA Hazard Communication Medical Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200) requires private employers Medical Testing to provide similar information and training to their Before first exposure, and every six (6) months thereafter, employees. OSHA requires your employer to provide (for persons exposed to 30 micrograms or more of Lead per cubic meter of air for This Fact Sheet is a summary of available information 30 days or more per year): regarding the health hazards that may result from exposure. Duration of exposure, concentration of the substance and other Blood Lead test factors will affect your susceptibility to any of the potential ZPP (a special test for effects of Lead on blood cells) effects described below. For employees with blood Lead levels above 40 micrograms per 100 grams of whole blood (40 micrograms per deciliter), OSHA requires blood Lead level monitoring every two months Health Hazard Information until two consecutive blood Lead levels are below Acute Health Effects 40 micrograms per 100 grams of whole blood. These The following acute (short-term) health effects may occur employees must undergo a medical evaluation, which should immediately or shortly after exposure to Lead Cyanide: include: Exposure can cause headache, irritability, reduced memory, Complete work and medical history disturbed sleep, and mood and personality changes. LEAD CYANIDE Page 3 of 6 Thorough physical examination, including examination of Do not eat, smoke, or drink in areas where chemicals are central nervous system being handled, processed or stored. Blood Lead test Wash hands carefully before eating, smoking, drinking, ZPP applying cosmetics or using the toilet. Hemoglobin, hematocrit with complete blood count Urinalysis with microscopic examination In addition, the following may be useful or required: Any other tests determined necessary by the examining physician Specific engineering controls are required for this chemical by OSHA. Refer to the OSHA Lead Standards (29 CFR This evaluation should be performed at least annually. 1910.1025 and 1926.62). Use a vacuum or a wet method to reduce dust during clean- If symptoms develop or overexposure is suspected, the up. DO NOT DRY SWEEP. following is recommended: When vacuuming, a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter should be used, not a standard shop vacuum. Blood test for Cyanide OSHA requires your employer to provide you and your doctor with a copy of the OSHA Lead Standards (29 CFR 1910.1025 Personal Protective Equipment and 1926.62). The OSHA Personal Protective Equipment Standard (29 CFR Any evaluation should include a careful history of past and 1910.132) requires employers to determine the appropriate present symptoms with an exam. Medical tests that look for personal protective equipment for each hazard and to train damage already done are not a substitute for controlling employees on how and when to use protective equipment. exposure. The following recommendations are only guidelines and may Request copies of your medical testing. You have a legal right not apply to every situation. to this information under the OSHA Access to Employee Exposure and Medical Records Standard (29 CFR 1910.1020). Gloves and Clothing Mixed Exposures Avoid skin contact with Lead Cyanide. Wear personal Body exposures to Lead from hobbies using Lead solder or protective equipment made from material which can not be pigments, target practice, and drinking moonshine made in permeated and/or degraded by this substance. Safety Leaded containers will increase Lead levels. Repeated equipment suppliers/manufacturers can provide breathing or handling of Leaded gasoline may also add to recommendations on the most protective glove/clothing body Lead levels.