Common Name: SODIUM ALUMINUM FLUORIDE CAS Number: 15096-52-3 RTK Substance number: 1676 DOT Number: None Date: September 1987 Revision: April 2000 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- HAZARD SUMMARY WORKPLACE EXPOSURE LIMITS * Sodium Aluminum Fluoride can affect you when The following exposure limits are for Hydrogen Fluoride breathed in. (measured as Fluorine): * Contact can irritate and burn the skin and eyes with possible eye damage. OSHA: The legal airborne permissible exposure limit * Breathing Sodium Aluminum Fluoride can irritate the (PEL) is 2.5 mg/m3 averaged over an 8-hour nose, throat and lungs causing coughing, wheezing and/or workshift. shortness of breath. * Exposure to high levels of Sodium Aluminum Fluoride NIOSH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and 2.5 mg/m3 averaged over a 10-hour workshift salivation. and 5 mg/m3, not to be exceeded during any 15 * Long term exposure may affect joints and ligaments minute work period. causing stiffness and disability. ACGIH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is IDENTIFICATION 2.5 mg/m3 averaged over an 8-hour workshift. Sodium Aluminum Fluoride is a colorless to white powder or chunk. It is used in aluminum refining and in making WAYS OF REDUCING EXPOSURE pesticides, ceramics, glass and polishes. * Where possible, enclose operations and use local exhaust ventilation at the site of chemical release. If local exhaust REASON FOR CITATION ventilation or enclosure is not used, respirators should be * Sodium Aluminum Fluoride is on the Hazardous worn. Substance List because it is regulated by OSHA and cited * Wear protective work clothing. by ACGIH and NIOSH. * Wash thoroughly immediately after exposure to Sodium * Definitions are provided on page 5. Aluminum Fluoride 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 EXPOSED effort, communicate all information on the health and The New Jersey Right to Know Act requires most employers safety hazards of Sodium Aluminum Fluoride to to label chemicals in the workplace and requires public potentially exposed workers. 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. * 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. SODIUM ALUMINUM FLUORIDE 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 damage already done are not a substitute for controlling substance and other factors will affect your susceptibility to exposure. any of the 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 Sodium Aluminum worsen respiratory conditions caused by chemical Fluoride: exposure. Even if you have smoked for a long time, stopping now will reduce your risk of developing health * Contact can irritate and burn the skin and eyes with problems. possible eye damage. * Breathing Sodium Aluminum Fluoride can irritate the WORKPLACE CONTROLS AND PRACTICES nose and throat causing coughing and wheezing. * Exposure to high levels of Sodium Aluminum Fluoride Unless a less toxic chemical can be substituted for a hazardous can cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and substance, ENGINEERING CONTROLS are the most salivation. effective way of reducing exposure. The best protection is to enclose operations and/or provide local exhaust ventilation at Chronic Health Effects the site of chemical release. Isolating operations can also The following chronic (long-term) health effects can occur at reduce exposure. Using respirators or protective equipment is some time after exposure to Sodium Aluminum Fluoride and less effective than the controls mentioned above, but is can last for months or years: sometimes necessary. Cancer Hazard In evaluating the controls present in your workplace, consider: * According to the information presently available to the (1) how hazardous the substance is, (2) how much of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, substance is released into the workplace and (3) whether Sodium Aluminum Fluoride has not been tested for its harmful skin or eye contact could occur. Special controls ability to cause cancer in animals. should be in place for highly toxic chemicals or when significant skin, eye, or breathing exposures are possible. Reproductive Hazard * According to the information presently available to the In addition, the following control is recommended: New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Sodium Aluminum Fluoride has not been tested for its * Where possible, automatically transfer Sodium ability to affect reproduction. Aluminum Fluoride from drums or other storage containers to process containers. Other Long-Term Effects * Sodium Aluminum Fluoride can irritate the lungs. Good WORK PRACTICES can help to reduce hazardous Repeated exposure may cause bronchitis to develop with exposures. The following work practices are recommended: cough, phlegm, and/or shortness of breath. * Long term exposure may affect joints and ligaments * Workers whose clothing has been contaminated by causing stiffness and disability. Sodium Aluminum Fluoride should change into clean clothing promptly. MEDICAL * Do not take contaminated work clothes home. Family members could be exposed. Medical Testing * Contaminated work clothes should be laundered by individuals who have been informed of the hazards of Before beginning employment and at regular times after that, exposure to Sodium Aluminum Fluoride. the following are recommended: * Eye wash fountains should be provided in the immediate work area for emergency use. * Lung function tests. * If there is the possibility of skin exposure, emergency * Urine test for Fluoride level (levels higher than 4 mg/liter shower facilities should be provided. indicate overexposure). SODIUM ALUMINUM FLUORIDE page 3 of 6 * On skin contact with Sodium Aluminum Fluoride, * Where the potential exists for exposure over 2.5 mg/m3 immediately wash or shower to remove the chemical. At (as Fluorine), use a MSHA/NIOSH approved respirator the end of the workshift, wash any areas of the body that with a chemical cartridge specific for Fluorine. More may have contacted Sodium Aluminum Fluoride, protection is provided by a full facepiece respirator than whether or not known skin contact has occurred. by a half-mask respirator, and even greater protection is * Do not eat, smoke, or drink where Sodium Aluminum provided by a powered-air purifying respirator. Fluoride is handled, processed, or stored, since the * If while wearing a filter or cartridge respirator you can chemical can be swallowed. Wash hands carefully before smell, taste, or otherwise detect Sodium Aluminum eating, drinking, smoking, or using the toilet. Fluoride, or if while wearing particulate filters abnormal * Use a vacuum or a wet method to reduce dust during resistance to breathing is experienced, or eye irritation clean-up. DO NOT DRY SWEEP. occurs while wearing a full facepiece respirator, leave the area immediately. Check to make sure the respirator-to- PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT face seal is still good. If it is, replace the filter or cartridge. If the seal is no longer good, you may need a WORKPLACE CONTROLS ARE BETTER THAN 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 controls are being installed), personal protective equipment a 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 equipment. combination with an auxiliary self-contained breathing apparatus operated in a pressure-demand or other positive-