Common Name: AMMONIUM SULFAMATE CAS Number: 7773-06-0 RTK Substance number: 0114 DOT Number: NA 9089 Date: December 1994 Revision: January 2001 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- HAZARD SUMMARY WORKPLACE EXPOSURE LIMITS * Ammonium Sulfamate can affect you when breathed in. OSHA: The legal airborne permissible exposure limit * Contact can cause skin and eye irritation. (PEL) is 15 mg/m3 (for total dust) and 5 mg/m3 * Breathing Ammonium Sulfamate can irritate the nose (for respirable dust) averaged over an 8-hour and throat causing coughing and/or shortness of breath. workshift. * Exposure to very high levels may cause nausea and vomiting. NIOSH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is 10 mg/m3 (for total dust) and 5 mg/m3 (for IDENTIFICATION respirable dust) averaged over a 10-hour Ammonium Sulfamate is a white crystalline (sand-like) workshift. solid. It is used to flameproof textile products and paper, and as a weed killer. ACGIH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is 10 mg/m3 averaged over an 8-hour workshift. REASON FOR CITATION * Ammonium Sulfamate is on the Hazardous Substance WAYS OF REDUCING EXPOSURE List because it is regulated by OSHA and cited by * Where possible, enclose operations and use local exhaust ACGIH, DOT, NIOSH, HHAG and EPA. ventilation at the site of chemical release. If local exhaust * Definitions are provided on page 5. ventilation or enclosure is not used, respirators should be worn. HOW TO DETERMINE IF YOU ARE BEING * Wear protective work clothing. EXPOSED * Wash thoroughly immediately after exposure to The New Jersey Right to Know Act requires most employers Ammonium Sulfamate. 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 Sulfamate to potentially requires private employers to provide similar training and exposed workers. 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. AMMONIUM SULFAMATE page 2 of 6 This Fact Sheet is a summary source of information of all WORKPLACE CONTROLS AND PRACTICES potential and most severe health hazards that may result from exposure. Duration of exposure, concentration of the Unless a less toxic chemical can be substituted for a hazardous substance and other factors will affect your susceptibility to substance, ENGINEERING CONTROLS are the most any of the potential effects described below. effective way of reducing exposure. The best protection is to --------------------------------------------------------------------------- enclose operations and/or provide local exhaust ventilation at the site of chemical release. Isolating operations can also HEALTH HAZARD INFORMATION reduce exposure. Using respirators or protective equipment is less effective than the controls mentioned above, but is Acute Health Effects sometimes necessary. The following acute (short-term) health effects may occur immediately or shortly after exposure to Ammonium In evaluating the controls present in your workplace, consider: Sulfamate: (1) how hazardous the substance is, (2) how much of the substance is released into the workplace and (3) whether * Contact can cause skin and eye irritation. harmful skin or eye contact could occur. Special controls * Breathing Ammonium Sulfamate can irritate the nose should be in place for highly toxic chemicals or when and throat causing coughing and/or shortness of breath. significant skin, eye, or breathing exposures are possible. * Exposure to very high levels may cause nausea and vomiting. In addition, the following control is recommended: Chronic Health Effects * Where possible, automatically transfer Ammonium The following chronic (long-term) health effects can occur at Sulfamate from drums or other storage containers to some time after exposure to Ammonium Sulfamate and can process containers. last for months or years: Good WORK PRACTICES can help to reduce hazardous Cancer Hazard exposures. The following work practices are recommended: * According to the information presently available to the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, * Workers whose clothing has been contaminated by Ammonium Sulfamate has not been tested for its ability Ammonium Sulfamate should change into clean clothing to cause cancer in animals. promptly. * Do not take contaminated work clothes home. Family Reproductive Hazard members could be exposed. * According to the information presently available to the * Contaminated work clothes should be laundered by New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, individuals who have been informed of the hazards of Ammonium Sulfamate has not been tested for its ability exposure to Ammonium Sulfamate. to affect reproduction. * Eye wash fountains should be provided in the immediate work area for emergency use. Other Long-Term Effects * If there is the possibility of skin exposure, emergency shower facilities should be provided. * Ammonium Sulfamate has not been tested for other * On skin contact with Ammonium Sulfamate, chronic (long-term) health effects. immediately wash or shower to remove the chemical. MEDICAL * Do not eat, smoke, or drink where Ammonium Sulfamate is handled, processed, or stored, since the chemical can be swallowed. Wash hands carefully before eating, drinking, Medical Testing smoking, or using the toilet. There is no special test for this chemical. However, if illness * Use a vacuum or a wet method to reduce dust during occurs or overexposure is suspected, medical attention is clean-up. DO NOT DRY SWEEP. recommended. PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT Any evaluation should include a careful history of past and present symptoms with an exam. Medical tests that look for WORKPLACE CONTROLS ARE BETTER THAN damage already done are not a substitute for controlling PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. However, for exposure. some jobs (such as outside work, confined space entry, jobs done only once in a while, or jobs done while workplace Request copies of your medical testing. You have a legal controls are being installed), personal protective equipment right to this information under OSHA 1910.1020. may be appropriate. AMMONIUM SULFAMATE page 3 of 6 OSHA 1910.132 requires employers to determine the * Where the potential for high exposure exists, use a appropriate personal protective equipment for each hazard and MSHA/NIOSH approved supplied-air respirator with a full to train employees on how and when to use protective facepiece operated in a pressure-demand or other positive- equipment. pressure mode. For increased protection use in combination with an auxiliary self-contained breathing The following recommendations are only guidelines and may apparatus operated in a pressure-demand or other positive- not apply to every situation. pressure mode. * Exposure to 1,500 mg/m3 is immediately dangerous to life Clothing and health. If the possibility of exposure above 3 * Avoid skin contact with Ammonium Sulfamate. Wear 1,500 mg/m exists, use a MSHA/NIOSH approved self- protective gloves and clothing. Safety equipment contained breathing apparatus with a full facepiece suppliers/ manufacturers can provide recommendations on operated in a pressure-demand or other positive-pressure the most protective glove/clothing material for your mode. operation. * All protective clothing (suits, gloves, footwear, headgear) QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS should be clean, available each day, and put on before work. Q: If I have acute health effects, will I later get chronic health effects? Eye Protection A: Not always. Most chronic (long-term) effects result * Wear impact resistant eye protection with side shields or from repeated exposures to a chemical. goggles. * Wear a face shield along with goggles when working with Q: Can I get long-term effects without ever having short- corrosive, highly irritating or toxic substances. term effects? * Contact lenses should not be worn when working with this A: Yes, because long-term effects can occur from repeated substance. exposures to a chemical at levels not high enough to make you immediately sick. Respiratory Protection IMPROPER USE OF RESPIRATORS IS DANGEROUS. Q: What are my chances of getting sick when I have been Such equipment should only be used if the employer has a exposed to chemicals? written program that takes into account workplace conditions, A: The likelihood of becoming sick from chemicals is requirements for worker training, respirator fit testing and increased as the amount of exposure increases. This is medical exams, as described in OSHA 1910.134. determined by the length of time and the amount of material to which someone is exposed. * For field applications check with your supervisor and your safety equipment supplier regarding the appropriate Q: When are higher exposures more likely? respiratory equipment.