Common Name: CHLORINE TRIFLUORIDE CAS Number: 7790-91-2 RTK Substance number: 0370 DOT Number: UN 1749 Date: March 1986 Revision: November 1998 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- HAZARD SUMMARY * Chlorine Trifluoride can affect you when breathed in. * If you think you are experiencing any work-related health * Contact can severely irritate and burn the eyes and skin, problems, see a doctor trained to recognize occupational and may cause permanent eye damage. diseases. Take this Fact Sheet with you. * Breathing Chlorine Trifluoride can irritate the nose and throat. WORKPLACE EXPOSURE LIMITS * Breathing Chlorine Trifluoride can irritate the lungs causing coughing and/or shortness of breath. Higher OSHA: The legal airborne permissible exposure limit exposures can cause a build-up of fluid in the lungs (PEL) is 0.1 ppm, not to be exceeded at any time. (pulmonary edema), a medical emergency, with severe shortness of breath. NIOSH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is * Contact with the liquified gas can cause frostbite. 0.1 ppm, which should not be exceeded at any * Chlorine Trifluoride is a HIGHLY REACTIVE time. CHEMICAL and a DANGEROUS EXPLOSION HAZARD. ACGIH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is 0.1 ppm, which should not be exceeded at any IDENTIFICATION time. Chlorine Trifluoride is a colorless gas or a white solid with a sweet, suffocating odor. It is shipped as a greenish-yellow WAYS OF REDUCING EXPOSURE liquid. It is used in rocket fuels and in processing nuclear * Where possible, enclose operations and use local exhaust reactor fuels. ventilation at the site of chemical release. If local exhaust ventilation or enclosure is not used, respirators should be REASON FOR CITATION worn. * Chlorine Trifluoride is on the Hazardous Substance List * Wear protective work clothing. because it is regulated by OSHA and cited by ACGIH, * Wash thoroughly immediately after exposure to Chlorine DOT, NIOSH, and NFPA. Trifluoride. * This chemical is on the Special Health Hazard Substance * On skin contact with liquified Chlorine Trifluoride gas, List because it is REACTIVE. immediately submerse the affected body part in warm * Definitions are provided on page 5. water. * 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 Chlorine Trifluoride to potentially to label chemicals in the workplace and requires public 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. CHLORINE TRIFLUORIDE page 2 of 6 This Fact Sheet is a summary source of information of all If symptoms develop or overexposure has occurred, the potential and most severe health hazards that may result from following may be useful: exposure. Duration of exposure, concentration of the substance and other factors will affect your susceptibility to * Consider chest x-ray after acute overexposure. any of the potential effects described below. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Any evaluation should include a careful history of past and present symptoms with an exam. Medical tests that look for HEALTH HAZARD INFORMATION damage already done are not a substitute for controlling exposure. Acute Health Effects The following acute (short-term) health effects may occur Request copies of your medical testing. You have a legal immediately or shortly after exposure to Chlorine right to this information under OSHA 1910.1020. Trifluoride: Mixed Exposures * Contact can severely irritate and burn the eyes and skin, * Because smoking can cause heart disease, as well as lung and may cause permanent eye damage. cancer, emphysema, and other respiratory problems, it may * Breathing Chlorine Trifluoride can irritate the nose and worsen respiratory conditions caused by chemical throat. exposure. Even if you have smoked for a long time, * Breathing Chlorine Trifluoride can irritate the lungs stopping now will reduce your risk of developing health causing coughing and/or shortness of breath. Higher problems. exposures can cause a build-up of fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema), a medical emergency, with severe WORKPLACE CONTROLS AND PRACTICES shortness of breath. * Contact with the liquified gas can cause frostbite. Unless a less toxic chemical can be substituted for a hazardous substance, ENGINEERING CONTROLS are the most Chronic Health Effects effective way of reducing exposure. The best protection is to The following chronic (long-term) health effects can occur at enclose operations and/or provide local exhaust ventilation at some time after exposure to Chlorine Trifluoride and can last the site of chemical release. Isolating operations can also for months or years: reduce exposure. Using respirators or protective equipment is less effective than the controls mentioned above, but is Cancer Hazard sometimes necessary. * According to the information presently available to the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, In evaluating the controls present in your workplace, consider: Chlorine Trifluoride has not been tested for its ability to (1) how hazardous the substance is, (2) how much of the cause cancer in animals. substance is released into the workplace and (3) whether harmful skin or eye contact could occur. Special controls Reproductive Hazard should be in place for highly toxic chemicals or when * According to the information presently available to the significant skin, eye, or breathing exposures are possible. New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Chlorine Trifluoride has not been tested for its ability to In addition, the following controls are recommended: affect reproduction. * Where possible, automatically transfer liquid, gaseous, or solid Chlorine Trifluoride from drums, cylinders or other Other Long-Term Effects storage containers to process containers. * Chlorine Trifluoride can irritate the lungs. Repeated * Before entering a confined space where Chlorine exposure may cause bronchitis to develop with cough, Trifluoride may be present, check to make sure that an phlegm, and/or shortness of breath. explosive concentration does not exist. MEDICAL Good WORK PRACTICES can help to reduce hazardous exposures. The following work practices are recommended: Medical Testing For those with frequent or potentially high exposure (half the * Workers whose clothing has been contaminated by TLV or greater), the following are recommended before Chlorine Trifluoride should change into clean clothing beginning work and at regular times after that: promptly. * Contaminated work clothes should be laundered by * Lung function tests. individuals who have been informed of the hazards of exposure to Chlorine Trifluoride. * Eye wash fountains should be provided in the immediate work area for emergency use. CHLORINE TRIFLUORIDE page 3 of 6 * If there is the possibility of skin exposure, emergency * Where the potential exists for exposure over 0.1 ppm, use shower facilities should be provided. a MSHA/NIOSH approved supplied-air respirator with a * On skin contact with Chlorine Trifluoride, immediately full facepiece operated in a pressure-demand or other wash or shower to remove the chemical. positive-pressure mode. For increased protection use in * Do not eat, smoke, or drink where Chlorine Trifluoride is combination with an auxiliary self-contained breathing handled, processed, or stored, since the chemical can be apparatus operated in a pressure-demand or other positive- swallowed. Wash hands carefully before eating, drinking, pressure mode. smoking, or using the toilet. * Exposure to 20 ppm is immediately dangerous to life and health. If the possibility of exposure above 20 ppm exists, PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT use a MSHA/NIOSH approved self-contained breathing apparatus with a full facepiece operated in the pressure- WORKPLACE CONTROLS ARE BETTER THAN demand or other positive pressure mode. PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. However, for some jobs (such as outside work, confined space entry, jobs HANDLING AND STORAGE done only once in a while, or jobs done while workplace controls are being installed), personal protective equipment * Prior to working with Chlorine Trifluoride you should be may be appropriate. trained on its proper handling and storage. * Chlorine Trifluoride reacts violently with WATER or OSHA 1910.132 requires employers to determine the ICE to form poisonous gases such as Chlorine and appropriate personal protective equipment for each hazard and Hydrofluoric Acid and heat. to train employees on how and when to use protective * Contact between Chlorine Trifluoride and ORGANIC equipment. MATERIALS (such as PAPER) or SILICON CONTAINING MATERIALS can result in spontaneous The following recommendations are only guidelines and may ignition. not apply to every situation. * Liquid Chlorine Trifluoride can explode if mixed