Common Name: CALCIUM CYANIDE CAS Number: 592-01-8 RTK Substance number: 0317 DOT Number: UN 1575 Date: November 2000 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- HAZARD SUMMARY * Calcium Cyanide can affect you when breathed in and by * If you think you are experiencing any work-related health passing through your skin. problems, see a doctor trained to recognize occupational * Contact can irritate the skin and eyes. diseases. Take this Fact Sheet with you. * Breathing Calcium Cyanide can irritate the nose, throat and lungs causing coughing, wheezing and/or shortness of WORKPLACE EXPOSURE LIMITS breath. The following exposure limits are for Hydrogen Cyanide: * Calcium Cyanide can cause headache, nausea, vomiting, weakness, dizziness, loss of consciousness and death. OSHA: The legal airborne permissible exposure limit * Repeated exposure can interfere with thyroid function and (PEL) is 11 mg/m3 averaged over an 8-hour can cause nosebleeds. workshift. * If Calcium Cyanide is involved in a fire, it can release Hydrogen Cyanide. CONSULT THE NEW JERSEY NIOSH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SENIOR 5 mg/m3, which should not be exceeded at any SERVICES HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE FACT SHEET time. ON HYDROGEN CYANIDE. ACGIH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is IDENTIFICATION 5 mg/m3, which should not be exceeded at any Calcium Cyanide is a white powder with an almond-like time. odor. It is used in stainless steel manufacturing, leaching ores, as a fumigant, insecticide and a single dose poison. * The above exposure limits are for air levels only. When skin contact also occurs, you may be overexposed, even REASON FOR CITATION though air levels are less than the limits listed above. * Calcium Cyanide is on the Hazardous Substance List because it is regulated by OSHA and cited by ACGIH, WAYS OF REDUCING EXPOSURE DOT, NIOSH, DEP, HHAG, NFPA and EPA. * Where possible, enclose operations and use local exhaust * This chemical is on the Special Health Hazard Substance ventilation at the site of chemical release. If local exhaust List because it is REACTIVE. ventilation or enclosure is not used, respirators should be * Definitions are provided on page 5. worn. * Wear protective work clothing. HOW TO DETERMINE IF YOU ARE BEING * Wash thoroughly immediately after exposure to Calcium EXPOSED Cyanide and at the end of the workshift. The New Jersey Right to Know Act requires most employers * Post hazard and warning information in the work area. In to label chemicals in the workplace and requires public addition, as part of an ongoing education and training employers to provide their employees with information and effort, communicate all information on the health and training concerning chemical hazards and controls. The safety hazards of Calcium Cyanide to potentially exposed federal OSHA Hazard Communication Standard, 1910.1200, workers. 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. CALCIUM CYANIDE page 2 of 6 This Fact Sheet is a summary source of information of all Request copies of your medical testing. You have a legal potential and most severe health hazards that may result from right to this information under OSHA 1910.1020. exposure. Duration of exposure, concentration of the substance and other factors will affect your susceptibility to Mixed Exposures any of the potential effects described below. * Because smoking can cause heart disease, as well as lung --------------------------------------------------------------------------- cancer, emphysema, and other respiratory problems, it may worsen respiratory conditions caused by chemical HEALTH HAZARD INFORMATION exposure. Even if you have smoked for a long time, stopping now will reduce your risk of developing health Acute Health Effects problems. The following acute (short-term) health effects may occur immediately or shortly after exposure to Calcium Cyanide: WORKPLACE CONTROLS AND PRACTICES * Contact can irritate the skin and eyes. Unless a less toxic chemical can be substituted for a hazardous * Breathing Calcium Cyanide can irritate the nose and substance, ENGINEERING CONTROLS are the most throat causing coughing and wheezing. effective way of reducing exposure. The best protection is to * Calcium Cyanide can cause headache, nausea, vomiting, enclose operations and/or provide local exhaust ventilation at weakness, dizziness, loss of consciousness and death. the site of chemical release. Isolating operations can also reduce exposure. Using respirators or protective equipment is Chronic Health Effects less effective than the controls mentioned above, but is The following chronic (long-term) health effects can occur at sometimes necessary. some time after exposure to Calcium Cyanide and can last for months or years: In evaluating the controls present in your workplace, consider: (1) how hazardous the substance is, (2) how much of the Cancer Hazard substance is released into the workplace and (3) whether * According to the information presently available to the harmful skin or eye contact could occur. Special controls New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, should be in place for highly toxic chemicals or when Calcium Cyanide has not been tested for its ability to significant skin, eye, or breathing exposures are possible. cause cancer in animals. In addition, the following control is recommended: Reproductive Hazard * According to the information presently available to the * Where possible, automatically transfer Calcium Cyanide New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, from drums or other storage containers to process Calcium Cyanide has not been tested for its ability to containers. affect reproduction. Good WORK PRACTICES can help to reduce hazardous Other Long-Term Effects exposures. The following work practices are recommended: * Repeated exposure can interfere with thyroid function and can cause nosebleeds. * Workers whose clothing has been contaminated by * Calcium Cyanide can irritate the lungs. Repeated Calcium Cyanide should change into clean clothing exposure may cause bronchitis to develop with cough, promptly. phlegm, and/or shortness of breath. * Do not take contaminated work clothes home. Family members could be exposed. MEDICAL * Contaminated work clothes should be laundered by individuals who have been informed of the hazards of Medical Testing exposure to Calcium Cyanide. If symptoms develop or overexposure is suspected, the * Eye wash fountains should be provided in the immediate following are recommended: work area for emergency use. * If there is the possibility of skin exposure, emergency * Urine thiocyanate levels. shower facilities should be provided. * Evaluation of thyroid function. * On skin contact with Calcium Cyanide, immediately wash or shower to remove the chemical. At the end of the Any evaluation should include a careful history of past and workshift, wash any areas of the body that may have present symptoms with an exam. Medical tests that look for contacted Calcium Cyanide, whether or not known skin damage already done are not a substitute for controlling contact has occurred. exposure. CALCIUM CYANIDE page 3 of 6 * Do not eat, smoke, or drink where Calcium Cyanide is * If while wearing a filter or cartridge respirator you can handled, processed, or stored, since the chemical can be smell, taste, or otherwise detect Calcium Cyanide, or if swallowed. Wash hands carefully before eating, drinking, while wearing particulate filters abnormal resistance to smoking, or using the toilet. breathing is experienced, or eye irritation occurs while * Use a vacuum or a wet method to reduce dust during wearing a full facepiece respirator, leave the area clean-up. DO NOT DRY SWEEP. immediately. Check to make sure the respirator-to-face seal is still good. If it is, replace the filter or cartridge. If PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT the seal is no longer good, you may need a new respirator. * Be sure to consider all potential exposures in your WORKPLACE CONTROLS ARE BETTER THAN workplace. You may need a combination of filters, PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. However, for prefilters or cartridges to protect against different forms of some jobs (such as outside work, confined space entry, jobs a chemical (such as vapor and mist) or against a mixture of done only once in a while, or jobs done while workplace chemicals. controls are being installed), personal protective equipment * Where the potential for high exposure exists, use a may be appropriate. MSHA/NIOSH approved supplied-air respirator with a full facepiece operated in a pressure-demand or other positive- OSHA 1910.132 requires employers to determine the pressure mode. For increased protection use in appropriate personal protective equipment for each hazard and combination with an auxiliary self-contained breathing to train employees on how and when to use protective apparatus operated in a pressure-demand or other positive- equipment. pressure mode. 3 * Exposure to 55 mg/m (as Hydrogen Cyanide) is The following recommendations are only guidelines and may immediately dangerous to life and health. If the possibility not apply to every situation. of exposure above