Common Name: SODIUM PEROXIDE CAS Number: 1313-60-6 RTK Substance number: 1718 DOT Number: UN 1504 Date: January 1987 Revision: May 2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- HAZARD SUMMARY WORKPLACE EXPOSURE LIMITS * Sodium Peroxide can affect you when breathed in. No occupational exposure limits have been established for * Contact can severely irritate and burn the skin and eyes Sodium Peroxide. This does not mean that this substance is with possible eye damage. not harmful. Safe work practices should always be followed. * Breathing Sodium Peroxide can irritate the nose, throat and lungs causing coughing, wheezing and/or shortness of WAYS OF REDUCING EXPOSURE breath. * Where possible, enclose operations and use local exhaust * Sodium Peroxide is a REACTIVE CHEMICAL and an ventilation at the site of chemical release. If local exhaust EXPLOSION HAZARD. ventilation or enclosure is not used, respirators should be worn. IDENTIFICATION * Wear protective work clothing. Sodium Peroxide is a yellowish-white powder. It is used as a * Wash thoroughly immediately after exposure to Sodium bleaching agent, disinfectant, laboratory chemical, and in the Peroxide. production of other chemicals. * Post hazard and warning information in the work area. In addition, as part of an ongoing education and training REASON FOR CITATION effort, communicate all information on the health and * Sodium Peroxide is on the Hazardous Substance List safety hazards of Sodium Peroxide to potentially exposed because it is cited by DOT and NFPA. workers. * This chemical is on the Special Health Hazard Substance List because it is REACTIVE. * Definitions are provided on page 5. HOW TO DETERMINE IF YOU ARE BEING EXPOSED The New Jersey Right to Know Act requires most employers to label chemicals in the workplace and requires public 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 PEROXIDE 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 substance Unless a less toxic chemical can be substituted for a hazardous and other factors will affect your susceptibility to any of the substance, ENGINEERING CONTROLS are the most 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 Sodium Peroxide: In evaluating the controls present in your workplace, consider: (1) how hazardous the substance is, (2) how much of the * Contact can severely irritate and burn the skin and eyes substance is released into the workplace and (3) whether with possible eye damage. harmful skin or eye contact could occur. Special controls * Breathing Sodium Peroxide can irritate the nose, throat and should be in place for highly toxic chemicals or when lungs causing coughing, wheezing and/or shortness of significant skin, eye, or breathing exposures are possible. breath. In addition, the following controls are recommended: Chronic Health Effects * Where possible, automatically transfer Sodium Peroxide The following chronic (long-term) health effects can occur at from drums or other storage containers to process some time after exposure to Sodium Peroxide and can last for months or years: containers. * Before entering a confined space where Sodium Peroxide Cancer Hazard may be present, check to make sure that an explosive * According to the information presently available to the New concentration does not exist. Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Sodium Peroxide has not been tested for its ability to cause cancer Good WORK PRACTICES can help to reduce hazardous in animals. exposures. The following work practices are recommended: Reproductive Hazard * Workers whose clothing has been contaminated by Sodium * According to the information presently available to the New Peroxide should change into clean clothing promptly. Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Sodium * Do not take contaminated work clothes home. Family members could be exposed. Peroxide has not been tested for its ability to affect * Contaminated work clothes should be laundered by reproduction. individuals who have been informed of the hazards of Other Long-Term Effects exposure to Sodium Peroxide. * Eye wash fountains should be provided in the immediate * Sodium Peroxide has not been tested for other chronic work area for emergency use. (long-term) health effects. * If there is the possibility of skin exposure, emergency shower facilities should be provided. MEDICAL * On skin contact with Sodium Peroxide, immediately wash or shower to remove the chemical. Medical Testing * Do not eat, smoke, or drink where Sodium Peroxide is There is no special test for this chemical. However, if illness handled, processed, or stored, since the chemical can be occurs or overexposure is suspected, medical attention is swallowed. Wash hands carefully before eating, drinking, recommended. applying cosmetics, smoking, or using the toilet. Any evaluation should include a careful history of past and PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT present symptoms with an exam. Medical tests that look for damage already done are not a substitute for controlling WORKPLACE CONTROLS ARE BETTER THAN exposure. PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. However, for some jobs (such as outside work, confined space entry, jobs Request copies of your medical testing. You have a legal right done only once in a while, or jobs done while workplace to this information under OSHA 1910.1020. controls are being installed), personal protective equipment may be appropriate. SODIUM PEROXIDE page 3 of 6 OSHA 1910.132 requires employers to determine the mode. For increased protection use in combination with an appropriate personal protective equipment for each hazard and auxiliary self-contained breathing apparatus operated in a to train employees on how and when to use protective pressure-demand or other positive-pressure mode. equipment. HANDLING AND STORAGE The following recommendations are only guidelines and may not apply to every situation. * Prior to working with Sodium Peroxide you should be Clothing trained on its proper handling and storage. * Sodium Peroxide reacts explosively with, or forms * Avoid skin contact with Sodium Peroxide. Wear explosive mixtures with, ACETIC ACID; AMMONIUM protective gloves and clothing. Safety equipment suppliers/ PEROXODISULPHATE; HYDROXY COMPOUNDS manufacturers can provide recommendations on the most (such as ETHANOL, GLYCOLS and GLYCEROLS); protective glove/clothing material for your operation. FINELY DIVIDED METALS (such as ALUMINUM, * All protective clothing (suits, gloves, footwear, headgear) IRON and TUNGSTEN); and OXIDIZING AGENTS (such should be clean, available each day, and put on before as PERCHLORATES, PEROXIDES, PERMAN- work. GANATES, CHLORATES, NITRATES, CHLORINE, BROMINE and FLUORINE). Eye Protection * Sodium Peroxide is not compatible with REDUCING * Wear impact resistant eye protection with side shields or AGENTS; WATER; ORGANICS; and ALCOHOLS. goggles. * Store under Nitrogen in tightly closed containers in a cool, * Wear a face shield along with goggles when working with dry, well-ventilated area. corrosive, highly irritating or toxic substances. * Protect storage containers from physical damage. * Wherever Sodium Peroxide is used, handled, Respiratory Protection manufactured, or stored, use explosion-proof electrical IMPROPER USE OF RESPIRATORS IS DANGEROUS. equipment and fittings. Such equipment should only be used if the employer has a written program that takes into account workplace conditions, QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS requirements for worker training, respirator fit testing and medical exams, as described in OSHA 1910.134. Q: If I have acute health effects, will I later get chronic health effects? * NIOSH has established new testing and certification A: Not always. Most chronic (long-term) effects result from requirements for negative pressure, air purifying, particulate repeated exposures to a chemical. filter and filtering facepiece respirators. The filter classifications of dust/mist/fume, paint spray or pesticide Q: Can I get long-term effects without ever having short- prefilters, and filters for radon daughters, have been term effects? replaced with the N, R, and P series. Each series has three A: Yes, because