Common Name: CARBON TETRABROMIDE CAS Number: 558-13-4 DOT Number: UN 2516 RTK Substance number: 0346 DOT Hazard Class: 6.1 (Poison) Date: April 1998 Revision: July 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- HAZARD SUMMARY WORKPLACE EXPOSURE LIMITS * Carbon Tetrabromide may affect you when breathed in. NIOSH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is * Contact can cause severe skin burns. 0.1 ppm averaged over a 10-hour workshift and * Exposure to Carbon Tetrabromide can irritate the eyes 0.3 ppm, not to be exceeded during any 15- causing intense tearing and may cause permanent eye minute work period. damage. * Breathing Carbon Tetrabromide can irritate the nose, ACGIH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is throat and lungs causing coughing, wheezing and/or 0.1 ppm averaged over an 8-hour workshift and shortness of breath. 0.3 ppm as a STEL (short term exposure limit). * Carbon Tetrabromide may damage the liver and kidneys. WAYS OF REDUCING EXPOSURE * Where possible, enclose operations and use local exhaust IDENTIFICATION ventilation at the site of chemical release. If local exhaust Carbon Tetrabromide is a colorless powder or yellow- ventilation or enclosure is not used, respirators should be brown crystalline (sand-like) solid. It is used to manufacture worn. other chemicals. * Wear protective work clothing. * Wash thoroughly immediately after exposure to Carbon REASON FOR CITATION Tetrabromide and at the end of the workshift. * Carbon Tetrabromide is on the Hazardous Substance * Post hazard and warning information in the work area. In List because it is cited by ACGIH, DOT and NIOSH. addition, as part of an ongoing education and training * Definitions are provided on page 5. effort, communicate all information on the health and safety hazards of Carbon Tetrabromide to potentially HOW TO DETERMINE IF YOU ARE BEING exposed workers. 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. CARBON TETRABROMIDE 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 substance damage already done are not a substitute for controlling and other factors will affect your susceptibility to any of the exposure. 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 Carbon worsen respiratory conditions caused by chemical exposure. Tetrabromide: Even if you have smoked for a long time, stopping now will reduce your risk of developing health problems. * Contact can cause severe skin burns. * Because more than light alcohol consumption can cause * Exposure to Carbon Tetrabromide can irritate the eyes liver damage, drinking alcohol may increase the liver causing intense tearing and may cause permanent eye damage caused by Carbon Tetrabromide. damage. * Breathing Carbon Tetrabromide can irritate the nose, WORKPLACE CONTROLS AND PRACTICES throat and lungs causing coughing, wheezing and/or shortness of breath. 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 Carbon Tetrabromide and can the site of chemical release. Isolating operations can also last 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, Carbon In evaluating the controls present in your workplace, consider: Tetrabromide has not been tested for its ability to cause (1) how hazardous the substance is, (2) how much of the 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 New significant skin, eye, or breathing exposures are possible. Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Carbon Tetrabromide has not been tested for its ability to affect In addition, the following control is recommended: reproduction. * Where possible, automatically transfer Carbon Other Long-Term Effects Tetrabromide from drums or other storage containers to * Carbon Tetrabromide can irritate the lungs. Repeated process containers. exposure may cause bronchitis to develop with cough, phlegm, and/or shortness of breath. Good WORK PRACTICES can help to reduce hazardous * Carbon Tetrabromide may damage the liver and kidneys. exposures. The following work practices are recommended: MEDICAL * Workers whose clothing has been contaminated by Carbon Tetrabromide should change into clean clothing promptly. * Do not take contaminated work clothes home. Family Medical Testing members could be exposed. If symptoms develop or overexposure is suspected, the * Contaminated work clothes should be laundered by following are recommended: individuals who have been informed of the hazards of exposure to Carbon Tetrabromide. * Lung function tests. * Eye wash fountains should be provided in the immediate * Liver and kidney function tests. work area for emergency use. * If there is the possibility of skin exposure, emergency shower facilities should be provided. CARBON TETRABROMIDE page 3 of 6 * On skin contact with Carbon Tetrabromide, immediately * If while wearing a filter or cartridge respirator you can wash or shower to remove the chemical. At the end of the smell, taste, or otherwise detect Carbon Tetrabromide, or workshift, wash any areas of the body that may have if while wearing particulate filters abnormal resistance to contacted Carbon Tetrabromide, whether or not known breathing is experienced, or eye irritation occurs while skin contact has occurred. wearing a full facepiece respirator, leave the area * Do not eat, smoke, or drink where Carbon Tetrabromide immediately. Check to make sure the respirator-to-face seal is handled, processed, or stored, since the chemical can be is still good. If it is, replace the filter or cartridge. If the swallowed. Wash hands carefully before eating, drinking, seal is no longer good, you may need a new respirator. smoking, or using the toilet. * Be sure to consider all potential exposures in your * Use a vacuum or a wet method to reduce dust during clean- workplace. You may need a combination of filters, up. DO NOT DRY SWEEP. prefilters or cartridges to protect against different forms of a chemical (such as vapor and mist) or against a mixture of PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT chemicals. * Where the potential for high exposure exists, use a WORKPLACE CONTROLS ARE BETTER THAN MSHA/NIOSH approved supplied-air respirator with a full PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. However, for facepiece operated in a pressure-demand or other positive- some jobs (such as outside work, confined space entry, jobs pressure mode. For increased protection use in combination done only once in a while, or jobs done while workplace with an auxiliary self-contained breathing apparatus controls are being installed), personal protective equipment operated in a pressure-demand or other positive-pressure may be appropriate. mode. OSHA 1910.132 requires employers to determine the QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS appropriate personal protective equipment for each hazard and to train employees on how and when to use protective Q: If I have acute health effects, will I later get chronic equipment. health effects? The following recommendations are only guidelines and may A: Not always. Most chronic (long-term) effects result from not apply to every situation. repeated exposures to a chemical. Clothing Q: Can I get long-term effects without ever having short- term effects? * Avoid skin contact with Carbon Tetrabromide. Wear A: Yes, because long-term effects can occur from repeated protective gloves and clothing. Safety equipment suppliers/manufacturers can provide recommendations on exposures