Common Name: SODIUM ALUMINATE CAS Number: 11138-49-1 DOT Number: UN 2812 (solid) RTK Substance number: 1675 UN 1819 (solution) Date: October 1986 Revision: April 2000 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- HAZARD SUMMARY WORKPLACE EXPOSURE LIMITS * Sodium Aluminate can affect you when breathed in. The following exposure limits are for soluble Aluminum salts: * Contact can severely irritate and burn the skin and eyes with possible eye damage. NIOSH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is * Breathing Sodium Aluminate can irritate the nose, throat 2 mg/m3 averaged over a 10-hour workshift. and lungs causing coughing, wheezing and/or shortness of breath. ACGIH: The recommended airborne exposure limit is * Sodium Aluminate is a CORROSIVE CHEMICAL. 2 mg/m3 averaged over an 8-hour workshift. IDENTIFICATION WAYS OF REDUCING EXPOSURE Sodium Aluminate is a white powder. It is used in the * Where possible, enclose operations and use local exhaust manufacture of milk-glass, soap and cleaning compounds. ventilation at the site of chemical release. If local exhaust ventilation or enclosure is not used, respirators should be REASON FOR CITATION worn. * Sodium Aluminate is on the Hazardous Substance List * Wear protective work clothing. because it is cited by ACGIH, DOT and NIOSH. * Wash thoroughly immediately after exposure to Sodium * This chemical is on the Special Health Hazard Substance Aluminate. List because it is CORROSIVE. * Post hazard and warning information in the work area. In * Definitions are provided on page 5. addition, as part of an ongoing education and training effort, communicate all information on the health and HOW TO DETERMINE IF YOU ARE BEING safety hazards of Sodium Aluminate to potentially EXPOSED exposed workers. 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 ALUMINATE page 2 of 6 This Fact Sheet is a summary source of information of all Mixed Exposures potential and most severe health hazards that may result from * Because smoking can cause heart disease, as well as lung exposure. Duration of exposure, concentration of the cancer, emphysema, and other respiratory problems, it may substance and other factors will affect your susceptibility to worsen respiratory conditions caused by chemical any of the potential effects described below. exposure. Even if you have smoked for a long time, --------------------------------------------------------------------------- stopping now will reduce your risk of developing health problems. HEALTH HAZARD INFORMATION WORKPLACE CONTROLS AND PRACTICES Acute Health Effects The following acute (short-term) health effects may occur Unless a less toxic chemical can be substituted for a hazardous immediately or shortly after exposure to Sodium Aluminate: substance, ENGINEERING CONTROLS are the most effective way of reducing exposure. The best protection is to * Contact can severely irritate and burn the skin and eyes enclose operations and/or provide local exhaust ventilation at with possible eye damage. the site of chemical release. Isolating operations can also * Breathing Sodium Aluminate can irritate the nose and reduce exposure. Using respirators or protective equipment is throat causing coughing and wheezing. less effective than the controls mentioned above, but is sometimes necessary. Chronic Health Effects The following chronic (long-term) health effects can occur at In evaluating the controls present in your workplace, consider: some time after exposure to Sodium Aluminate and can last (1) how hazardous the substance is, (2) how much of the for months or years: substance is released into the workplace and (3) whether harmful skin or eye contact could occur. Special controls Cancer 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, Sodium Aluminate has not been tested for its ability to In addition, the following control is recommended: cause cancer in animals. * Where possible, automatically transfer solid Sodium Reproductive Hazard Aluminate or pump liquid solutions of Sodium * According to the information presently available to the Aluminate from drums or other storage containers to New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, process containers. Sodium Aluminate has not been tested for its ability to affect reproduction. Good WORK PRACTICES can help to reduce hazardous exposures. The following work practices are recommended: Other Long-Term Effects * Workers whose clothing has been contaminated by * Sodium Aluminate can irritate the lungs. Repeated Sodium Aluminate 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 Sodium Aluminate. Before beginning employment and at regular times after that, * Eye wash fountains should be provided in the immediate the following are recommended: work area for emergency use. * If there is the possibility of skin exposure, emergency * Lung function tests. shower facilities should be provided. * On skin contact with Sodium Aluminate, immediately Any evaluation should include a careful history of past and wash or shower to remove the chemical. present symptoms with an exam. Medical tests that look for * Do not eat, smoke, or drink where Sodium Aluminate is damage already done are not a substitute for controlling handled, processed, or stored, since the chemical can be exposure. swallowed. Wash hands carefully before eating, drinking, smoking, or using the toilet. Request copies of your medical testing. You have a legal * Use a vacuum or a wet method to reduce dust during right to this information under OSHA 1910.1020. clean-up. DO NOT DRY SWEEP. SODIUM ALUMINATE page 3 of 6 PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT * If while wearing a filter or cartridge respirator you can smell, taste, or otherwise detect Sodium Aluminate, or if WORKPLACE CONTROLS ARE BETTER THAN while wearing particulate filters abnormal resistance to PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. However, for breathing is experienced, or eye irritation occurs while some jobs (such as outside work, confined space entry, jobs wearing a full facepiece respirator, leave the area done only once in a while, or jobs done while workplace immediately. Check to make sure the respirator-to-face controls are being installed), personal protective equipment seal is still good. If it is, replace the filter or cartridge. If may be appropriate. the seal is no longer good, you may need a new respirator. * Be sure to consider all potential exposures in your OSHA 1910.132 requires employers to determine the workplace. You may need a combination of filters, appropriate personal protective equipment for each hazard and prefilters or cartridges to protect against different forms of to train employees on how and when to use protective a chemical (such as vapor and mist) or against a mixture of equipment. chemicals. * Where the potential for high exposure exists, use a The following recommendations are only guidelines and may MSHA/NIOSH approved supplied-air respirator with a full not apply to every situation. facepiece operated in a pressure-demand or other positive- pressure mode. For increased protection use in Clothing combination with an auxiliary self-contained breathing * Avoid skin contact with Sodium Aluminate. Wear apparatus operated in a pressure-demand or other positive- protective gloves and clothing. Safety equipment pressure mode. suppliers/ manufacturers can provide recommendations on the most protective glove/clothing material for your QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS operation. * All protective clothing (suits, gloves, footwear, headgear) Q: If I have acute health effects, will I later get chronic should be clean, available each day, and put on before health effects? work. A: Not always. Most chronic (long-term) effects result from repeated exposures to a chemical. Eye Protection * For solid Sodium Aluminate wear impact resistant eye Q: Can I get long-term effects without ever having short- protection with side shields or goggles. term effects? * Wear indirect-vent, impact and splash resistant goggles A: Yes, because long-term effects can occur from repeated when working with liquid solutions of Sodium exposures to a chemical at levels not high enough to Aluminate. make you immediately sick. * Wear a face shield along with goggles when working with corrosive, highly irritating or toxic substances.