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File: 082696_doc1_078.txt
Poison A
-~ 6 6
POTENTIAL HAZARDS
GENERAL HAZARDS
Threshold Odor Concentration: 0.125 to 1.0 ppm; the sense of smell for phosgene may dull quickly.
Unusual Hazards: Extremely toxic and volatile material with heavier than air vapors that may persist in pits,
hollows, depressions and other low areas. Can be hazardous to life over considerable downwind distances.
Short Term Exposure Limits (STEL): Unavailable
Time Weighted Average (TL V- TWA): 0.1 ppm over each 8 hours of a 40 hour work week.(ACGIH)
Conditions to Avoid: Heat,fire,and sparks; contact with incompatible materials; runoff to sewers or water bodies;
inhalation, ingestion, or direct physical contact.
HEALTH HAZARDS
Public Health Hazards: Major hazard to the public is from the large quantities of highly toxic gases and vapors that
may be released in an accident and pose an extreme danger over considerable downwind distances. These gases and
vapors are heavier-than-air and may persist in low areas.
Hazards of Skin or Eye Contact: Contact of the skin with liquid phosgene may cause severe irritation or severe
burns; prolonged exposure to phosgene gas may cause skin irritation. Contact of the eyes with the liquid may cause
severe irritation and corneal injury that may result in permanent impairment of vision or blindness. In laboratory
experiments, high gas concentrations also caused corneal opacification in animals.
Hazards of Inhalation: Exposure to 3-4 ppm phosgene in air usually causes throat and eye irritation and coughing,
but the properties of the material are inadequate to warn of dangerous exposures. Higher levels in air eventually
cause dryness of the throat, coughing, choking, tightness across the chest, pain on breathing, headache, nausea,
dizziness, chills, discomfort, thirst, thick and later thin and foamy sputum, grey-blue cyanosis, pulmonary edema,
pneumonia, and death from respiratory or cardiac failure. A key problem is that the period between inhalation of
- - harmful concentrations and onset of severe effects may be several hours or more almost free of symptoms. Any
exposed person must therefore be treated as if the exposure is life threatening, kept under observation up to 72
hours, and given appropriate medical care. Levels of 50-90 ppm in air can be fatal in 30 minutes or less; 25 ppm
can be dangerous to life after 30 minutes; 20 ppm causes severe lung injury in 1 to 2 minutes; 12.5 ppm is
dangerous to life in 30 to 60 minutes.
Hazards of Ingestion: Due to the low boiling point of phosgene, the effects of ingestion are not discussed in the
available literature. At the very least, severe burns of the mouth, throat, and stomach may be expected.
FIRE HAZARDS
Lower Flammable Limit: Not flammable
Upper Flammable Limit: Not flammable
Behavior in Fire: Containers may rupture violently in fire due to overpressurization. Large quantities of highly toxic
non-flammable gases may be released suddenly to the atmosphere.
Hazardous Combustion Products: Heating above 4820F (2500C) forms chlorides, chlorine, carbon monoxide, carbon
dioxide, carbon tetrachloride, and possibly other substances, which although toxic, are less so than phosgene.
EXPLOSION HAZARDS
Lower Explosive Limit: Not flammable
Upper Explosive Limit: Not flammable
Explosiveness: Phosgene containers do not have pressure relief valves. Containers may rupture violently in fire due
to overpressurization.
1 PROTECTIVE CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT
Protective Clothing Required: Equipment should prevent any possibility of skin contact and any possibility of eye
contact with the spilled product. This may include rubber boots, gloves, face shields, splash-proof safety goggles, and
other impervious and resistant clothing.
Respiratory Protection: For unknown concentrations, fire fighting, or high concentrations (above 0.1 ppm), a self-
) contained breathing apparatus (SC BA) with full facepiece (or the equivalent).
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