Section 1 - CHEMICAL PRODUCT AND COMPANY IDENTIFICATION

PRODUCT NAME

HCA RHODAMINE B 540 GRANULAR

NFPA

PRODUCT USE

Used for colouring a wide variety of applications.

Section 2 - HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION

CANADIAN WHMIS SYMBOLS

EMERGENCY OVERVIEW

RISK

Harmful if swallowed.
Toxic to aquatic organisms.

POTENTIAL HEALTH EFFECTS

ACUTE HEALTH EFFECTS

SWALLOWED

  Accidental ingestion of the material may be harmful; animal experiments indicate that ingestion of less than 150 gram may be fatal or may produce serious damage to the health of the individual.  At sufficiently high doses the material may be hepatotoxic(i.e. poisonous to the liver).  

EYE

  If applied to the eyes, this material causes severe eye damage.  Injury produced by cationic dyes range from conjunctival oedema, hyperaemia and purulent (pus) discharge to total opacification and necrosis and sloughing of the corneal stratum. The typical course, following exposure ofrabbit eyes to toxic quantities of cationic dyes,  is an initial staining of the eye that persists even after attempts to wash it away. The stain disappears spontaneously within a day and the cornea becomes translucent, greyish and only slightly tinted. Opacity may increase, and the cornea may soften over the following 14 days, greatly bulging and weakened; sometimes necrosis occurs with sloughing. Permanent opacification from vascularisation and scarring occurs in most cases.  

SKIN

  Skin contact is not thought to produce harmful health effects (as classified using animal models). Systemic harm, however, has been identified following exposure of animals by at least one other route and the material may still produce health damage following entry through wounds, lesions or abrasions. Good hygiene practice requires that exposure be kept to a minimum and that suitable gloves be used in an occupational setting.  Entry into the blood-stream, through, for example, cuts, abrasions or lesions, may produce systemic injury with harmful effects. Examine the skin prior to the use of the material and ensure that any external damage is suitably protected.  

INHALED

  The material is not thought to produce either adverse health effects or irritation of the respiratory tract following inhalation (as classified using animal models). Nevertheless, adverse effects have been produced following exposure of animals by at least one other route and good hygiene practice requires that exposure be kept to a minimum and that suitable control measures be used in an occupational setting.  

CHRONIC HEALTH EFFECTS

  Long term exposure to high dust concentrations may cause changes in lung function i.e. pneumoconiosis; caused by particles less than 0.5 micron penetrating and remaining in the lung. Prime symptom is breathlessness; lung shadows show on X-ray.  There has been some concern that this material can cause cancer or mutations but there is not enough data to make an assessment.