Section 1 - CHEMICAL PRODUCT AND COMPANY IDENTIFICATION

PRODUCT NAME

VINYL CHLORIDE

NFPA

PRODUCT USE

Dangerous POISON. Available ONLY for industrial and manufacturing purposes. To be used by
or in accordance with directions of accredited pest control officers. Operators to be
trained in procedures for safe use of material. Used in the plastics industry; as a
refrigerant; in organic syntheses Intermediate

SYNONYMS

C2-H3-Cl, monochloroethylene, chloroethene, chloroethylene, "ethene, chloro-", "ethylene
monochloride", VCM, "Vinyl C Monomer"

Section 2 - HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION

CANADIAN WHMIS SYMBOLS

EMERGENCY OVERVIEW

RISK

May form explosive peroxides.
May cause CANCER.
Extremely flammable.
Risk of explosion if heated under confinement.

POTENTIAL HEALTH EFFECTS

ACUTE HEALTH EFFECTS

SWALLOWED

  Not normally a hazard due to physical form of product.  Considered an unlikely route of entry in commercial/industrial environments.  

EYE

  If applied to the eyes, this material causes severe eye damage.  Not considered to be a risk because of the extreme volatility of the gas.  

SKIN

  The material can produce chemical burns following direct contactwith the skin.  Skin contact with the material may damage the health of the individual; systemic effects may result following absorption.  Vaporizing liquid causes rapid cooling and contact may cause cold burns,frostbite.  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

  Inhalation may produce health damage*.  Inhalation of vapours may cause drowsiness and dizziness. This may be accompanied by narcosis, reduced alertness, loss of reflexes, lack of coordination and vertigo.  Inhalation of vapors or aerosols (mists, fumes), generated by the material during the course of normal handling, may be damaging to the health of the individual.  Material is highly volatile and may quickly form a concentrated atmosphere in confined or unventilated areas. Vapor is heavier than air and may displace and replace air in breathing zone, acting as a simple asphyxiant. This may happen with little warning of overexposure.  Symptoms of asphyxia (suffocation) may include headache, dizziness, shortness of breath, muscular weakness, drowsiness and ringing in the ears. If the asphyxia is allowed to progress, there may be nausea and vomiting, further physical weakness and unconsciousness and, finally, convulsions, coma and death. Significant concentrations of the non-toxic gas reduce the oxygen level in the air. As the amount of oxygen is reduced from 21 to 14 volume %, the pulse rate accelerates and the rate and volume of breathing increase. The ability to maintain attention and think clearly is diminished and muscular coordination is somewhat disturbed. As oxygen decreases from 14-10% judgement becomes faulty; severe injuries may cause no pain. Muscular exertion leads to rapid fatigue. Further reduction to 6% may produce nausea and vomiting and the ability to move may be lost. Permanent brain damage may result even after resuscitation at exposures to this lower oxygen level. Below 6% breathing is in gasps and convulsions may occur. Inhalation of a mixture containing no oxygen may result in unconsciousness from the first breath and death will follow in a few minutes.  The use of a quantity of material in an unventilated or confined space may result in increased exposure and an irritating atmosphere developing.Before starting consider control of exposure by mechanical ventilation.  Inhalation of non-toxic gases may cause:  ·  CNS effects: headache, confusion, dizziness, stupor, seizures and coma;  ·  respiratory: shortness of breath and rapid breathing;  ·  cardiovascular: collapse and irregular heart beats;  ·  gastrointestinal: mucous membrane irritation, nausea and vomiting.  

CHRONIC HEALTH EFFECTS

  There is sufficient evidence to suggest that this materialdirectly causes cancer in humans.  Limited evidence suggests that repeated or long-term occupational exposure may produce cumulative health effects involving organs or biochemical systems.  Principal route of occupational exposure to the gas is by inhalation.  Repeated or prolonged exposure to acids may result in the erosion of teeth, swelling and or ulceration of mouth lining. Irritation of airways to lung, with cough, and inflammation of lung tissue often occurs. Chronic exposure may inflame the skin or conjunctiva.  Halogenated oxiranes may arise following epoxidation of haloalkenes.  The carcinogenicity of halogenated oxiranes may lie in the reactivity of an epoxide intermediate. It is reported that 1,1-dichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, trichloroethylene,  tetrachloroethylene and chloroprene, for example, are carcinogens in vivo - this may be a consequence of oxirane formation.  Symmetrically substituted oxiranes such as 1,2-dichloroethylene and 1,1,2-2-  tetrachloroethylene are more stable and less mutagenic than unsymmetrical chlorinated oxiranes such as 1,1-dichloroethylene, 1,1,2-trichloroethylene and monochloroethylene (vinyl chloride).  The carcinogenicity of 1,1-dichloroethylene has primarily been associated with inhalation exposure while that of vinyl chloride, trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene occurs following exposure by both inhalation and oral routes. National Toxicology Program Toxicity Report Series Number 55; April 2002 Various studies report an association between cancer and industrial exposure to tetrachloroethylene; IARC concluded that this evidence is sufficient to assign appropriate warnings. Similar warnings have been issued by IARC for vinyl fluoride. Similarly vinyl bromide exhibited neoplastic and tumourigenic activity in rats exposed by inhalation and is classified by various bodies as potentially carcinogenic.  Substances such as chloroprene (2-chloro-1,3-butadiene), are reported to produce an increased frequency of chromosomal aberrations in the lymphocytes of Russian workers. Russian epidemiological studies also suggest an increased incidence of skin and lung cancer following exposure to chloroprene, a result which is not supported by other studies.  Generally speaking, the monohalogenated substances exhibit higher carcinogenic potential than their dihalogenated counterparts. Whether additional substitution lessens such hazard is conjectural. Tetrafluoroethylene, for example, produced clear evidence of carcinogenic activity in a two-year inhalation study in rats and mice. National Toxicology Program Technical Report Series 450, April 1997.  Repeated exposure of laboratory animals to vinyl chloride produced little liver or kidney damage. Repeated exposures produce neurological effects in man with somnolence prominent. Dyspeptic disturbances include epigastric pain, swelling, discomfort, heaviness in the right hypochondrium and  anorexia. Congestive hepatomegaly may mimic toxic hepatitis without jaundice. Some case become chronic. Allergic dermatitis and schleroderma and Raynaud's syndrome have been observed. Repeated exposure of workers has caused increased liver enzyme concentrations, restricted blood flow, bone degeneration in the fingers, liver and spleen enlargement, nervous system disturbance, CNS depression, decreased respiratory function and emphysema.  A dose-dependent relationship between exposure and the incidence of several tumour types has however been established. Exposures to high concentrations have little additional effect because the action of metabolites is responsible for the carcinogenicity rather than the action of the parent molecule. Formation rates of the metabolites are limited and dose-dependent and once the enzyme systems responsible for vinyl chloride activation are saturated, greater doses do not produce a corresponding increase in tumour incidence. Reports of hepatic angiosarcoma and respiratory cancers in vinyl chloride workers have appeared over many years cancers of the respiratory system (primarily angiosarcoma), brain as well as lymphomas occur more often than might be expected amongst men occupationally exposed to vinyl chloride for at least one year.