Section 1 - CHEMICAL PRODUCT AND COMPANY IDENTIFICATION

PRODUCT NAME

WATTYL COLORCOTE THINNER

NFPA

PRODUCT USE

Thinner.

SYNONYMS

"Colourcote Colorcoat Colourcoat (misspellings)"

Section 2 - HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION

CANADIAN WHMIS SYMBOLS

EMERGENCY OVERVIEW

RISK

Risk of serious damage to eyes.
HARMFUL - May cause lung damage if swallowed.
Harmful by inhalation, in contact with skin and if swallowed.
Irritating to respiratory system and skin.
Highly flammable.
Vapors may cause dizziness or suffocation.
Harmful to aquatic organisms.

POTENTIAL HEALTH EFFECTS

ACUTE HEALTH EFFECTS

SWALLOWED

  Accidental ingestion of the material may be damaging to the health of the individual.  Ingestion of petroleum hydrocarbons can irritate the pharynx, esophagus, stomach and small intestine, and cause swellings and ulcers of the mucous. Symptoms include a burning mouth and throat; larger amounts can cause nausea and vomiting, narcosis, weakness, dizziness, slow and shallow breathing, abdominal swelling, unconsciousness and convulsions. Damage to the heart muscle can produce heart beat irregularities, ventricular fibrillation (fatal) and ECG changes. The central nervous system can be depressed. Light species can cause a sharp tingling of the tongue and cause loss of sensation there. Aspiration can cause cough, gagging, pneumonia with swelling and bleeding.  Overexposure to non-ring alcohols causes nervous system symptoms. These include headache, muscle weakness and inco-ordination, giddiness, confusion, delirium and coma. Digestive symptoms may include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Aspiration is much more dangerous than ingestion because lung damage can occur and the substance is absorbed into the body. Alcohols with ring structures and secondary and tertiary alcohols cause more severe symptoms, as do heavier alcohols.  

EYE

  If applied to the eyes, this material causes severe eye damage.  The material may produce severe irritation to the eye causing pronounced inflammation. Repeated or prolonged exposure to irritants may produce conjunctivitis.  

SKIN

  Skin contact with the material may be harmful; systemic effects may resultfollowing absorption.  There is some evidence to suggest that this material, on a single contact with skin, can cause irreversible damage of organs.  The material may cause moderate inflammation of the skin either following direct contact or after a delay of some time. Repeated exposure can cause contact dermatitis which is characterized by redness, swelling and blistering.  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.  Toxic effects may result from skin absorption.  Exposure limits with "skin" notation indicate that vapor and liquid may be absorbed through intact skin. Absorption by skin may readily exceed vapor inhalation exposure. Symptoms for skin absorption are the same as for inhalation. Contact with eyes and mucous membranes may also contribute to overall exposure and may also invalidate the exposure standard.  The material may cause skin irritation after prolonged or repeated exposure and may produce on contact skin redness, swelling, the production of vesicles, scaling and thickening of the skin.  

INHALED

  There is some evidence to suggest that this material can cause, if inhaled once, irreversible damage of organs.  The material can cause respiratory irritation in some persons. The body's response to such irritation can cause further lung damage.  Aliphatic alcohols with more than 3-carbons cause headache, dizziness, drowsiness, muscle weakness and delirium, central depression, coma, seizures and behavioral changes. Secondary respiratory depression and failure, as well as low blood pressure and irregular heart rhythms, may follow. Nausea and vomiting are seen, and liver and kidney damage is possible as well following massive exposures. Symptoms are more acute the more carbons there are in the alcohol.  If exposure to highly concentrated solvent atmosphere is prolonged this may lead to narcosis, unconsciousness, even coma and possible death.  Headache, fatigue, lassitude, irritability and gastrointestinal disturbances (e.g., nausea, anorexia and flatulence) are the most common symptoms of xylene overexposure. Injury to the heart, liver, kidneys and nervous system has also been noted amongst workers. Transient memory loss, renal impairment, temporary confusion and some evidence of disturbance of liver function was reported in three workers overcome by gross exposure to xylene (10000 ppm). One worker died and autopsy revealed pulmonary congestion, oedema and focal alveolar haemorrhage. Volunteers inhaling xylene at 100 ppm for 5 to 6 hours showed changes in manual coordination reaction time and slight ataxia. Tolerance developed during the workweek but was lost over the weekend. Physical exercise may antagonise this effect. Xylene body burden in humans exposed to 100 or 200 ppm xylene in air depends on the amount of body fat with 4% to 8% of total absorbed xylene accumulating in adipose tissue.  

CHRONIC HEALTH EFFECTS

  Limited evidence suggests that repeated or long-term occupational exposure may produce cumulative health effects involving organs or biochemical systems.  Asthma-like symptoms may continue for months or even years after exposure to the material ceases. This may be due to a non-allergenic condition known as reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS) which can occur following exposure to high levels of highly irritating compound. Key criteria for the diagnosis of RADS include the absence of preceding respiratory disease, in a non-atopic individual, with abrupt onset of persistent asthma-like symptoms within minutes to hours of a documented exposure to the irritant. A reversible airflow pattern, on spirometry, with the presence of moderate to severe bronchial hyperreactivity on methacholine challenge testing and the lack of minimal lymphocytic inflammation, without eosinophilia, have also been included in the criteria for diagnosis of RADS. RADS (or asthma) following an irritating inhalation is an infrequent disorder with rates related to the concentration of and duration of exposure to the irritating substance. Industrial bronchitis, on the other hand, is a disorder that occurs as result of exposure due to high concentrations of irritating substance (often particulate in nature) and is completely reversible after exposure ceases. The disorder is characterised by dyspnea, cough and mucus production.  There has been some concern that this material can cause cancer or mutations but there is not enough data to make an assessment.  There is some evidence that human exposure to the material may result in developmental toxicity. This evidence is based on animal studies where effects have been observed in the absence of marked maternal toxicity, or at around the same dose levels as other toxic effects but which are not secondary non-specific consequences of the other toxic effects.  Exposure to the material for prolonged periods may cause physical defects in the developing embryo (teratogenesis).  Chronic solvent inhalation exposures may result in nervous system impairment and liver and blood changes. [PATTYS].  Prolonged or repeated contact with xylenes may cause defatting dermatitis with drying and cracking. Chronic inhalation of xylenes has been associated with central nervous system effects, loss of appetite, nausea, ringing in the ears, irritability, thirst anaemia, mucosal bleeding, enlarged liver and hyperplasia. Exposure may produce kidney and liver damage. In chronic occupational exposure, xylene (usually mix ed with other solvents) has produced irreversible damage to the central nervous system and ototoxicity (damages hearing and increases sensitivity to noise), probably due to neurotoxic mechanisms.  Industrial workers exposed to xylene with a maximum level of ethyl benzene of 0.06 mg/l (14 ppm) reported headaches and irritability and tired quickly. Functional nervous system disturbances were found in some workers employed for over 7 years whilst other workers had enlarged livers.  Xylene has been classed as a developmental toxin in some jurisdictions.  Small excess risks of spontaneous abortion and congenital malformation were reported amongst women exposed to xylene in the first trimester of pregnancy. In all cases, however, the women were also been exposed to other substances. Evaluation of workers chronically exposed to xylene has demonstrated lack of genotoxicity. Exposure to xylene has been associated with increased risks of haemopoietic malignancies but, again, simultaneous exposure to other substances (including benzene) complicates the picture. A long-term gavage study to mixed xylenes (containing 17% ethyl benzene) found no evidence of carcinogenic activity in rats and mice of either sex.