Section 1 - CHEMICAL PRODUCT AND COMPANY IDENTIFICATION

PRODUCT NAME

NAPHTHALENE

NFPA

PRODUCT USE

SHALL not be supplied in block, ball disc or pellet form for domestic use unless enclosed
in a device which prevents removal of contents. NHMRC. Used in organic synthesis; in the
manufacture of products such as insecticides, fungicides, explosives, cutting fluids,
lubricants and dyestuffs. Production of phthalic anhydride.

SYNONYMS

C10H8, "tar camphor", naphthalin, mothballs, "moth flake balls", naphthene, "Mosom
naphthalene flakes", "misspelling as napthalene"

Section 2 - HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION

CANADIAN WHMIS SYMBOLS

EMERGENCY OVERVIEW

RISK

Harmful if swallowed.
Limited evidence of a carcinogenic effect.
Flammable.
Very toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long- term adverse effects in the
aquatic environment.

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.  Ingestion of naphthalene and its congeners may produce abdominal cramps with nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, headache, profuse perspiration, listlessness, confusion, and in severe poisonings, coma with or without convulsions. Irritation of the urinary bladder may also occur (presumably due to the excretory products of naphthalene metabolism) and produce urgency, dysuria, and the passage of brown or black urine with or without albumin or casts. These effects may disappear within a few days and have not been associated with haemolysis which is a prominent finding in naphthalene poisoning. Severe naphthalene poisoning in humans produces haemoglobinuria, methaemoglobinaemia, the production of Heinz bodies and death. Methaemoglobinemia produces a form of oxygen starvation (anoxia). Symptoms include cyanosis (a bluish discolouration skin and mucous membranes) and breathing difficulties. Symptoms may not be evident until several hours after exposure. At about 15% concentration of blood methaemoglobin there is observable cyanosis of the lips, nose and earlobes. Symptoms may be absent although euphoria, flushed face and headache are commonly experienced. At 25-40%, cyanosis is marked but little disability occurs other than that produced on physical exertion. At 40-60%, symptoms include weakness, dizziness, lightheadedness, increasingly severe headache, ataxia, rapid shallow respiration, drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, confusion, lethargy and stupor. Above 60% symptoms include dyspnea, respiratory depression, tachycardia or bradycardia, and convulsions. Levels exceeding 70% may be fatal. In those who survive haemotoxic effects, life-threatening acute renal failure, secondary to renal blockade, occurs. The acute lethal dose of naphthalene is estimated to be between 5 and 15 grams, although certain susceptible individuals have died after ingestion of a total dose of 2 grams. Hypersusceptibility, based on congenital deficiency of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity, has been identified and is more common amongst Asians, Arabs, Caucasians of Latin ancestry and American and African blacks; males in particular are sensitive.  

EYE

  If applied to the eyes, this material causes severe eye damage.  

SKIN

  The material is not thought to be a skin irritant (as classified using animal models). Abrasive damage however, may result from prolonged exposures. Good hygiene practice requires that exposure be kept to a minimum and that suitable gloves be used in an occupational setting.  Skin contact with the material may damage the health of the individual; systemic effects may result following absorption.  Open cuts, abraded or irritated skin should not be exposed to this material.  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 dusts, generated by the material during the course of normal handling, may be damaging to the health of the individual.  There is some evidence to suggest that the material can cause respiratory irritation in some persons. The body's response to such irritation can cause further lung damage.  Inhalation hazard is increased at higher temperatures.  Inhalation of naphthalene vapour has been associated with headache, loss of appetite and nausea. Other conditions associated with exposure to the vapour include optic neuritis, corneal injury and kidney damage. Animals exposed to aerosols of a refined commercial solvent mixture consisting primarily of mono-methylated naphthalenes, exhibited dyspnoea. When animals were exposed to this mixture for 27 daily one-hour exposures over a 35-day period, they showed dyspnoea, listlessness, prostration and marked salivation. Weight loss was evident in mice but not in other species. Pathological changes occurred in the lungs, liver and skin. Pulmonary changes consisted mainly of oedema, bronchopneumonia, emphysema, and thickening of the parabronchiolar alveolar septa. Haematology did not identify significant changes.  Acute effects from inhalation of high vapor concentrations may be chest and nasal irritation with coughing, sneezing, headache and even nausea.  

CHRONIC HEALTH EFFECTS

  There has been concern that this material can cause cancer or mutations, but there is not enough data to make an assessment.  Limited evidence suggests that repeated or long-term occupational exposure may produce cumulative health effects involving organs or biochemical systems.  There is limited evidence that, skin contact with this product is more likely to cause a sensitization reaction in some persons compared to the general population.  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.  In a two-year inhalation study, groups of mice were exposed at 0, 10 or 30 ppm naphthalene, 6 hours/day, 5 days/week for 103 weeks. Female mice showed an increase of pulmonary alveolar/bronchiolar adenomas at 30 ppm. There was no increase in the incidence of tumours in male mice. Naphthalene inhalation was associated with an increase in the incidence and severity of chronic inflammation, metaplasia of the olfactory epithelium, and hyperplasia of the respiratory epithelium in the nose, and chronic inflammation of the lungs of both sexes.