Section 1 - CHEMICAL PRODUCT AND COMPANY IDENTIFICATION

PRODUCT NAME

MAGNESIUM ARSENATE (1:6)

NFPA

PRODUCT USE

Insecticide.

SYNONYMS

As2-Mg6-O11, "arsenic acid, magnesium salt (1:6)", "magnesium arsenate oxide",
"magnesium arsenide oxide"

Section 2 - HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION

CANADIAN WHMIS SYMBOLS

EMERGENCY OVERVIEW

RISK

May cause CANCER.
Toxic by inhalation and if swallowed.
Very toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long- term adverse effects in the
aquatic environment.

POTENTIAL HEALTH EFFECTS

ACUTE HEALTH EFFECTS

SWALLOWED

  Toxic effects may result from the accidental ingestion of the material; animal experiments indicate that ingestion of less than 40 gram may be fatal or may produce serious damage to the health of the individual.  Ingestion may produce nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, bloody stools, shock, rapid pulse and coma. Severe gastritis or gastroenteritis may occur as a result of lesions produced by vascular damage from absorbed arsenic (and not local corrosion); symptoms may be delayed for several hours. Eventually a violent hemorrhagic gastroenteritis leads to profound loss of fluid and electrolyte resulting in shock and death. Occasionally alimentary symptoms are mild or absent in which case symptoms are usually referable to the central nervous system, headache, vertigo, muscle spasm or convulsion, delirium and, sometimes, mania. In advanced poisonings by arsenic and its inorganic salts, nervous symptoms are prominent; disorders of the brain (encephalopathies) and peripheral neuritis (more commonly) have been described. A prickling sensation (paresthesia), decreased sensitivity to sensation and pain (hypoesthesia), eventually paralysis and muscular atrophy appear, usually in the legs. "Glove and stocking' distribution of sensory loss may be prominent. The toxic moiety is presumed to be trivalent arsenic in the form of inorganic arsenious acid (arsenite) or an organic arsenoxide. Arsenites are active enzyme inhibitors. Arsenic and its compounds may damage the stem cell which acts as the precursor to components of the blood. Loss of the stem cell may result in pancytopenia (a reduction in the number of red and white blood cells and platelets) with a latency period corresponding to the lifetime of the individual blood cells. Granulocytopenia (a reduction in granular leukocytes) develops within days and thrombocytopenia (a disorder involving platelets), within 1-2 weeks, whilst loss of erythrocytes (red blood cells) need months to become clinically manifest. Aplastic anaemia develops due to complete destruction of the stem cells.  Magnesium salts are generally absorbed so slowly that oral administration causes few toxic effects, as the dose is readily expelled via the bowel. If evacuation fails, mucosal irritation and absorption may result. This can result in nervous system depression, heart effects, loss of reflexes and death due to paralysis of breathing. These usually do not occur unless the bowel or kidneys are damaged.  

EYE

  Although the material is not thought to be an irritant, direct contact with the eye may produce transient discomfort characterized by tearing or conjunctival redness (as with windburn).  

SKIN

  The material is not thought to produce adverse health effects or skin irritation following contact (as classified using animal models). Nevertheless, good hygiene practice requires that exposure be kept to a minimum and that suitable gloves be used in an occupational setting.  Open cuts, abraded or irritated skin should not be exposed to this material.  Toxic effects may result from skin absorption.  

INHALED

  The material is not thought to produce respiratory irritation (as classified using animal models). Nevertheless inhalation of the material, especially for prolonged periods, may produce respiratory discomfort and occasionally, distress.  

CHRONIC HEALTH EFFECTS

  There is sufficient evidence to suggest that this materialdirectly causes cancer in humans.  

  Principal routes of exposure are by accidental skin and eye contact andinhalation of generated dusts.  Long-term exposure to arsenic and its inorganic salts may produce loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, low fever, persistent headache, pallor, weakness and phlegm. Skin effects include redness, eczema, pigmentation, diffuse hair loss, scaling of the palms and soles, sloughing, brittle nails, white lines or bands on the nails, loss of hair and nails, and localized swelling. Kidney damage can occur and liver enlargement with jaundice may develop into cirrhosis (hardening of the liver), with fluid in the abdomen. Nervous system effects involving the extremities (numbness, tingling, burning pain, weakness, inco-ordination) may also occur. Arsenic is well-known to cause cancer in humans.