Section 1 - CHEMICAL PRODUCT AND COMPANY IDENTIFICATION

PRODUCT NAME

O-TOLUIDINE HYDROCHLORIDE

NFPA

PRODUCT USE

Manufacture of dye- stuffs; printing textiles blue black and making certain colours fast
to acids. Fragrance

SYNONYMS

C7-H9-N.HCl, CH3C6H4NH2.HCl, "2-aminotoluene hydrochloride", "2-aminotoluene
hydrochloride", "o-methylaniline hydrochloride", "o-methylaniline hydrochloride", "1-
amino-2-methylbenzene hydrochloride", "1-amino-2-methylbenzene hydrochloride", "2-amino-1-
methylbenzene hydrochloride", "2-amino-1-methylbenzene hydrochloride", "o-aminotoluene
hydrochloride", "o-aminotoluene hydrochloride", "2-methyl aniline hydrochloride", "2-
methyl aniline hydrochloride", "2-methyl benzeneamine hydrochloride", "2-methyl
benzeneamine hydrochloride", "1-methyl-2-aminobenzene hydrochloride", "1-methyl-2-
aminobenzene hydrochloride", "2-methyl-1-aminobenzene hydrochloride", "2-methyl-1-
aminobenzene hydrochloride", "2-methylaniline hydrochloride", "2-methylaniline
hydrochloride", "o-methylbenzeneamine hydrochloride", "o-methylbenzeneamine
hydrochloride", "2-methylbenzeneamine hydrochloride", "2-methylbenzeneamine
hydrochloride", "2-toluidine hydrochloride", "2-toluidine hydrochloride", "o-tolylamine
hydrochloride", "o-tolylamine hydrochloride", "RCRA Waste No. U222"

Section 2 - HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION

CANADIAN WHMIS SYMBOLS

EMERGENCY OVERVIEW

RISK

Toxic in contact with skin.
Irritating to eyes.
May cause CANCER.
May cause SENSITIZATION by skin contact.
Very toxic to aquatic organisms.

POTENTIAL HEALTH EFFECTS

ACUTE HEALTH EFFECTS

SWALLOWED

  Accidental ingestion of the material may be damaging to the health of the individual.  The substance and/or its metabolites may bind to hemoglobin inhibiting normal uptake of oxygen. This condition, known as "methemoglobinemia", is a form of oxygen starvation (anoxia).  Symptoms include cyanosis (a bluish discoloration skin and mucous membranes) and breathing difficulties. Symptoms may not be evident until several hours after exposure.  At about 15% concentration of blood methemoglobin 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.  Signs of intoxication in humans exposed to o-toluidine include methaemoglobinaemia, haematuria, marked renal and bladder irritation and physiological and psychological disturbances.  Daily gastric intubation of 225 mg o-toluidine/kg body weight to rats for 20 days produced cyanosis, splenic congestion with haemosiderosis and extramedullary haematopoiesis, hypercellularity in the bone marrow and mortalities. Rats given 35 mg/kg body weight daily for 2.5 months developed methaemoglobinaemia, erythropenia and reticulocytosis. A synthetic diet of a 7.5% solution in peanut oil (initial dose of 2 gm/rat reduced after 64 days to 1 gm/rat) produced bladder epithelial keratosis, metaplasia and a low incidence of papillomas. In a 7-week study, renal, hepatic and splenic pigmentation were observed in rats receiving 12500 ppm.  

EYE

  This material can cause eye irritation and damage in some persons.  

SKIN

  Skin contact with the material may produce toxic effects; systemic effectsmay result following absorption.  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.  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*.  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.  Persons with impaired respiratory function, airway diseases and conditions such as emphysema or chronic bronchitis, may incur further disability if excessive concentrations of particulate are inhaled.  Clinical signs of intoxication in humans include methaemoglobinaemia and haematuria. An exposure of 40 ppm of toluidine (all isomers) in air for 60 minutes produces severe intoxication. Prolonged exposure to as little as 10 ppm was reported to cause symptoms of illness. A 1-hour exposure at 640 mg/kg p-toluidine, in air, cause ocular and upper respiratory tract irritation in rats.  

CHRONIC HEALTH EFFECTS

  Skin contact with the material is more likely to cause a sensitization reaction in some persons compared to the general population.  There is ample evidence that this material can be regarded as being able to cause cancer in humans based on experiments and other information.  Limited evidence suggests that repeated or long-term occupational exposure may produce cumulative health effects involving organs or biochemical systems.  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.  Absorption across the placenta has produced foetal tumours in experimental animals. Bladder tumors have been produced in animals exposed to the substance by several routes.  When administered in the diet the hydrochloride increased the incidences of hepatocellular carcinomas or adenomas in female mice and haemangiosarcomas and haemangiomas of the abdominal viscera in both sexes of another strain; increased the incidences of sarcomas of multiple organs in rats of both sexes, subcutaneous fibromas and mesotheliomas in male rats, and sarcomas of the spleen, transitional cell papillomas and carcinomas of the urinary bladder, and mammary gland fibroadenomas and adenomas in the female rat. Although an excess of bladder cancers has often been found in workers exposed to varying combinations of dyestuffs and dyestuff intermediates, no population of workers exposed to o-toluidine alone has been described.  Most arylamines are powerful poisons to the blood-making system. High chronic doses cause congestion of the spleen and tumor formation.