Section 1 - CHEMICAL PRODUCT AND COMPANY IDENTIFICATION

PRODUCT NAME

LEAD 2-ETHYLHEXANOATE

NFPA

PRODUCT USE

Drier for varnishes and lacquers; high pressure lubricants; lubricant in extrusion
process; stabiliser for vinyl polymers, corrosion inhibitor for petroleum. Regeant

SYNONYMS

C8-H16-O2.xPb, "hexanoic acid, 2-ethyl-, lead salt", "hexanoic acid, 2-ethyl-, lead
salt", "2-ethylhexanoic acid, lead salt", "2-ethylhexanoic acid, lead salt", "lead
octoate", "lead octanoate"

Section 2 - HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION

CANADIAN WHMIS SYMBOLS

EMERGENCY OVERVIEW

RISK

Danger of cumulative effects.
May cause harm to the unborn child.
Possible risk of impaired fertility.
Harmful: danger of serious damage to health by prolonged exposure through
inhalation, in contact with skin and if swallowed.
Harmful 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

  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.  

EYE

  Although the material is not thought to be an irritant, direct contact with the eye may cause transient discomfort characterized by tearing or conjunctival redness (as with windburn). Slight abrasive damage may also result. The material may produce foreign body irritation in certain individuals.  

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.  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 of dusts, generated by the material, during the course of normalhandling, may be harmful.  The material is not thought to produce respiratory irritation (as classified using animal models). Nevertheless inhalation of dusts, or fume, especially for prolonged periods, may produce respiratory discomfort and occasionally, distress.  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.  

CHRONIC HEALTH EFFECTS

  Harmful: danger of serious damage to health by prolonged exposure through inhalation, in contact with skin and if swallowed.  Harmful: danger of serious damage to health by prolonged exposure through inhalation, in contact with skin and if swallowed.  This material can cause serious damage if one is exposed to it for long periods. It can be assumed that it contains a substance which can produce severe defects. This has been demonstrated via both short- and long-term experimentation.  Ample evidence exists that developmental disorders are directlycaused by human exposure to the material.  Ample evidence from experiments exists that there is a suspicionthis material directly reduces fertility.  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.  Lead, in large amounts, can affect the blood, nervous system, heart, glands, immune system and digestive system. Anemia may occur. If untreated muscles may become paralyzed, and there may be brain damage. Symptoms include joint and muscle pain, weakness in the back of the forearm and wrist and in the shin muscles, headaches, dizziness, abdominal pain, diarrhea or constipation, nausea, vomiting, blue line on gums, sleep disturbance and a metallic taste in the mouth. The pressure in the brain may increase with high doses,  and cause brain damage, coma, and death. Early signs include loss of appetite and weight, constipation, tiredness and irritability, headache, weakness. Later there may be vomiting,  nervousness, and muscle pains in the arms and legs. Serious cases cause severe vomiting, inco-ordination, stupor, permanent eye damage, high blood pressure, multiple nerve disorders of the head resulting in paralysis and loss of reflexes, delirium, convulsions and coma. The kidneys may become irreversibly damaged, and the nervous system may become affected causing mental retardation, cerebral palsy, and jerks and seizures.  Lead can cross the placenta, and cause miscarriage, stillbirths and birth defects. Exposure before birth can cause mental retardation, behavioral disorders and infant death. Lead can also cause reduced sex drive, impotence, sterility and damage the sperm of males, increasing the potential for birth defects. Periods in women can also be affected.  2-Ethylhexanoic acid (2-EHA) its esters and its salts are of concern to human health because of their potential to induce carcinogenicity, liver toxicity and developmental/reproductive toxicity. 2-EHA is of low acute oral and dermal toxicity, is a mild skin irritant and a severe eye irritant. It is not mutagenic in Ames test, but is capable of inducing chromosome aberration and sister chromatid exchanges in vitro, liver toxicity and liver tumours after repeated dose treatment, In addition, 2-EHA acid has been associated with reproductive and developmental toxicity in experimental animals.  2-EHA is quickly resorbed orally, dermally and following inhalation and almost fully excreted mainly  in urine. As in the case of fatty acids, degradation mainly takes place by means of peroxisomal  beta-oxidation.  Various studies on reproduction toxicity have produced indications of an embryotoxic effect of 2-EHA. After oral administration, NOAEL values for maternal toxicity and foetotoxic effects of 2-EHA were determined in rabbits at 25 and >250 mg/kg body weight/day and in rats at 250 and 100 mg/kg body weight/day. The foetotoxic findings in rats were based on a reduced skeleton ossification at the next higher dose (250 mg/kg body weight/day). No teratogenic effects were observed in this study. In comparison with the structural isomer valproic acid, a known human teratogen, 2-EHA does have similar reprotoxic effects at maternal toxic doses in animal experiments but a far lower potency  Following sub-chronic oral administration of 2-EHA, critical effects like liver changes (higher relative liver weight, histological changes in hepatocytes) were observed in rats and mice and histological renal tubule results were observed in mice. Furthermore, statistically significant, higher cholesterol values were found in all treated male rats (61, 303 and 917 mg/kg body weight/day) and in male and female mice in the middle and high dose groups (885-3139 mg/kg body weight/day). In rats the maximum dose with no adverse effect (NOAEL) was 61 mg/kg body weight/day  In bacterial test systems, mutagenicity studies produced negative findings. In test systems  with mammalian cells, by contrast, the findings were weakly positive. Cytogenetic and SCE studies involving CHO cells were positive, one SCE test in human lymphocytes was questionably positive and one experiment concerning tritium-thymidine incorporation into the DNA of mouse lymphocytes was negative. Furthermore, An unpublished micronucleus study on the bone marrow of CD-1 mice was conducted in compliance with OECD Guideline 474. No significant increase in the micronuclei was observed at doses of 400, 800 or 1,600 mg/kg body weight (Inveresk Research International Ltd, 1994). Furthermore, in vitro and in vivo genotoxicity data (micronucleus test, dominant lethal test) are available for 2-  ethylhexanol which is rapidly and quantitatively converted into 2-EHA in metabolism studies. This data do not indicate any genotoxic potential which means that such an effect of 2-EHA is not likely either. As 2-EHA can induce both DNA synthesis and inhibition of intercellular communication in hepatic cells, a tumour-promoting potential in rodents, comparable to that of other peroxisome proliferators, cannot be ruled out. The carcinogenic effect of peroxisome proliferators in rodents (e.g. of di(2-  ethylhexyl)phthalate, DEHP) is not deemed to be relevant for humans.  Calcium/zinc and barium/zinc salts of 2-EHA are used as thermo-stabilisers for PVC, together with co-stabilisers like polyols or epoxy compounds, in order to capture the hydrochloride cleaved during the thermal loading of PVC; in addition various salts are used in other food and beverage containers as plasticisers. The migration of 2-EHA from the sealing compounds in the metal lids. has been demonstrated in food contamination. The potential for human exposure to 2-EHA therefore is significant.