Office of Security, Safety and Risk Management
Health Hazards and First Aid
This section is divided into two main parts. One part describes a summary of the most important immediate concerns for emergency personnel. The other part gives information on the potential adverse health effects and symptoms associated with exposure to this material. Some MSDSs have a separate section for each of these catagories.
Health Hazards
If OSHA or other important organizations, (International Agency for Research on Cancer, IARC; National Toxicology Program, NTP), has determine that the material is a carcinogen, teratogen, mutagen, or toxic to aquatic life or danger to the environment, then this information may be found in this section. This information may also be found in some other sections of the MSDS. If this information is described in this section, then several important factors must be included.
- Routes of entry -- A hazardous materials may enter the body through the skin or the eye, by inhalation, or ingestion.
- Acute health effects -- The adverse health effects from short-term exposure.
- Chronic health effects -- The detrimental health conditions which may result from long-term exposure.
- Symptoms of exposure -- A description of how a victim of exposure might look or act like.
- Medical conditions aggravated by exposure -- These terms are not easily recognized by non-medical personnel.
- Target organs -- Some materials harm a particular organ of the body, (heart, liver, brain, etc).
By reading the MSDS of a hazardous material you are going to be using, you might prevent sickness or even death resulting from improper exposure. Chronic effects may occur years after exposure even if the you did not experience discomfort at the time of exposure.
The principal route of entry into the body is by inhalation. Many hazardous substances do not have a strong unpleasant order but still can harm the body. For example, hydrogen cyanide which has the faint smell of almonds was used in the "gas chamber". Many organic hazardous chemicals can quickly fatigue your sense of smell so you are no longer aware of the concentration of the vapors you might be breathing.
Many hazardous substances can be absorbed through the skin and into body tissue or the bloodstream. These substances can accumulate in a particular organ or tissue. After repeated absorption, the substances can accumulate to such a concentration that the organ may fail. The eye is especially venerable to corrosive hazardous chemicals. Permanent damage or even blindness can result from liquid splashes or solution vapors.
First Aid
If accidental exposure were to occur, then this section is valuable to determine the immediate first aid response. This section should indicate the proper first aid treatment for accidental exposure by inhalation, skin, eye, and ingestion. Almost in every MSDS the first statement says, "Call a Physician."
In most cases, skin and eye exposure are standard, i.e., "immediately flush eye or skin with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes."
Inhalation is also usually standard too, i.e., "remove to fresh air, if not breathing, give artificial respiration, if breathing is difficult, give oxygen."
The first aid response to ingestion does vary. One would believe that inducing vomiting would be the standard response. However, in many cases, this would result in greater respiratory damage than the damage by ingestion. Often times, an antidote may be listed which can be administered by a lay person or a trained medical personnel.
To see examples of section 3 click on: