Section 1 - CHEMICAL PRODUCT AND COMPANY IDENTIFICATION

PRODUCT NAME

LITHIUM 2-ETHYLHEXANOATE

NFPA

PRODUCT USE

Reagent. Drier Regeant

SYNONYMS

C8-H16-O2.Li, "hexanoic acid, 2-ethyl-, lithium salt", "hexanoic acid, 2-ethyl-,
lithium salt", "2-ethylhexanoic acid, lithium salt", "2-ethylhexanoic acid, lithium
salt", "lithium octoate", "lithium octanoate", "octanoic acid, lithium salt"

Section 2 - HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION

CANADIAN WHMIS SYMBOLS

EMERGENCY OVERVIEW

RISK

POTENTIAL HEALTH EFFECTS

ACUTE HEALTH EFFECTS

SWALLOWED

  Accidental ingestion of the material may be damaging to the health of the individual.  Lithium, in large doses, can cause dizziness and weakness. If a low salt diet is in place,  kidney damage can result. There may be dehydration, weight loss, skin effects and thyroid disturbances. Central nervous system effects include slurred speech, blurred vision, numbness, inco-ordination and convulsions. Repeated exposure can cause diarrhea, vomiting,  tremor, muscle jerks and very brisk reflexes.  

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 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.  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

  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.  

CHRONIC HEALTH EFFECTS

  Limited evidence suggests that repeated or long-term occupational exposure may produce cumulative health effects involving organs or biochemical systems.  Based on experience with animal studies, there is a possibility that exposure to the material may result in toxic effects to the development of the fetus, at levels which do not cause significant toxic effects to the mother.  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.  Lithium compounds can affect the nervous system and muscle. This can cause tremor, inco-  ordination, spastic jerks and very brisk reflexes. They may cause birth defects and should not be used when pregnancy is suspected. They are effective in treating manic episodes of bipolar disorder. Restricting sodium in the diet increases the risks of taking lithium.  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.