Chemical Hazards and Toxicity

All chemical products should be handled only by qualified individuals trained in laboratory procedures and familiar with the potential hazards. Some chemicals are extremely toxic or otherwise hazardous.

Every day, laboratory and hospital staff are exposed to many hazardous agents. Mercury is one of them. It is well known that mercury and its compounds are highly toxic. They can be handled safely, but stringent precautions must be taken to prevent absorption by inhalation, by ingestion, and through the skin. The main result of acute poisoning is damage to kidneys. Both organic and inorganic mercury compounds if ingested cause vomiting, colic and diarrhea, and both are skin irritants. Aryl salts of mercury affect the central nervous system, and alkyl salts are capable of penetrating brain cells. They are only slowly excreted.

In hospitals, mercury is used in various ways: in sphigmomanometers and thermometers, in counters and other devices used in the diagnostics and treatment. Mercuric chloride is part of Zenker’s solution used in pathologic laboratories to prepare tissue specimens. Hospital and laboratory personnel are usually exposed to mercury as a result of spills or when thermometers are sterilized or centrifuged, or when sphygmomanometers are reactivated.

Mercury concentration of 0.1 mg per cubic meter of air is toxic. It can be absorbed through the skin, airways, and gastrointestinal tract and stored in the bones, liver, kidneys, and the brain. Mercury spills should be cleaned with special mercury vacuum-cleaners; disposable equipment and a water-soluble mercury decontaminant should be used.

Hazardous products are marked with Hazard Symbols and Risk and Safety Phrases in accordance with the rules of the European Community Commission. This information is given on the product labels. The label reflects the latest legislation and knowledge and therefore provides the most applicable and most current information. An example of the new label, with a detailed description of each component, is shown below.

A. Risk and Safety Phrases (English, German, French, Italian)

B. Product Name

C. Control Number

D. Swiss and European Hazard Classification for Transportation by Rail and Road

E. U.S. Department of Transportation Identification Number

F. European Inventory of Existing Chemical Substances

G. NIOSH Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances

H. German Water Hazard Classification

I. CAS (Chemical Abstract Service) Number

J. Risk and Safety Phrase Reference Numbers

K. Hazard Symbol(s)

L. Catalog Number

M. Volume or Weight

Note: The absence of a warning must not be interpreted as an indication of safety. On the basis of existing information, the hazard potential of many compounds cannot be completely assessed.