Acridine

· CALL 911. Then call emergency response telephone number on shipping paper. If shipping paper not available or no answer, refer to appropriate telephone number listed on the inside back cover.

· ELIMINATE all ignition sources (no smoking, flares, sparks or flames) from immediate area.

EYES: First check the victim for contact lenses and remove if present. Flush victim's eyes with water or normal saline solution for 20 to 30 minutes while simultaneously calling a hospital or poison control center. Do not put any ointments, oils, or medication in the victim's eyes without specific instructions from a physician. IMMEDIATELY transport the victim after flushing eyes to a hospital even if no symptoms (such as redness or irritation) develop.

General First Aid:

If material on fire or involved in fire: Use water in flooding quantities as fog. Use "alcohol" foam, dry chemical or carbon dioxide. Cool all affected containers with flooding quantities of water. Apply water from as far a distance as possible. Keep run-off water out of sewers and water sources.

...MATERIALS WHICH ARE TOXIC AS STORED OR WHICH CAN DECOMPOSE INTO TOXIC COMPONENTS...SHOULD BE STORED IN A COOL, WELL VENTILATED PLACE, OUT OF THE DIRECT RAYS OF THE SUN, AWAY FROM AREAS OF HIGH FIRE HAZARD, AND SHOULD BE PERIODICALLY INSPECTED. INCOMPATIBLE MATERIALS SHOULD BE ISOLATED...

SRP: At the time of review, criteria for land treatment or burial (sanitary landfill) disposal practices are subject to significant revision. Prior to implementing land disposal of waste residue (including waste sludge), consult with environmental regulatory agencies for guidance on acceptable disposal practices.

Incineration: Dissolve in such combustible solvent as alcohols, benzene, etc. Spray the solvent into a furnace with afterburner and scrubber. Pour into a mixture of sand and Na2CO3 /sodium carbonate/ (9:1). After mixing, put into a paper carton stuffed full with packing paper to serve as fuel. Burn in a furnace.

WORKERS SHOULD FOLLOW A CONSCIENTIOUS PERSONAL HYGIENE ROUTINE AND SHOULD WASH THOROUGHLY AT THE END OF EACH WORKING PERIOD; ADEQUATE SANITARY FACILITIES SHOULD BE PROVIDED.

WHEN THE TEMPERATURE OF THE PROCESS OR THE CONDITIONS OF WORK ARE SUCH AS TO GIVE RISE TO SIGNIFICANT CONCENTRATIONS OF ACRIDINE VAPOR, LOCAL EXHAUST VENTILATION SHOULD BE PROVIDED TO PREVENT CONTAMINATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE IN THE VICINITY OF THE PROCESS.

SRP: The scientific literature for the use of contact lenses in industry is conflicting. The benefit or detrimental effects of wearing contact lenses depend not only upon the substance, but also on factors including the form of the substance, characteristics and duration of the exposure, the uses of other eye protection equipment, and the hygiene of the lenses. However, there may be individual substances whose irritating or corrosive properties are such that the wearing of contact lenses would be harmful to the eye. In those specific cases, contact lenses should not be worn. In any event, the usual eye protection equipment should be worn even when contact lenses are in place.

If material not on fire and not involved in fire: Keep sparks, flames, and other sources of ignition away. Keep material out of water sources and sewers.

Personnel protection: Keep upwind. Avoid breathing dusts, and fumes from burning material. ... Do not handle broken packages unless wearing appropriate personal protective equipment.

Excerpt from ERG Guide 153 [Substances - Toxic and/or Corrosive (Combustible)]:

Immediate precautionary measure

TERRESTRIAL FATE: Based on a recommended classification scheme(1), measured Koc values of 14 soil and sediment samples, ranging from 5500 to 30,909 with an average value of 12,910(2), indicate that acridine will be immobile in soil(SRC). Higher sorption was reported for acidic subsoils compared with more neutral subsoils, consistent with compound ionization (pKa of acridine= 5.45(3)) and preferential retention of the organic cation over the neutral compound(4). Volatilization of acridine should not be important from moist soil surfaces(SRC) given an estimated Henry's Law constant of 4.0X10-7 atm-cu m/mole(SRC), using a fragment constant estimation method(5). Volatilization of acridine from dry soil surfaces should not be a major fate process for this compound(SRC) based on an extrapolated vapor pressure of 1.35X10-4 mm Hg(SRC), calculated from experimentally-derived coefficients(6). Acridine is expected to be resistant to aerobic biodegradation and to readily biodegrade under anaerobic conditions(SRC). Acridine, at 500 mg/kg, was completely biodegraded within 83 days in soil samples(7). Norman aquifer materials, taken from two strictly anaerobic zones, also supported extensive degradation of acridine with 92, 96, and 97% degradation reported after 3 weeks for fermentative, denitrifying, and sulfate-reducing incubations, respectively(8). 2-Methylquinoline, phenyl-2-pentenoic acid, hexylbenzene, and benzoic acid were reported as products of the initial ring cleavage of acridine under anaerobic conditions(8).

AQUATIC FATE: Based on a recommended classification scheme(1), measured Koc values of 14 soil and sediment samples, ranging from 5500 to 30,909 with an average value of 12,910(2), indicate that acridine should adsorb to suspended solids and sediment in water(SRC). Acridine is not expected to volatilize from water surfaces(1,SRC) based on an estimated Henry's Law constant of 4.0X10-7 atm-cu m/mole(SRC), developed using a fragment constant estimation method(3). According to a classification scheme(4), BCF values of 30, 125-126, and 1300, measured in daphnia(5), fathead minnows(6,7), and guppies(8) suggest that bioconcentration in aquatic organisms ranges from low to very high, depending on the aquatic organism(SRC); depuration of this compound has been reported to occur(5,7,8).

AQUATIC FATE: Acridine is expected to be resistant to aerobic biodegradation and to readily biodegrade under anaerobic conditions(SRC). No significant biodegradation of acridine at concentrations from 0.1 to 20 mg/l in river die-away tests, using Green River water, was seen over 11 days(1). Norman aquifer materials, taken from two strictly anaerobic zones, also supported extensive degradation of acridine with 92, 96, and 97% degradation reported after 3 weeks for fermentative, denitrifying, and sulfate-reducing incubations, respectively(2). 2-Methylquinoline, phenyl-2-pentenoic acid, hexylbenzene, and benzoic acid were reported as products of the initial ring cleavage of acridine under anaerobic conditions(2).

ATMOSPHERIC FATE: According to a model of gas/particle partitioning of semivolatile organic compounds in the atmosphere(1), acridine, which has an extrapolated vapor pressure of 1.35X10-4 mm Hg at 25 °C(SRC), determined from experimentally-derived coefficients(2), will exist in both the vapor and particulate phases in the ambient atmosphere. Vapor-phase acridine is degraded in the atmosphere by reaction with photochemically-produced hydroxyl radicals(SRC); the half-life for this reaction in air is estimated to be about 14 hours(3,SRC). Particulate-phase acridine may be physically removed from the air by dry deposition(SRC).

Acridine was measured in Finnish butter, 2 of 8 table margarines, cold pressed sunflower oil, corn oil, and coconut fat at 0.43, 0.18-0.32, 0.89, 0.05, and 0.25 ug/kg, respectively(1). Four of fifteen Finnish leaf lettuce samples, which had been grown in the open air in September 1984, contained acridine at concentrations of 0.05-0.13 ug/kg fresh weight(2).

The ability of PAH's to bind to blood proteins such as albumin allows them to be transported throughout the body. Many PAH's induce the expression of cytochrome P450 enzymes, especially CYP1A1, CYP1A2, and CYP1B1, by binding to the aryl hydrocarbon receptor or glycine N-methyltransferase protein. These enzymes metabolize PAH's into their toxic intermediates. The reactive metabolites of PAHs (epoxide intermediates, dihydrodiols, phenols, quinones, and their various combinations) covalently bind to DNA and other cellular macromolecules, initiating mutagenesis and carcinogenesis. (L10, L23, A27, A32)

Acridine was detected in creosote-PCP wood preservative wastewater at a concentration of 55 mg/kg(1). Acridine was identified in a commercial coal tar leachate sample at unreported concentrations(2). Diesel exhaust collected from a 1979 Caterpillar Model 3208 contained acridine at unreported concentrations(3). Acridine was measured in coal-burning effluent from a residential furnace, in catalyst regeneration flue gas from a gas-oil stock of an oil refinery, and in air polluted with coal-tar pitch at 111, 3.3-65, and 0.870 ug/cu m, respectively(4). Coal tar emissions, and coke-oven emissions samples contained acridine at concentrations of 297 ug/cu m and 0.032-0.172 mg/g, respectively(4). A maltuned convective kerosene space heater emitted 0.2 ng/kJ acridine(5). Fine particle emissions from the combined exhaust of a vented natural gas-fired residential space heater plus a water heater contained acridine at 7.4 pg/kJ(6).

Fourteen soil and sediment samples, collected from the Ohio, Missouri, Mississippi, and Illinois rivers and their watersheds had a wide range in pH (4.54-8.34), total clay (6.8 to 69.1%), organic carbon (0.11 to 2.38%), and expanding clay (2.0 to 60.0%). Koc values for acridine added to these soils/sediments ranged from 5500 to 30,909 with an average value of 12,910(1). According to a recommended classification scheme(2), these measured Koc values suggest that acridine will be immobile in soil(SRC). Adsorption of acridine to silica was measured in a continuous-flow column. The extent of adsorption was greater when the solution pH was below the pKa of acridine(pKa= 5.68(3)) than when it was above(4). Therefore, mobility should be greater in a sand soil when the pH is above the pKa of acridine and adsorption is greatest when the solution pH equals acridine's pKa(4). Sorption of acridine to two low organic carbon subsurface materials with similar properties but different equilibrium pH values when saturated with water was measured(5). Higher sorption was reported for the Loring subsoil (0.24% organic carbon, pH 4.85) than the Anvil Points subsoil (0.58% organic carbon, pH 8.15), consistent with compound ionization and preferential retention of the organic cation over the neutral compound(5).

SOURCE DOMINATED: Ambient air samples collected near a Horizontal Stud Soderberg plant in Jonquiere, Quebec, Canada in 1982, contained acridine at unreported concentrations(1). 7 of 8 air samples collected in the surroundings of the Urx chemical factory, Valasske Mezirici, Czechoslovakia in 1989, contained acridine at concentrations of 42.5 to 467.7 ng/cu m(2).

URBAN/SUBURBAN: Acridine was measured in New York City and Antwerp, Belgium air at concentrations from 0.040-0.041 to 1.0 ng/cu m, respectively(1). Airborne particulate matter from the Upper Silesia region contained acridine(2). The average concentration of acridine in atmospheric particulate matter collected above an urban street in Tokyo, Japan was 3.5 ug/g particulates(3). Acridine was detected on aerosols collected over the southern North Atlantic Ocean at 0.02 ng/cu m(4). Particulate samples obtained from the urban atmospheric environment of several cities in Southern Ontario contained acridine at unreported concentrations(5). Acridine was detected in airborne particulate matter collected in Duisburg, Germany at unreported concentrations(6).

URBAN/SUBURBAN: Ambient air samples collected from Kokkola, Finland contained acridine in the vapor phase at concentrations from <0.1 to 1.5 ng/cu m; this compound was also detected in particulate matter samples at concentrations from 0.4 to 0.6 ng/cu m(1).