Propan

Excerpt from ERG Guide 115 [Gases - Flammable (Including Refrigerated Liquids)]:

Shut off supply; if not possible and no risk to surroundings, let the fire burn itself out. In other cases extinguish with powder, carbon dioxide. In case of fire: keep cylinder cool by spraying with water. Combat fire from a sheltered position.

Fresh air, rest. Artificial respiration may be needed. Refer for medical attention.

ON FROSTBITE: rinse with plenty of water, do NOT remove clothes. Refer for medical attention .

First rinse with plenty of water for several minutes (remove contact lenses if easily possible), then refer for medical attention.

· 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.

· 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.

Excerpt from NIOSH Pocket Guide for Propane:

General First Aid:

General First Aid:

(General first aid procedures)

Behavior in fire: Containers may explode; vapor is heavier than air & may travel a long distance to a source of ignition & flash back.

The gas is heavier than air and may travel along the ground; distant ignition possible, and may accumulate in low ceiling spaces causing deficiency of oxygen. As a result of flow, agitation, etc, electrostatic charges can be generated ... On loss of containment this liquid evaporates very quickly displacing the air and causing a serious risk of suffocation when in confined areas.

· Wear positive pressure self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).

· Wear positive pressure self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).

1000.0 [ppm]

Stop flow of gas. For small fires use dry chemicals. Cool adjacent areas with water spray.

If material on fire or involved in fire: Do not extinguish fire unless flow can be stopped. Use water in flooding quantities as fog. Cool all affected containers with flooding quantities of water. Apply water from as far a distance as possible.

Evacuation: If fire becomes uncontrollable or container is exposed to direct flame consider evacuation of one half mile radius.

Shut off supply; if not possible and no risk to surroundings, let the fire burn itself out; in other cases extinguish with powder, carbon dioxide ...

COMPRESSED GASES MAY BE STORED IN THE OPEN ONLY IF THEY ARE ADEQUATELY PROTECTED FROM THE WEATHER & DIRECT SUNLIGHT. STORAGE AREAS SHOULD BE LOCATED AT A SAFE DISTANCE FROM OCCUPIED PREMISES & NEIGHBORING DWELLINGS. /GASES & AIR, COMPRESSED/

Storage temp: ambient; venting: safety relief

Store cylinder outdoors without direct sunlight or heat radiation and with adequate ventilation. Provide electrical equipment with spark resistant construction.

Four main types of storage are used: high pressure storage aboveground, low pressure refrigerated storage aboveground, frozen earth storage, and underground cavern storage. 1) Aboveground pressure storage tanks are usually designed for a 1720 kPa (250 psi) working pressure ... 2) Refrigerated, aboveground storage tanks usually are designed for a few kPa (psi) of pressure. They must be coupled with refrigeration systems to cool the product ... to a temp equal to the product's boiling point @ the operating pressure of the tanks. Vapors are generally recondensed by refrigeration and returned to the tanks. 3) In frozen earth storage of propane, the walls and bottom of a pit in the ground are frozen and a dome is constructed over the pit. The pressure in the storage cavern is maintained @ nearly atmospheric pressure by refrigeration systems that cool the product to its boiling point @ storage pressure. Heat leaks into the cavity and vaporizes some of the propane; the vapor that is formed is compressed, cooled, and returned to the pit as liquid by the refrigeration system. ... 4) Underground storage caverns, which operate @ approx formation temp and @ the corresponding /liquified petrolem gas (LPG)/ vapor pressure ... must be of sufficient depth to develop an overburden pressure greater than the vapor pressure of the stored liquid. Mined storage caverns are about 60-152 m deep, whereas salt formation caverns may be from 106-1524 m deep ...

Fireproof. Cool.

Evacuate danger area! Consult an expert! Remove all ignition sources. Ventilation. NEVER direct water jet on liquid. (Extra personal protection: self-contained breathing apparatus.) ... Check oxygen content before entering area. Turn leaking cylinder with the leak up to prevent escape of gas in liquid state.

1) Remove all ignition sources. 2) Ventilate area of leak. 3) Stop flow of gas. If source of leak is a cylinder & the leak cannot be stopped in place, remove the leaking cylinder to a safe place in the open air, & repair the leak or allow the cylinder to empty.

SRP: The most favorable course of action is to use an alternative chemical product with less inherent propensity for occupational exposure or environmental contamination. Recycle any unused portion of the material for its approved use or return it to the manufacturer or supplier. Ultimate disposal of the chemical must consider: the material's impact on air quality; potential migration in soil or water; effects on animal, aquatic, and plant life; and conformance with environmental and public health regulations.

Propane may be disposed of by burning at a safe location or in a suitable combustion chamber.

Propane, when used as an aerosol propellant with isobutane in deodorant and antiperspirant products (65 to 70% by wt), has not been shown to cause skin irritation in 125 human volunteers who applied the aerosol products twice daily for 12 wk.

When dogs were exposed to 15-90% propane concn for 10 min, the heart was more sensitive to ventricular fibrillations induced by epinephrine than without propane treament.

TERRESTRIAL FATE: Based on a classification scheme(1), an estimated Koc value of 460(SRC), determined from a log Kow of 2.36(2) and a regression-derived equation(3), indicates that propane is expected to have moderate mobility in soil(SRC). Volatilization of propane from moist soil surfaces is expected to be an important fate process(SRC) given an estimated Henry's Law constant of 7.07X10-1 atm-cu m/mole(SRC), derived from its vapor pressure, 7150 mm Hg(4), and water solubility, 62.4 mg/L(5). Propane is expected to volatilize from dry soil surfaces(SRC) based upon its vapor pressure(4). Using cell suspensions of microogranisms isolated from soil and water, propane was oxidized to acetone within 24 hours(6,7), suggesting that biodegradation may be an important fate process in soil and sediment.

AQUATIC FATE: Based on a classification scheme(1), an estimated Koc value of 460(SRC), determined from a log Kow of 2.36(2) and a regression-derived equation(3), indicates that propane is expected to adsorb to suspended solids and sediment(SRC). Volatilization from water surfaces is expected(3) based upon an estimated Henry's Law constant of 7.07X10-1 atm-cu m/mole(SRC) derived from its vapor pressure, 7150 mm Hg(4), and water solubility, 62.4 mg/L(5). Using this Henry's Law constant and an estimation method(3), volatilization half-lives for a model river and model lake are 41 minutes and 2.6 days, respectively(SRC). According to a classification scheme(6), an estimated BCF of 13.1(SRC), from its log Kow(2) and a regression-derived equation(7), suggests the potential for bioconcentration in aquatic organisms is low(SRC). After 192 hr, the trace concn of propane contained in gasoline remained unchanged for both a sterile control and a mixed culture sample collected from ground water contaminated with gasoline(8). This indicates that biodegradation may not be an important fate process in water.

ATMOSPHERIC FATE: According to a model of gas/particle partitioning of semivolatile organic compounds in the atmosphere(1), propane, which has a vapor pressure of 7150 mm Hg at 25 °C(2), is expected to exist solely as a gas in the ambient atmosphere. Gas-phase propane 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 14 days(SRC), calculated from its rate constant of 1.15X10-12 cu cm/molecule-sec at 25 °C(3). Propane does not contain chromophores that absorb at wavelengths >290 nm and therefore is not expected to be susceptible to direct photolysis by sunlight(4).

The substance can be absorbed into the body by inhalation.

inhalation, skin and/or eye contact (liquid)

Drowsiness. Unconsciousness.

ON CONTACT WITH LIQUID: FROSTBITE.

ON CONTACT WITH LIQUID: FROSTBITE.

dizziness, confusion, excitation, asphyxia; liquid: frostbite

In gasoline: 0.07-0.08 vol %; in flue gas of municipal incinerator: < 0.4-0.5 ppm

Flue gases from a waste incinerator at Babylon, Long Island, NY was found to emit propane at concn generally less than 0.5 ppm(1). Propane is a product of gasoline(2-5), natural gas(5) and polyethylene(6) combustion. The average exhaust from 67 gasoline fueled vehicles was found to contain propane at a concn 0.1% by weight(3). The average concn of propane for the exhaust of 46 automobiles was 2.6, 1.6 and 2.2 weight % of total hydrocarbon according to the federal test procedure, hot soak test and the New York City cycle, respectively(4). Propane from car exhaust ranged in concn from 0.02 to 0.05 ppmV with an average for 8 samples of 0.03 ppmV(5). A Texaco refinery located in Tulsa, OK was attributed with emissions to the surrounding atmosphere where the propane concn was measured to be 95.5 and 189.8 ppbC for two min before and after 1:33 PM(6). The propane content of the air downwind of a Mobil natural gas facility in Rio Blanco, CO was 465.3 ppbC(7). Underwater hydrocarbon vent discharges from offshore oil production platforms contained propane at a concentration in the vapor phase at 2,000 umol/L of gas(8).

Gas-phase propane was detected in a Los Angeles tunnel at a concentration of 47 mg/L(1). Propane was detected in a tunnel at a concentration of 26 ug/cu m(2) which was about 4 times greater than the background propane levels of 5.8 ug/cu m(2). Propane was found in the Cassiar tunnel in Vancouver, BC, Canada in 1993 and 1995 at mass fractions of 0.81 and 0.047, respectively, as well as Tuscorora, Caldecott and Fort McHenry tunnels at mass fractions of 0.08, 0.07 and 0.03, respectively(3). Propane accounted for 0.88, 0.95 and 1.17% of the emissions on a Raleigh, NC highway, Dyanomenter, and an Atlanta, GA roadway, respectively(4). Gasoline containing propane (100 ug/g) emitted propane from the tail pipes of catalytic and non catalytic engines at rates of 650 and 9,300 ug/km(5). Propane emissions from cars driving in urban, suburban, rural and motorways were observed as 7.8, 3.69, 2.13 and 1.35 mg/km(6). Propane concentration in exhaust had mean concentration of 0.21 ppm(7). Propane was detected with annual means of 1 ug/cu m in London, England background and curbside and annual mean ranging from 4-21 ug/cu m in European cities(7). Propane was detected in gasoline vapors at concentrations ranging from 0.02-2.8 mg/ cu m(8).

Substance added directly to human food affirmed as generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

Propane used as a general purpose food additive in animal drugs, feeds, and related products is generally recognized as safe when used in accordance with good manufacturing or feeding practice.

Residues of propane are exempted from the requirement of a tolerance when used as a propellant in accordance with good agricultural practice as inert (or occasionally active) ingredients in pesticide formulations applied to growing crops or to raw agricultural commodities after harvest.

Residues of propane are exempted from the requirement of a tolerance when used as a propellant in accordance with good agricultural practice as inert (or occasionally active) ingredients in pesticide formulations applied to animals.

Propane

1

60000

Flammable chemical that can be released at a facility.