Carbon tetrafluoride

Excerpt from ERG Guide 126 [Gases - Compressed or Liquefied (Including Refrigerant Gases)]:

In case of fire in the surroundings, use appropriate extinguishing media. 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.

· Do not touch or walk through spilled material.

· 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.

· Do not touch or walk through spilled material.

Excerpt from ERG Guide 126 [Gases - Compressed or Liquefied (Including Refrigerant Gases)]:

General First Aid:

General First Aid:

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

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

Suitable extinguishing media: Use water spray, alcohol-resistant foam, dry chemical or carbon dioxide.

Advice for firefighters: Wear self-contained breathing apparatus for firefighting if necessary.

Use water spray to cool unopened containers.

If material on fire or involved in fire: Extinguish fire using agent suitable for type of surrounding fire. (Material itself does not burn or burns with difficulty.) Cool all affected containers with flooding quantities of water. Apply water from as far a distance as possible. Do not use water on material itself. Use water spray to knock-down vapors. /Tetrafluoromethane, compressed or refrigerant gas R14/

Wear positive pressure self-contained breathing apparatus. /Tetrafluoromethane, compressed or refrigerant gas R14/

Keep container tightly closed in a dry and well-ventilated place. Contents under pressure.

Check that oxygen content is at least 19% before entering storage or spill area ... Store in tightly closed containers in a cool, well-ventilated area away from powdered metals, including aluminum, zinc, and beryllium; and from open flames or temperatures above 125 °F/51.6 °C.

May be stored in steel cylinders.

ACCIDENTAL RELEASE MEASURES: Personal precautions, protective equipment and emergency procedures: Avoid breathing vapors, mist or gas. Ensure adequate ventilation. Evacuate personnel to safe areas; Environmental precautions: Do not let product enter drains; Methods and materials for containment and cleaning up: Clean up promptly by sweeping or vacuum.

High concentrations cause a deficiency of oxygen with the risk of unconsciousness or death. Check that oxygen content is at least 19% before entering storage or spill area. If in a building, evacuate building and confine vapors by closing doors and shutting down HVAC systems. Restrict persons not wearing protective equipment from area of spill or leak until cleanup is complete. Remove all ignition sources. Ventilate area of spill or leak to disperse the gas. Wear chemical protective suit with self-contained breathing apparatus to combat spills. Stay upwind and use water spray to "knock down" vapor; contain runoff. Stop the flow of gas, if it can be done safely from a distance. If source is a cylinder and the leak cannot be stopped in place, remove the leaking cylinder to a safe place; and repair leak or allow cylinder to empty. Absorb liquids in vermiculite, dry sand, earth, or a similar material and deposit in sealed containers. Keep this chemical out of confined spaces, such as a sewer, because of the possibility of explosion, unless the sewer is designed to prevent the buildup of explosive concentrations.

SRP: 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 air, soil or water; effects on animal, aquatic and plant life; and conformance with environmental and public health regulations. If it is possible or reasonable use an alternative chemical product with less inherent propensity for occupational harm/injury/toxicity or environmental contamination.

Product: Offer surplus and non-recyclable solutions to a licensed disposal company. Contact a licensed professional waste disposal service to dispose of this material; Contaminated packaging: Dispose of as unused product.

The anesthetic potencies of binary mixtures of the gases argon (Ar), nitrous oxide (N2O) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) have been measured using mice. The mixtures SF6-N2O and N2O-Ar showed additive behavior, whereas the constituents of the mixture SF6-Ar were non-additive, having a smaller total potency than expected. Further experiments on this mixture with Italian Great Newts and on the carbon tetrafluoride mixtures CF4-Ar and CF4-SF6 with mice suggested that the anomalous potencies may arise from specific pulmonary effects associated with the breathing of SF6 accompanied by a high pressure of some other gas.

TERRESTRIAL FATE: Based on a classification scheme(1), an estimated Koc value of 44(SRC), determined from a structure estimation method(2), indicates that tetrafluoromethane is expected to have very high mobility in soil(SRC). Volatilization of tetrafluoromethane from moist soil surfaces is expected to be an important fate process(SRC) given a Henry's Law constant of 5.15 atm-cu m/mole(3). Tetrafluoromethane is expected to volatilize from dry soil surfaces(SRC) based upon a vapor pressure of 1.75X10+5 mm Hg at 25 °C(4). Highly chlorinated/fluorinated compounds are not expected to biodegrade rapidly(5).

AQUATIC FATE: Based on a classification scheme(1), an estimated Koc value of 44(SRC), determined from a structure estimation method(2), indicates that tetrafluoromethane is not expected to adsorb to suspended solids and sediment(SRC). Volatilization from water surfaces is expected(3) based upon a Henry's Law constant of 5.15 atm-cu m/mole(4). Using this Henry's Law constant and an estimation method(3), volatilization half-lives for a model river and model lake are 3 hours and 4 days, respectively(SRC). Tetrafluoromethane is not expected to undergo hydrolysis in the environment due to the lack of functional groups that hydrolyze under environmental conditions(3). According to a classification scheme(5), an estimated BCF of 3(SRC), from its log Kow of 1.18(6) and a regression-derived equation(2), suggests the potential for bioconcentration in aquatic organisms is low(SRC). Highly chlorinated/fluorinated compounds are not expected to biodegrade rapidly(7).

ATMOSPHERIC FATE: According to a model of gas/particle partitioning of semivolatile organic compounds in the atmosphere(1), tetrafluoromethane, which has a vapor pressure of 1.75X10+5 mm Hg at 25 °C(2), is expected to exist solely as a gas in the ambient atmosphere. Tetrafluoromethane has an atmospheric lifetime of 2300 to 50,000 years(3). Tetrafluoromethane is exceedingly inert photochemically, with no absorption at wavelengths longer than 110 nm(4) and, therefore, is not expected to be susceptible to direct photolysis by sunlight(SRC).

IDENTIFICATION AND USE: Tetrafluoromethane (CF4) is a colorless odorless gas. It is used as low temperature refrigerant; gaseous insulator. It is also used for plasma etching of silicon wafers in the semiconductor industry. HUMAN EXPOSURE AND TOXICITY: It can cause confusion, headache by inhalation. ANIMAL STUDIES: Tetrafluoromethane caused increases in acetylcholine output from the guinea-pig ileum. The anesthetic potencies of binary mixtures of the gases CF4-Ar and CF4-SF6 were studied in mice.

Confusion. Dizziness. Headache. Irregular heartbeat. Unconsciousness.

ON CONTACT WITH GAS: FROSTBITE.

ON CONTACT WITH GAS: FROSTBITE.

Using a structure estimation method based on molecular connectivity indices(1), the Koc of tetrafluoromethane can be estimated to be 44(SRC). According to a classification scheme(2), this estimated Koc value suggests that tetrafluoromethane is expected to have very high mobility in soil.

No natural sources have been identified(1,2) however data are conflicting(SRC). Tetrafluoromethane was tested for but not detected in volcanic fumeroles on Hawaii(3). A background (unspecified rocks and soils) concentration of 40 parts/trillion volume was reported in 1997(4), released following the heating, crushing, and aqueous dissolution of certain rocks and minerals(5).

Air samples collected at altitudes of 10 to 33 km at 44 deg N (southern France) in 1980 contained tetrafluoromethane; its mixing ratio was measured as 65 parts per trillion by volume at 14.4 km and 62 parts per trillion by volume at 33.2 km(1). Median tetrafluoromethane concentrations from remote, suburban, and source dominated sites were 0.070, 0.095, and 0.140 ppb by volume, respectively, for the years 1980 to 1987(2). The average daily ambient tetrafluoromethane concentration from 1980 to 1987 for 8 sites was 0.101 ppb by volume(2).

RURAL/REMOTE: Annual average concentrations of tetrafluoromethane in Pt. Barrow, AK were 73.6 and 74.5 parts/trillion volume in 1996 and 1997, respectively(1). Annual average concentrations reported for Cape Meares, OR were as follows (parts/trillion volume, (year)): 56.1 (1978); 58.8 (1979); 60.2 (1980); 61.6 (1981); 62.7 (1982); 61.6 (1983); 63.2 (1984); 64.9 (1985); 66.5 (1986); 65.2 (1987); 67.7 (1988); 67.3 (1989); 67.8 (1990); 69.5 (1991); 71.4 (1992); 70.0 (1993); 73.7 (1994); 73.4 (1995); 74.1 (1996); 74.2 (1997). Annual average concentrations of tetrafluoromethane reported for Palmer Station, Antarctic were 69.8, 72.4, 72.7, and 72.6 parts/trillion volume for 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997, respectively. The ever increasing concentrations are attributed mainly to aluminum manufacturing (33 parts/trillion volume) and electronic chip production(1). The worldwide primary aluminum producers have reduced polyfluorinated carbon emissions per unit aluminum production by 47% from 1990 through 1997(2). Firn air (air present inside snow) samples collected at the North Greenland ice core project site in Greenland and from Berkner Island, Antarctica indicate that tetrafluoromethane increased from 40 to 78 parts/trillion between 1959 and 2003(3).

SOURCE DOMINATED: Tetrafluoromethane is a byproduct of the electrolytic production of primary aluminum(1). Monitoring of 8 aluminum smelters in Quebec Province, Canada (about 11% of the global aluminum production) was conducted during a 6-month period in 1993-1994. The emission of tetrafluoromethane was <1 ppb volume for periods between anode events; the average flux per anode event (a total of 1,105 events) ranged between 0.50 to 1.0 kg(2).

/SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS/ On contact with gas: Frostbite.

/SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS/ Inhalation: Confusion, headache. Skin: On contact with liquid: frostbite /from table/

/SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS/ Toxic by inhalation.