MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET
BORAX 5 mol
sodium tetraborate pentahydrate
PRODUCT NAME: SODIUM TETRABORATE and developmental effects. A human study of
PENTAHYDRATE, Borax 5 mol occupational exposure to borate dust showed no
adverse effect on reproduction.
COMPOSITION/INFORMATION ON
Target organs: No target organ has been
INGREDIENTS
FORMULA: Na2B4O7:5H2O identified in humans. High-dose animal ingestion
CHEMICAL NAME: Sodium Tetraborate studies indicate the testes are the target organs
Pentahydrate in male dogs.
SYNONYMS: Borax, Disodium Tetraborate Signs and symptoms of exposure: Accidental
Pentahydrate, Sodium Diborate Pentahydrate, over-exposure to borax 5 mol might include
Penta Borax, Borax 5 mol nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, with delayed
CAS Number: 1330-43-4 effects of skin redness and peeling. These
Composition: >99% symptoms have been associated with the
accidental overexposure to the chemically
NFPA HMIS
Health 0 Health 0 related substance boric acid.
Flammability 0 Flammability 0 FIRST AID
Reactivity 0 Reactivity 1* Inhalation: Remove person to fresh air if
*Chronic Effects symptoms such as nose or throat irritation are
observed.
HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION
Emergency overview: Borax 10mol is a white, Eye contact: Use eye wash fountain or fresh
odorless, granular or powdery substance that is water to clean eyes. Seek medical attention if
not flammable, combustible, or explosive. It has irritation persists for more than 30 minutes.
low acute oral and dermal toxicity. Skin contact: No treatment necessary because
Potential ecological effects: Large amounts of non-irritating.
Borax can be harmful to plants and other Ingestion: Swallowing small quantities (such as
species. Releases to the environment should be a teaspoon) will cause no harm to healthy
minimized. adults. Give two glasses of water if larger
Routes of exposure: Inhalation of small amounts are swallowed and seek medical
particles is the most significant route of advice.
exposure in occupational and other settings. Note to physicians: Observation only is
Dermal exposure is not usually a concern since required for adult ingestion in the range of 4-8
borax 5 mol is poorly absorbed through intact grams of borax 5 mol. For ingestion of larger
skin. amounts, maintain adequate kidney function and
Inhalation: Occasional mild irritation effects to force fluids. Gastric lavage is recommended for
the nose and throat may occur from inhalation of symptomatic patients only. Hemodialysis should
borax 5 mol dust at levels greater than 10 be reserved for massive acute ingestion or
mg/m3. patients with renal failure. Boron analyses of
Eye contact: Borax 5 mol is not irritating to the urine or blood are only useful for documenting
eyes in normal industrial use. exposure and should not be used to evaluate
Skin contact: Borax 5 mol does not cause severity of poisoning or to guide treatment.
irritation to intact skin. FIRE FIGHTING MEASURES
Ingestion: Products containing borax 5 mol are General hazard: None. Borax 5 mol is non-
not intended for human ingestion. Borax 5 mol flammable, non-combustible and not explosive.
has a low acute toxicity. Small amounts (such as The product is often used as a flame retardant.
a teaspoon) swallowed accidentally are not likely Extinguishing media: Any fire extinguishing
to cause effects; swallowing amounts larger than media may be used on fires.
that may cause gastrointestinal discomfort or Flammability classification (29 CFR
other symptoms. 1910.1200): Non-flammable solid.
Cancer: Borax 5 mol is not a known carcinogen. ACCIDENTAL RELEASE INFORMATION
Reproductive/developmental: Animal General: Borax 5 mol is a water-soluble white
ingestion studies in several species, at high granule or powder that may, at high
doses, indicate that borates cause reproductive
Chem_Borax5Mol_MSDS Revised: 1/12/05 Supersedes: 10/27/04
concentrations, cause damage to trees or STABILITY AND REACTIVITY
vegetation by root absorption. General: Borax 5 mol is a stable product but
Spill: Vacuum, shovel or sweep borax 5 mol loses water when heated and may eventually
and place in containers for disposal in forming anhydrous borax (Na2B4O7).
accordance with applicable regulations for your Incompatible materials and conditions to
area. Avoid contamination of bodies of water avoid: Reaction with strong reducing agents,
during cleanup and disposal. Personal protective such as metal hydrides or alkali metals, will
equipment is not needed to cleanup land spills. generate hydrogen gas, which could create an
Release into water: Remove any intact explosive hazard.
containers from the water where possible. Hazardous decomposition: None.
Advise local water authority that none of the TOXICITY INFORMATION
affected water should be used for irrigation or for Acute toxicity
the abstraction of potable water until natural Ingestion: Low acute oral toxicity; LD50 in rats
dilution returns the boron value to its normal is 4,500 to 5,000 mg/kg of body weight.
environmental background level. Borax 5 mol is Skin/dermal: Low acute dermal toxicity; LD50 in
a non-hazardous waste when spilled or rabbits is greater than 10,000 mg/kg of body
disposed of, as defined in the Resource weight. Borax 5 mol is poorly absorbed through
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) intact skin.
regulations (40 CFR 261). Inhalation: Low acute inhalation toxicity; LC50
in rats is greater than 2.0 mg/L (or g/m3).
HANDLING AND STORAGE
General: No special handling precautions are Skin irritation: Non-irritant.
required. Dry, indoor storage is recommended. Eye irritation: Draize test in rabbits produced
Use good manufacturing procedures and eye irritation effects. Fifty years of occupational
common sense to minimize dust generation exposure to borax 5 mol indicates no adverse
related to handling. effects on human eye. Borax 5 mol is not
Storage temperature: Ambient considered to be a human eye irritant in normal
Storage pressure: Atmospheric industrial use.
Special sensitivity: Moisture (caking when Sensitization: Borax 5 mol is not a skin
exposed to high-humidity environments) sensitizer.
Reproductive/developmental toxicity: Animal
EXPOSURE AND PERSONAL PROTECTION
General: Use local exhaust ventilation to keep feeding studies in rat, mouse and dog, at high
airborne concentrations of dust below doses, have demonstrated effects on fertility and
permissible exposure levels. testes. Doses administered were many times in
Personal protection: NIOSH/MSHA certified excess of those to which humans would
respirators should be used where airborne normally be exposed.
concentrations are expected to exceed exposure Carcinogenicity/mutagenicity: No evidence of
limits. Eye goggles and gloves are not required carcinogenicity in mice. No mutagenic activity
for normal industrial exposures, but should be was observed for boric acid, a chemically related
use if environment is excessively dusty. substance, in a battery of short-term
Occupational exposure limits: Sodium mutagenicity assays.
tetraborate pentahydrate is regulated by OSHA, Human data: Human epidemiological studies
Cal OSHA and ACGIH. show no increase in pulmonary disease in
ACGIH/TLV: 1 mg/m3 occupational populations with chronic exposures
Cal OSHA/PEL: 5 mg/m3 to sodium borate dust. A recent epidemiology
OSHA/PEL (total dust): 10 mg/m3 study under the conditions of normal
occupational exposure to borate dusts indicated
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Appearance: White, odorless, crystalline solid no effect on fertility.
Specific gravity: 1.81 ECOLOGICAL INFORMATION
Vapor pressure: Negligible @ 20掳C General: Boron (B) is the element in sodium
Solubility in water: 3.8% @ 20掳C; 51.2% @ tetraborate pentahydrate (borax 5 mol) which is
100掳C used by convention to report borate product
Melting point: 200掳C (144掳F) (heated in closed ecological effects. It occurs naturally in seawater
space) at an average concentration of 5 mg B/L and
pH @ 20掳C: 9.3 (3% solution); 9.2 (1.0% generally occurs in fresh water at concentrations
solution); 9.3 up to 1 mg B/L. In dilute aqueous solutions the
(4.7% solution) predominant boron species present is
Molecular weight: 291.35 undissociated boric acid. To convert sodium
tetraborate pentahydrate into the equivalent
boron (B) content, multiply by 0.1484.
Chem_Borax5Mol_MSDS Revised: 1/12/05 Supersedes: 10/27/04
Phytotoxicity: Boron is an essential REGULATORY INFORMATION
micronutrient for healthy growth of plants; WHMIS classification: Sodium tetraborate
however, it can be harmful to boron sensitive pentahydrate (borax 5 mol) is classified as Class
plants in large quantities. Care should be taken D- Division 2A under Canadian WHMIS
to minimize the amount of borax 5 mol released guidelines.
to the environment. Chemical inventory listing: Sodium tetraborate
Algal toxicity: Green algae, Scenedesmus pentahydrate (borax 5 mol), CAS 1330-43-4,
subspicatus 96-hr EC10 = 24 mg B/L鈥? appears on several chemical inventory lists
Invertebrate toxicity: Daphnids, Daphnia (including the EPA TSCA inventory 1330-43-4,
magna straus 24-hr EC50 = 242 mg B/L鈥? Canadian DSL 1330-43-4, European EINECS
Fish toxicity: Sea-water9: Dab, Limanda 215-540-4, Japanese MITI (1)-69, Australian,
limanda 96-hr LC50 = 74 mg B/L鈥? and Korean 1-760 lists) under the
Fresh water10: Rainbow trout, S. gairdneri CAS No. representing this inorganic salt.
(embryo-larval stage) RCRA: Sodium tetraborate pentahydrate is not
24-day LC50 = 88 mg B/L鈥? listed as a hazardous waste under any sections
32-day LC50 = 54 mg B/L鈥? of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Goldfish, Carassius auratus (embryo-larval (RCRA) or regulations (40 CFR261 et seq).
stage) Superfund: CERCLA/SARA. Sodium
7-day LC50 = 65 mg B/L鈥? tetraborate pentahydrate is not listed under
3-day LC50 = 71 mg B/L鈥? CERCLA or its 1986 amendments, SARA,
including substances listed under Section 313 of
Test substance: 鈥? sodium tetraborate
SARA, Toxic Chemicals, 42 USC 11023, 40
Environmental fate data
Persistence/degradation: Boron is naturally CFR 372.65, Section 302 of SARA, Extremely
occurring and ubiquitous in the environment. Hazardous Substances, 42 USC 11002, 40 CFR
Borax decomposes in the environment to natural 355, or the CERCLA Hazardous Substances list,
borate. 42 USC 9604, 40 CFR 302.
Octanol/water partition coefficient: No value. Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA): Sodium
In aqueous solution Sodium tetraborate tetraborate pentahydrate is not regulated under
pentahydrate is converted substantially into the SDWA, 42 USC 300g-1, 40CFR 141 et seq.
undissociated boric acid. Consult state and local regulations for possible
Soil mobility: Borax is soluble in water and is water quality advisories regarding boron
leachable through normal soil. compounds.
DISPOSAL GUIDELINES Clean Water Act (CWA) (Federal Water
Disposal guidance: Small quantities of borax 5 Pollution Control Act): 33 USC 1251 et seq.
mol can usually be disposed of at landfill sites. a) Sodium tetraborate pentahydrate (borax 5
No special disposal treatment is required. Local mol) is not itself adischarge covered by any
authorities should be consulted about any water quality criteria of Section 304 of the CWA,
specific local regulations. Tonnage quantities of 33 USC 1314. b) It is not on the Section 307 List
product should be used for an appropriate of Priority Pollutants, 33USC 1317, 40 CFR 129.
application. c) It is not on the Section 311 List of Hazardous
RCRA (40 CFR 261): Borax 5 mol is not listed Substances, 33 USC 1321, 40 CFR 116.
under any sections of the Federal Resource Canadian drinking water guideline: An
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). 鈥淚nterim Maximum Acceptable Concentration鈥?
NPRI (Canada): Borax is not listed on the (IMAC) for boron is currently set at 5 mg B/L.
Canadian National Pollutant Release Inventory. IARC: The International Agency for Research on
Cancer (IARC) (a unit of the World Health
TRANSPORTATION
DOT hazardous classification: Sodium Organization) does not list or categorize sodium
tetraborate pentahydrate (borax 5 mol) is not tetraborate pentahydrate as a carcinogen.
regulated by the U.S. Department of NTP Biennial Report on Carcinogens: Sodium
Transportation (DOT) and is therefore not tetraborate pentahydrate is not listed.
considered a hazardous material/substance. OSHA carcinogen: Sodium tetraborate
TDG Canadian transportation: Sodium pentahydrate is not listed.
tetraborate pentahydrate (borax 5 mol) is not California Proposition 65: Sodium tetraborate
regulated under Transportation of Dangerous pentahydrate (borax 5 mol) is not listed on the
Goods (TDG). Proposition 65 list of carcinogens or
International transportation: Sodium reproductive toxicants.
tetraborate pentahydrate (borax 5 mol) has no Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act:
UN Number, and is not regulated under Pursuant to 21 CFR175.105, 176.180 and
international rail, road, water or air transport 181.30, Borax is approved by the FDA for use in
regulations. adhesive components of packaging materials,
Chem_Borax5Mol_MSDS Revised: 1/12/05 Supersedes: 10/27/04
as a component of paper coatings on such
materials, or for use in the manufacture thereof,
which materials are expected to come in contact
with dry food products.
Clean Air Act (Montreal Protocol): Borax 5
mol was not manufactured with and does not
contain any Class I or Class II ozone depleting
substances.
Rose Mill Co.
122 Park Avenue
East Hartford, CT 06108
860.289.4098 ph
860.289.2098 fx
www.RoseMill.com
info@RoseMill.com
All the information on this MATERIAL SAFETY
DATA SHEET is to the best of our knowledge
correct, but should not be considered complete
or final. It is the user's responsibility to this data
and material appropriately.
Chem_Borax5Mol_MSDS Revised: 1/12/05 Supersedes: 10/27/04
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