Safety
Inhalation of chloromethane gas produces central nervous system effects similar to drug intoxication. Exposure may cause drowsiness, dizziness, or confusion and difficulty breathing, walking or speaking may occur. At higher concentrations, paralysis, seizures, and coma can result.
In case of ingestion, nausea and vomiting may occur. Skin contact, when in the form of a refrigerated liquid, may result in frostbite. Contact with the eyes may result in dim vision, and widely dilated pupils that react slowly to changes in light.
Chronic exposure to chloromethane has been linked to birth defects in mice. In humans, exposure to chloromethane during pregnancy may cause the fetus' lower spinal column, pelvis, and legs to form incorrectly, but this has not been conclusively demonstrated.
In 1997, a re-investigation of Boston's Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire in 1942 cited a chloromethane leak from a refrigerator as a major cause of that disaster.
Read more about this topic: Chloromethane
Famous quotes containing the word safety:
“A lover is never a completely self-reliant person viewing the world through his own eyes, but a hostage to a certain delusion. He becomes a perjurer, all his thoughts and emotions being directed with reference, not to an accurate and just appraisal of the real world but rather to the safety and exaltation of his loved one, and the madness with which he pursues her, transmogrifying his attention, blinds him like a victim.”
—Alexander Theroux (b. 1940)
“The high sentiments always win in the end, the leaders who offer blood, toil, tears and sweat always get more out of their followers than those who offer safety and a good time. When it comes to the pinch, human beings are heroic.”
—George Orwell (1903–1950)
“There is always safety in valor.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)