Health and Safety Considerations
Forms of naphtha may be carcinogenic, and frequently products sold as naphtha contain some impurities which may also have harmful properties of their own. Like many hydrocarbon products, they are products of a refining process in which a complex soup of chemicals is broken into another range of chemicals, which are then graded and isolated mainly by their specific gravity and volatility. There is, therefore, a range of distinct chemicals included in each product. This makes rigorous comparisons and identification of specific carcinogens difficult, especially in our modern environment where people are daily exposed to many such products, and is further complicated by exposure to a significant range of other known and potential carcinogens.
"Light naphtha a mixture consisting mainly of straight-chained and cyclic aliphatic hydrocarbons having from five to nine carbon atoms per molecule. Heavy naphtha, a mixture consisting mainly of straight-chained and cyclic aliphatic hydrocarbons having from seven to nine carbons per molecule." "Almost all volatile, lipid-soluble organic chemicals cause general, nonspecific depression of the central nervous system or general anesthesia." The OSHA PEL TWA = 100 parts-per-million (ppm); Health Hazards/Target Organs = eyes, skin, RS, CNS, liver, kidney. Symptoms of acute exposure are dizziness and narcosis with loss of consciousness. The World Health Organization categorizes health effects into three groups: reversible symptoms (Type 1), mild chronic encephalopathy (Type 2) and severe chronic toxic encephalopathy (Type 3).
Topical exposure to naphtha can cause a burning sensation on the skin within a period of minutes to an hour, followed by contact dermatitis—a rash—that can last for days to weeks.
Below are linked few Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) specifications for different "naphtha" products containing varying degrees of naphtha, as well as various other chemicals. As well as giving health guidelines, these are some of the few ways to determine what a given product contains.
- JT Baker VM&P Naphtha MSDS.
- Diggers Shellite MSDS
- Shell Ronsonol MSDS source1 formula developed for Ronson
- Links to more MSDS for various camping-stove fuels including several that include naphtha
Benzene in particular is a known high-risk carcinogen, so benzene content is typically specified in the MSDS when it is present in the mixture due to the specifics of the feedstock and distilling process used. Specific detailing of other hydrocarbon species is less common.
Naptha is also extremely volatile and can explode on exposure to high temperature surfaces. in 1999, such an explosion lead to four deaths at the Avon Refinery in Martinez, California.
Read more about this topic: Naphtha
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