10.2 MSDS & Toxnet

MSDS & Toxnet: Warfarin (3-(alpha-Acetonyl)-benzyl-4-hydroxycoumarin; 4-Hydroxy-3-(3-oxo-1-phenyl butyl)-2H-1-benzopyran-2-one)

Obtain a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) from your workplace or from the workplace of a family member or friend.   Material Safety Data Sheets are chemical information sheets created by chemical manufacturers that all employers are required to obtain and keep for any potentially hazardous chemicals in the workplace.

Review the MSDS and answer the following questions:

• What are the health risks associated with this chemical?
• Hemorrhage manifested by hemorrhagic skin rashes and lip, nose, and upper airway bleeding
• Upper airway pain, dysarthria, dysphagia and dyspnea (shortness of breath) may occur
• Vomiting, abdominal pain, and bloody stools are common. Back pain may be noted
• Is the chemical a carcinogen?
• Warfarin carcinogen classification is "NA"
• Classified as a teratogen
• What personal protective equipment or special precautions should be taken when working with this chemical?
• Personal protective equipment such as donning gloves to prevent skin absorption during administration of Warfarin to patients
• Donning protective gloves and clothing when applying rodenticides containing Warfarin
• If this is a chemical found in your workplace, what training/education were you given about any risks associated with this chemical?
• Warfarin is a teratogen
• To prevent skin absorption, it is important for individuals administering Warfarin to don gloves, especially if she may be pregnant
• Warfarin must be disposed in a special black hazardous container to prevent toxic waste in the environment

Look up the chemical using the ToxNet databases you mastered while viewing the enviRN-EVIDENCE program. Were there any discrepancies regarding the potential health effects noted in the MSDS? In your BLOG, write about your findings - about the potential dangers associated with the chemical/product you looked up. Was the MSDS an adequate tool for a worker to use to gain an understanding about the potential health risks and how to protect him/herself? (Consider that the general public reads at a reading level at or below 6th grade, and that's if English is their first language.)

Both MSDS and Toxnet consistently described the major adverse health outcome of Warfarin in humans is hemorrhage and teratogenicity. However, Toxnet elaborated more on how Warfarin is used in rodenticides, which increases risk of exposure to the public beyond the medical population. Although there we no discrepancies regarding the potential health effects of Warfarin noted in the MSDS and ToxNet, both tools are difficult to navigate and understand for the general public. Both tools are not appropriate for a worker to use to gain understanding about the potential health risks and how to protect him/herself, because the language used is too scientific and communicated at a reading level beyond the 6th grade level.