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Chemical Sampling Information |
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| Silver, Metal & Soluble Compounds (as Ag) |
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General Description
Synonyms: Silver metal: Argentum; Soluble silver compounds: Vary depending upon the specific compound, such as, Silver nitrate (AgNO3),
OSHA IMIS Code Number: 2240
Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Registry Number: 7440-22-4 (metal)
NIOSH, Registry of Toxic Effects (RTECS) Identification Number: VW3500000
NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards, Silver (metal dust and soluble compounds, as Ag): chemical description, physical properties, potentially hazardous incompatibilities, and more
Exposure Limits
OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for General Industry: 29 CFR 1910.1000 Z-1 Table -- 0.01 mg/m3 TWA
OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for Construction Industry: 29 CFR 1926.55 Appendix A -- 0.01 mg/m3 TWA
OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for Maritime: 29 CFR 1915.1000 Table Z-Shipyards -- 0.01 mg/m3 TWA
American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Value (TLV): 0.1 mg/m3 TWA (TLV listed under Silver, Metal); 0.01 mg/m3 TWA (TLV listed under Silver, Soluble compounds, as Ag)
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Recommended Exposure Limit (REL): 0.01 mg/m3 TWA
Health Factors
NIOSH Immediately Dangerous To Life or Health Concentration (IDLH): 10 mg Ag/m3
Potential symptoms: Metal: Metal fume fever; Soluble compounds: Blue-gray eyes (argyrosis), skin (argyria); eye, skin, throat, and respiratory tract irritation, ulceration; perforation of nasal septum; sensory disturbances (taste, smell); GI disturbances.
Health Effects: Irritation-Eyes, Nose, Throat, Skin---Marked (HE14); Cumulative skin pigmentation and organ accumulation (HE3)
Affected organs: Nasal septum, skin, eyes.
Notes:
- EPA's oral reference dose (daily oral exposure likely to be without an appreciable risk of deleterious effects during a lifetime) for silver is 0.005 mg/kg/day.
- Biological monitoring of different types of occupational exposure to silver by determining silver levels in whole blood found highest levels in those working in silver reclamation.
- Silver is sequestered in skin and liver. The half-life in liver after inhalational or intravenous exposure to radioactive silver was reported to be 48-52 days. Excretion is mostly in the feces.
- Silver can be permanently deposited in connective tissue as silver metal, silver sulfide or selenide to produce a slate-gray appearance.
- OSHA has had cases (e.g., precious metal refining facility and specialty battery manufacturer) involving worker overexposure to silver. Other recently reported cases have involved silver solderers in Mexico and a silver polisher in England.
Date Last Revised: 09/15/2005
Literature Basis:
- NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards: Silver (metal dust and soluble compounds, as Ag).
- International Chemical Safety Cards (WHO/IPCS/ILO): Silver.
- Armitage, S.A., White, M.A. and Wilson, H.K.: The determination of silver in whole blood and its application to biological monitoring of occupationally exposed groups. Ann. Occup. Hyg. 40(3): 331-338, 1996.
- Drake, P.L. and Hazelwood, K.J.: Exposure-related health effects of silver and silver compounds: a review. Ann. Occup. Hyg. (Epub ahead of print, June 17, 2005.
- Humphreys, S. and Routledge, P.A.: The toxicology of silver nitrate. Adverse Drug React. Toxicol. Rev. 17(2-3): 115-143, 1998.
- Kayarkar, R., Parker, A.J. and Geopel, J.R.: The Sheffield nose--an occupational disease? Rhinology 41(2): 125-126, 2003.
- Lancaster, T. and Stead, L.F.: Silver acetate for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database Syst. Rev. (2): CD000191, 2000.
- Lemond, J.M.: Case study of a specialty battery manufacturing facility. J. Occup. Environ. Hyg. 2(3): D8-12, 2005.
- Pohanish, R.P. (editor): Silver. In, Sittig's Handbook of Toxic and Hazardous Chemicals and Carcinogens, Fourth Ed., Vol. 2. Norwich, NY: Noyes Publications, William Andrew Publishing, 2002, pp. 1650-1653.2035-2037.
- Rosa, C.: OSHA compliance issues. Overexposure to silver on a programmed lead inspection. J. Occup. Environ. Hyg. 1(9): D93-95, 2004.
- Sanchez-Huerta, V., De Wit-Carter, G., Hernandez-Quintela, E. and Naranjo-Tackman, R.: Occupational corneal argyrosis in art silver solderers. Cornea 22(7): 604-611, 2003.
Monitoring Methods used by OSHA
Laboratory Sampling/Analytical Method:
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sampling media: Mixed Cellulose Ester Filter (MCEF) 0.8 microns
maximum volume: 960 Liters minimum volume: 480 Liters maximum flow rate: 2.0 L/min
current analytical method: Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy; AAS
method reference: OSHA Analytical Method (OSHA ID-121)
method classification: Fully Validated
alternate analytical method: Inductively Coupled Argon Plasma; ICP/DCP-AES
method reference: OSHA Analytical Method (OSHA ID-206)
method classification: Fully Validated
note: If the filter is not overloaded, samples may be collected up to an 8-hour period.
* All Trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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