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Chemical Name: 1,1-Dichloro-1-nitroethane
Synonyms: No widely recognized aliases come to mind in standard industrial or research settings.
Intended Use: Mainly used in organic synthesis work, sometimes appears in academic research. Rare in consumer products and not on the general market shelf. Often brought in as a specialty intermediate.
Appearance: Colorless to pale yellow liquid under normal conditions with a sharp, somewhat acrid smell, leaning toward the strong “chlorinated” class of odors many in labs know well.
Hazards: Irritation to skin, eyes, and respiratory system is common after short contact, especially during spillage or improper handling. Acute exposure can bring coughing, tearing, and skin redness. No strong consensus on long-term health risk, but given structural similarities to other chloronitro compounds, carcinogenicity is not ruled out by toxicologists. Flammability sits low, but thermal decomposition can produce toxic gases like phosgene and nitrogen oxides, and these pose far greater risks than small-scale fire damage.
Pictograms: Watch for GHS07 (exclamation mark), GHS06 (skull and crossbones), GHS09 (environment); all signal acute toxicity and environmental hazards.
Precautionary Notes: Avoid skin contact, inhalation, or swallowing, as the main danger isn’t always immediate but develops through repeated overexposure or poor ventilation.
Main Ingredient: 1,1-Dichloro-1-nitroethane, proven to be present in pure syntheses at levels above 98%.
Other Substances: Impurities relate to production lots—traces of dichloroethanes and possibly unreacted starting material, but in quality-controlled settings, impurities should rarely exceed 1%.
CAS Registry Number: 565-29-3, which speeds up chemical inventory review in many labs.
Notable Additives: Additives are rare and unadvised, as the substance tends to degrade in the presence of bases or strong acids.
Inhalation: Move away from the source straight into fresh air. If coughing or shortness of breath doesn’t ease up, medical help makes sense. Emergency showers and eyewash stations work poorly for vapors, so ventilation always comes first.
Skin Contact: Rinse skin liberally with water. Removing contaminated clothes right away limits exposure. Mild soap helps, but scrubbing too hard damages skin further.
Eye Exposure: Flush with water for many minutes. Waiting out irritation seldom works; better to err on the side of getting it checked.
Swallowing: Rinse out mouth, but forget about provoking vomiting unless poison control orders it; aspiration brings bigger risks.
Medical Concerns: Tell emergency personnel what chemical is involved; relaying the correct name—rather than generic “chlorinated compound”—can shift the urgency.
Suitable Extinguishing Media: Use dry chemical, carbon dioxide, or foam to quench flames. Water jets spread chemical further, so fog works best.
Specific Hazards: Decomposition in fire brings out phosgene, chlorine, and nitrogen oxides. Closed containers can burst if heated.
Protective Equipment: Full turnout gear and supplied-air respirators beat cartridge respirators every time with toxic gas risk. Preparedness drills in real-world labs and factories stress the value of readiness rather than improvisation.
Fire Strategy: Fight fire from upwind, keeping safe distance when toxic fumes rise. Fire residues and runoff must not reach waterways.
Spill Management: Evacuate all but essential workers and boost ventilation. For small spills, absorb with vermiculite or sand, scrape up with non-sparking tools. Large spills prompt the call to trained hazmat teams.
Containment: Block the spread to drains—chlorinated organics harm aquatic systems even at tiny levels.
Decontamination: Bag waste tightly. Use of disposable gloves (nitrile is smart) and splash protection limits personal risk. Never ignore contaminated shoes or less visible residues.
Handling: Fume hood or extraction arm use is standard. Most seasoned chemists respect gloves, goggles, and coat, but strict control on open bottles cannot slip.
Storage: Glass or Teflon containers sealed tightly, stowed in cool dry cabinets. Separate from bases, acids, or oxidizers to avoid secondary reactions. Label bottles; fading marker labels or ambiguous abbreviations cause near-misses.
Incompatible Materials: Strong alkalies and oxidizers accelerate breakdown, raising risk.
Ventilation: Local exhaust over general room fans, as vapors build near bench level.
Personal Protective Equipment: PVC or nitrile gloves, safety goggles with side shields, coat (ideally flame-resistant). Lab shoes cover foot fully—open toes never stand a chance in a real mishap.
Respiratory Protection: For closed work or spills, use of canister respirators may help, but in higher vapor cases, supplied-air units fill the gap. Workers with chest or airway problems need medical clearance.
Hygiene: Eating, drinking, and smoking near work zones shortens working life and shouldn’t happen. Hand-washing after handling gives the best protection.
State: Liquid at room temperature.
Color: Clear to faint yellow.
Odor: Strong, sharp scent common to chlorinated nitroalkanes.
Boiling Point: Approximately 137°C. Volatility rises in heat, so uncapped containers skew vapor levels high.
Solubility: Limited water solubility, mixes well with organic solvents like acetone, benzene.
Density: Heavier than water, so it sinks and persists in spills.
Other Facts: Not known to polymerize itself, but breaks down slowly with light and air over time.
Chemical Stability: Forms stable solutions in cool, dark, dry storage. Warming or sunlight exposure degrades quality.
Incompatible Conditions: Bases and oxidizers spark off decomposition, making even mild bleach a problem. Heat from storage above typical lab temperatures accelerates breakdown.
Hazardous By-Products: Chlorinated and nitrogenous gases form, especially on overheating, raising toxicity risk for anyone downwind.
Polymerization: Unlikely under routine conditions, so runaway reactions are rare but not impossible under poor controls.
Acute Exposure: Skin, eye, and mucous membrane irritation dominate short exposures. Lab workers report burning and stinging that eases after rapid decontamination.
Chronic Exposure: Data on repeated low-level exposure stays limited, but the nitro group and chlorinated core concern occupational physicians, especially for cancer and nervous system risks over the long term.
Inhalation Effects: Headache, coughing, and possibly dizziness if concentrations build up in unventilated rooms.
Ingestion Effects: Nausea, vomiting, stomach pain would likely show up in an accidental swallow, along with risk of further complications if pulmonary aspiration happens.
Skin Contact: Redness, burning, and possible blistering reflect delayed reactions if not washed off.
Environmental Fate: Breaks down slow in water and soil. Its dense, hydrophobic nature means it gathers at bottoms of drains or water bodies.
Toxicity: Poses significant risks for fish, amphibians, and aquatic insects even at low concentrations. Runoff from labs or spills in manufacturing sites carries harm far from immediate release point.
Persistence: Clings to organic matter and resists easy cleanup. Because chloronitro compounds tend to persist in wildlife and food chains, waste treatment operators keep extra watch for these markers.
Bioaccumulation: Likely in aquatic food webs, where predators take on higher concentrations than their prey.
Disposal Strategy: Designated hazardous chemical waste streams managed by specialized handlers. Direct dumping, burning, or pouring through ordinary sinks contaminates larger systems.
Labeling and Segregation: Containers must read clearly; storing with incompatible or random wastes builds up the scale of later emergencies.
Recycling/Recovery: Reuse not practical for most users due to contamination and trace residue risk; incineration under controlled conditions breaks it down best.
UN Classification: Falls under toxic organochlorine compounds, classified according to hazard class 6.1 in most international shipping norms.
Packing Procedures: Professionals use break-resistant containers packed in tight shipping boxes with adequate cushioning.
Precautions: Spills during transport require clean-up with same rigor as those happening inside a facility, because leaks in transit tend to escalate quickly.
Documentation: Transport always pairs with correct paperwork indicating toxicity and environmental harm risks.
Major Controls: Falls under reporting and control measures for toxic organics in North America, the EU, and many Asian industrial regions.
Occupational Limits: Regulatory exposure limits not always explicitly set, but recommended exposure cutoffs echo those for other dichloro- and nitro-compounds—typically on the low side, under 1 ppm in air.
Environmental Restrictions: Bans or tight restrictions apply to deliberate dumping, and managing effluents containing this substance brings corporate and regulatory scrutiny.
Worker Training: Mandatory in many countries before handling—awareness and respect for its risks matters more than rote rule-following.
