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to Ammonium
bifluoride Index Page
Activity:
Wood Preservative (Inorganic)
Structure:
Adverse
Effects:
Bone
Brain
CNS
Heart
Kidney
Tremors
Chemical Weapons Precursor for the production
of sarin-family nerve agents
Enviromental
• Very little toxicological
data available
•
One of the many uses of Ammonium bifluoride is as a wood
preservative. While it is not listed as pesticide approved
for use by the US EPA, the following excerpt from a 1998
US Department of Agriculture (Forest Service) research paper
notes its efficacy.
...Research
conducted by the Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) has shown
that simple in-place treatments can prevent above-water
decay and extend the service life of marine pilings at least
10 years. The technique involves in-place application of
either ammonium
bifluoride or a fungicide in
a mastic material to the top surface of cut-off piles. A
coal-tar "cap" is then placed on top of the treated pile.
This treatment protects against the initiation of decay
only at the top of the pile. Either treatment is effective
by itself, and retreatment does not appear necessary for
at least 10 years. Ammonium
bifluoride or a fungicidal
mastic can provide Douglas-fir piles with long-term protection
from decay. Immediately after pile tops are cut off, the
piles are brush-treated with a 20% aqueous solution of
ammonium bifluoride (the easier
of the two methods), or fungicidal mastic...
Ref: Highley, T.L.; Scheffer, T.C. 1989. Controlling decay
in waterfront structures. Evaluation, prevention, and remedial
treatments. Res. Pap. FPL-RP-494. Madison, WI: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products
http://www.fluorideaction.org/pesticides/ammonium.bifluoride.wood.pdf
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Liver
(click
on for all fluorinated pesticides)
PubMed
Abstract: Male Wistar
rats were exposed to NH4F in concentration corresponding to mean
annual limit of fluoride compounds in the atmospheric air. After
3, 6 and 9 months a microsomal fraction was isolated from the
liver, and the composition as well as the metabolic activity of
this fraction was determined. The content of microsomal protein
increased after 3-month-long period of experiment, and subsequently
it dropped after the period of 9 months. The content of phospholipids
decreased after 3 months. The content of microsomal cholesterol
was particularly high after a 6-month-long experiment. There were
also changes in the contents of individual phospholipid fractions,
and fatty acids of phospholipids. The content of cytochrome P-450,
cytochrome b5 and activity of NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase did
not change. Activity of NADPH-dependent reductase of cytochrome
c--decreased after the period of 9 months. Moreover, as consequence
of changes in the activity of cytochrome P-450 system and the
endoplasmic reticulum composition, alterations were observed in
the metabolism of the tested substrates i.e. aniline and aminopyrine.
The aniline turnover was inhibited after 6 and that of aminopyrine
after 9 months experiment. The observed
changes may prove that the detoxication capacity of the liver
was impaired due to being exposed to ammonium fluoride.
Ref: Juzyszyn
Z (1991). [Chronic
effect of ammonium fluoride on selected parameters of microsomal
fracture of the rat liver with special reference to the cytochrome
P-450 system]. Ann Acad Med Stetin. 1991;37:49-64.
Bone
- Brain - CNS
- Heart - Kidney
- Tremors (click
on for all fluorinated pesticides)
CNS
- Heart -
Potential Health Effects:
If inhaled or swallowed, this compound can cause fluoride
poisoning. Early symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea,
and weakness. Later effects include central
nervous system effects, cardiovascular
effects and death.
Inhalation: May cause irritation
and burns to the respiratory tract, symptoms may include coughing,
sore throat, and labored breathing. May be absorbed through inhalation
of dust; symptoms may parallel those from ingestion exposure.
Irritation and burning effects may not appear immediately.
Brain, Heart, Kidney, Tremors
-
Ingestion: May cause salivation,
nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, followed by symptoms
of weakness, tremors, shallow respiration,
carpopedal spasm, convulsions, and coma.
May cause brain and kidney damage. Affects
heart and circulatory system. Death
may be caused by respiratory paralysis. Lethal
dose estimated at between 1 teaspoonful and 1 oz.
Skin Contact: Causes irritation
and burns to the skin. Effects may not appear immediately.
Eye Contact: Causes irritation. May
be extremely irritating with possible burns to eye tissue and
permanent eye damage may result.
Anemia, Bone
-
Chronic Exposure:
Chronic exposure
may cause mottling of teeth and bone damage
(osteosclerosis) and fluorosis. Symptoms
of fluorisis include brittle bones,weight loss, anemia,
calcified ligaments, general ill
health and joint stiffness.
Aggravation of Pre-existing Conditions:
Populations that appear to be at increased
risk from the effects of fluoride are individuals that suffer
from diabetes insipidus or some forms of renal
impairment.
Ref:
Analytyka. Material Safety Data Sheet. Online as of September
15, 2003.
http://www.analytyka.com.mx/tabla%20periodica/MSDS/N/AMMONIUM%20BIFLUORIDE.htm
Chemical
Weapons Precursor for the production of sarin-family nerve agents
(click on for all fluorinated pesticides)
Bifluorides:
Ammonium bifluoride, Potassium bifluoride, Sodium bifluoride.
Bifluorides
are used as a source of the fluorine atom in the synthesis of
all of the G-type nerve agents except Tabun,
in which the fluorine atom is replaced by a cyanide group. All
bifluorides are synthesized from ammonium bifluoride. Ammonium
bifluoride is in turn made from ammonium fluoride which is made
by the reaction of ammonium hydroxide with hydrofluoric acid (HF.)
Ammonia is manufactured on an extremely large scale (>10 million
tons per annum in the US) using the Haber process, for which Fritz
Haber (who played a major role in the German chemical weapons
program in World War I) won a Nobel Prize. Worldwide hydrogen
fluoride manufacture is approximately 400,000 tons. The quantities
needed for manufacture of a stockpile of G agent would be miniscule
in comparison.
Ammonium fluoride is converted to the bifluoride by dehydrating
an aqueous solution of ammonium fluoride. The other bifluorides
are manufactured by essentially the same process, except that
the water, and the more volatile ammonia, are driven off in the
presence of a sodium or potassium compound.
Ref: Nerve
Agent Precursors: Bifluorides: Ammonium bifluoride, Potassium
bifluoride, Sodium bifluoride.
... some of the precursor
chemicals which are early in the production process and/or are
widely produced in industry (and hence not considered suitable
for effective monitoring under the CWC [Chemical Weapons Convention])
have been included on the AGL [Australia Group List], because
they are either known or suspected to have been sought for CW
purposes. Such precursors include: ...the fluoride chemicals ...
for the production of sarin-family nerve agents...
14 [potassium fluoride],
24 [hydrogen fluoride],
41 [potassium bifluoride],
42 [ammonium bifluoride],
43 [sodium bifluoride] and
44 [sodium fluoride]
Ref:
A COMPARISON OF THE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIST OF CHEMICAL WEAPON PRECURSORS
AND THE CWC SCHEDULES OF CHEMICALS by Robert J. Mathews. September
1993. Quarterly Journal of the Harvard Sussex Program on CBW Armament
and Arms Limitation. Issue No. 21.
http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/Chemical.Weapon.Precursors.pdf
•
Note from FAN: Sarin was once used as an insecticide as cited
in the abstract below
Int.
Pest Control16(6): 4-9; 1974
Organophosphorus
insecticides by
Cremlyn RJW
Abstract excerpt:
PESTAB. The article reviews the main types of organophosphorus
insecticides. Early examples such
as dimefox [also fluorineated], tabun, sarin,
pestox, and parathion had the disadvantage of high mammalian toxicity...
From TOXNET
Environmental
(click
on for all fluorinated pesticides)
Fluoride/fluorinated
substances identified in Agreement between Canada and the
United States on Great Lakes Water Quality, 1978.
Appendix
1
Hazardous Polluting Substances:
Ammonium Bifluoride * Ammonium
Fluoborate * Ammonium Fluoride
* Ammonium Silicofluoride * Antimony Trifluoride * Beryllium
Fluoride * Ferric Fluoride * Hydrofluoric Acid * Lead Fluoborate
* Lead Fluoride * Sodium Bifluoride * Sodium Fluoride *
Zinc Fluoride * Zinc Silicofluoride * Zirconium Potassium
Fluoride.
Appendix 2
Potential Hazardous Polluting Substances:
Aluminum Fluoride * Antimony Pentafluoride * Benfluralin
* Chlorflurazole * Cobaltous Fluoride * Stannous Fluoride
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