Key Points

Fire

• Highly flammable
• Highly reactive; reacts violently with strong oxidising agents, strong acids and bases
• Emits toxic fumes of hydrogen cyanide and nitrogen oxide when heated to decomposition
• In the event of a fire involving acrylonitrile, use alcohol resistant foam, or normal foam if not available, and liquid tight protective clothing with breathing apparatus

Health

• Toxic by inhalation, ingestion and skin contact
• Should be regarded as a cancer causing substance
• Exposure to acrylonitrile may cause headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, fatigue and clumsy motion
• Severe exposures to acrylonitrile may result in tremors, collapse, convulsions, discolouration of the skin and could possibly be fatal
• Dermal exposure to acrylonitrile may cause localised irritation, blistering and redness

Environment

• Avoid release into the envionment
• Inform the Environment Agency of substantial releases

 

All sections of the compendia are available to download:

• Acrylonitrile - Full Document (PDF, 172 KB)
• General Information (PDF, 59 KB)
• Incident Management (PDF, 101 KB)
• Toxicological Overview (PDF, 44 KB)