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Cobalt metal dust and fume (as Co)																				Related Pages
										May 1994
Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health Concentrations (IDLH)
**CAS number:** 7440–48–4 (Metal)
**NIOSH REL:** 0.05 mg/m3 TWA
**Current OSHA PEL:** 0.1 mg/m3 TWA
**1989 OSHA PEL:** 0.05 mg/m3 TWA
**1993-1994 ACGIH TLV:** 0.05 mg/m3 TWA
**Description of Substance:** Varies
**Original (SCP) IDLH:** 20 mg Co/m3
**Basis for original (SCP) IDLH:** Browning [1969] made the statement that “metallic cobalt by inhalation and soluble salts by intratracheal injection act as acute lung irritants, producing oedema, and hemorrhage with a considerable outpouring of fluid from the capillaries in the peritoneal cavity. Many of the animals subjected to intratracheal injection of a suspension of cobalt metal dust developed acute pneumonia, often rapidly fatal as an initial reaction.” Because no data on acute inhalation toxicity are available on which to base an IDLH for cobalt metal fume and dust, the chosen IDLH is based on the statement by Patty [1963] that animals chronically exposed to a cobalt-metal blend at a concentration of 20 mg Co/m3 developed lesions in the lungs.
**Short-term exposure guidelines:** None developed
**ACUTE TOXICITY DATA**
**Lethal dose data:**

**Species**
    **Reference**
    **Route**
    **LD50** **(mg/kg)**
    **LDLo** **(mg/kg)**
    **Adjusted LD**
    **Derived value**Rat Rabbit
    FDRL 1984 Simesen 1939
    oral oral
    6,170 -----
    ----- 750
    43,190 mg Co/m35,250 mg Co/m3
    4,319 mg Co/m3525 mg Co/m3
 **Other animal data:** It has been reported that animals chronically exposed for 3 years to a cobalt-metal blend at a concentration of 20 mg Co/m3 developed fibrotic lesions in the lungs [Patty 1963].
 **Human data:** None relevant for use in determining the revised IDLH.
 
 **Revised IDLH:** 20 mg Co/m3 [Unchanged] **Basis for revised IDLH:** Based on chronic toxicity data in animals [Patty 1963], the original IDLH for cobalt metal dust and fume (20 mg Co/m3) is not being revised at this time. This may be a conservative value due to the lack of relevant acute toxicity data for workers.
**REFERENCES:**
1. Browning E [1969]. Toxicity of industrial metals. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts, p. 136.
2. FDRL [1984]. Acute oral LD50 study of cobalt powder-325 mesh t3N in Sprague Dawley rats. Waverly, NY: Food & Drugs Research Laboratories, Inc., FDRL Study No. 8005B.
3. Patty FA, ed. [1963]. Industrial hygiene and toxicology. 2nd rev. ed. Vol. II. Toxicology. New York, NY: Interscience Publishers, Inc., p. 1032.
4. Simesen M [1939]. The fate of cobalt after oral administration of metallic cobalt and subcutaneous injection of carbonatotetraminecobalt chloride, with remarks on the quantitative estimation of cobalt in organic materials. Arch Int Pharmaco Ther *62*(3):347-356.

			
							
								Page last reviewed:  December 4, 2014						Content
							source: 	National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health NIOSH Publications & Products
Immediately Dangerous To Life or Health (IDLH) Values
Table of IDLH Values
Criteria for Determining IDLH Values
Historical Documentation
Original (SCP) Values
Abbreviations for IDLH Documentation
Abbreviations for Journal Titles Follow NIOSH Facebook
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