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Phosphorus pentoxide dust and fume

Airborne phosphorus pentoxide particulate or fume encountered in chemical-processing workplaces.

Airborne form

fume

The form describes what is suspended in air at the point of exposure. A material can produce more than one form, such as dust during handling and fume during heating.

Health effects

local respiratory irritationviolent coughingacute exposure effectschronic exposure concernstrong dehydrating injury

Evidence

A NIOSH health-hazard evaluation characterizes phosphorus pentoxide exposure as moderately hazardous for acute and chronic exposures, identifies phosphoric anhydride as a local irritant and very strong dehydrating agent, and reports that very high concentrations can cause violent coughing; it notes no evidence of systemic poisoning from acute or chronic exposure in the discussed toxicology section.

Source: pdf ↗ · saved source
page 4 · E. Toxicology · 1
Phosphorus Pentoxide -- moderate for both acute and chronic exposures. Phosphoric anhydride is a local irritant and a very strong dehydrating agent. With moisture it forms phosphoric acid. Very high concentrations of the anhydride will cause violent coughing ... No evidence of systemic poisoning from either acute or chronic exposure.

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