Response to comment on vitamin D and the Minimum Safety Data Sheet for it.

Another substacker shared the MSDS for vitamin D. Does this mean taking vitamin D is dangerous?

Someone recently commented on my Feb. 5, 2024, vitamin D post. Rather than commenting for him only to see, I decided to share my response with you, too.

Comment on my Vitamin D post

Thanks for this response to Agent131711's post, which had me pretty convinced. Still, I'd like to see some of his other points covered, such as his description of how Vit D is manufactured and sourced, and especially how the MSDS sheet for D3 lists it as toxic. I mean, he literally links to a D3 product safety sheet that states, "Uses advised against: Food, drug, pesticide or biocidal product use." I don't think all his arguments are air-tight, but if he's linking directly to a source proving his argument, I don't know what to say. Is he missing something here?

My Response

OSHA requires Minimum Safety Data Sheets in specific workplace situations where hazardous materials may be present. These can include labs, hospitals, and nursing home settings. However, an MSDS is also provided for many products not covered under hazardous chemicals.

For example, when I worked in long-term care in the Activities Department, we had to have an MSDS on everything. And yes, I mean every craft item we used with the residents, such as paints, glues, pastes, clay, and markers. Based on some of the MSDS for craft items, I do not know how our residents ever made it out of an arts and crafts class alive.

I also want to note that not once in my experience working in the AD in LTC did we ever need to pull the MSDS for a hazardous occurrence. We only looked at them when the state came in for their survey and asked to see the MSDS on some random product.

We also had to take monthly OSHA quizzes to stay updated on hazardous materials.

Yet, monthly, the building was cleaned intensely with hash-smelling chemicals, during which I would cough nonstop and feel lightheaded with a headache. My co-worker would need to spend time using her nebulizer. Even though I am sure there are MSDS for the chemicals used to clean the building, it was still completed while everyone was still in it and with little to no ventilation, especially in colder months.

I would think there would be some OSHA rules regarding safety in a building with elderly residents when using very potent cleaning and disinfectant agents.

So, as I have repeated time and time, I am a skeptic.

Therefore, I will add OSHA and MSDS to my skepticism.

What is the point of the OSHA regulations and MSDS if a building-wide cleaning with strong, potent, toxic chemicals can still occur at a home to elderly and frail residents?

Vitamin D MSDS

An MSDS sheet for supplements is meant for those working directly in creating and manufacturing these items. These sheets are guidelines on what to do for toxic exposure, not for at-home use. If a person ingested large quantities of vitamin D, such as enough for 120, 5000 IU capsules, well, yes, that could be considered a hazard and dangerous.

If we are going to trust OSHA with their MSDS creations, then I guess we would have also bought into OSHA’s C19 regulations at the workplace, such as social distancing, masks, and regular testing.

Much of what you see regarding the dangers of any MSDS concerns acute toxicity, such as in an accidental event.

For instance, this Vitamin D MSDS discussed what to do in an acute toxicity lab situation. Working in a lab with any compound requires particular caution and regulations for safety concerns. I am not sure why it should be any different when making supplements.

Lab Process and Supplements

Photo by Julia Koblitz on Unsplash

Vitamin D in a lab setting is typically extracted from fish liver oils, such as cod liver oil, and this extraction process involves crushing fish livers, separating the oils from the tissues, and then purifying the oil by removing impurities.

Any supplement process may involve extraction from the source via crushing, grinding, or solvent extraction. Isolating the nutrient components may involve adsorption, chromatography, or precipitation, and finally, removing impurities may be done via filtration, distillation, or crystallization.

Knowing the above steps involved in making a supplement, I can understand why an MSDS is required and why the MSDS may make a supplement look scary and dangerous to an individual.

The MSDS Explained

The federal Hazard Communication Standard, revised in 2012, now requires chemical manufacturers, distributors, and importers to provide new Safety Data Sheets in a uniform format that includes the section numbers, headings, and associated information.

Any supplement must have an MSDS sheet with the same headings as toxic compounds, addressed with content such as Hazard Identification and First-aid Measures. You cannot leave any section of the MSDS blank.

According to this thorough PubChem document, vitamin D at the individual level is usually non-toxic.

Doses of vitamin D analogs that do not exceed the physiologic requirement are usually non-toxic.

However, some infants and patients with sarcoidosis or hypoparathyroidism may have increased sensitivity to vitamin D analogs.

This document goes on to provide under section 12, Toxicity:

The treatment of acute accidental overdosage of Calcitriol should consist of general supportive measures.

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An MSDS should exist in a lab setting where supplements are created due to the processing involved and accidental issues.

Does this mean that taking a vitamin D supplement because you cannot meet your needs via sunshine alone while monitoring your levels with testing is harmful and dangerous?

Probably not.

Do I think the vitamin D MSDS was taken out of context for what its primary purpose is?

Yes, I do.

Bottom Line

Do you need to supplement with vitamin D? I have no idea.

You must test and work with someone who understands proper vitamin D levels. People with extra weight or darker skin color will require more vitamin D, whether that means more sun exposure or different vitamin D supplement requirements. Older people, who have thin skin that can burn quickly, will have challenges getting their vitamin D from the sun.

www.grassrootshealth.net is a valuable resource for vitamin D research and health conditions.

Look for a vitamin D supplement that does not contain added oils, such as soybean oil. I use the Bio-Tech Pharmacal brand.

Do you have any thoughts on vitamin D supplements and the safety sheets?

Not only are some cheap supplements synthetic with additives but there are also a host of food-like products that provide a long list of added vitamins and minerals in the synthetic form.

Many people are fooled into thinking that a product is healthy because they see the long list of vitamins and minerals in the ingredients list. They have to be listed if they have been added to the product.

If the food products were healthy, there would be no reason to add these vitamins and minerals.

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