in the Chemical f aboratory
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Edited by NORMAN V. STEERE, 140 Melbourne Ave., S.E. Minneapolis, Minn. 554 14
XC. Identification of Hazardous Materials-Part
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Safety Council, the ACS Committee on Chemical Safety, the NFPA Committee on Chemical Laboratories, or any other organiaation. If you do not work for standards that are practicable in the laboratory you are likely to be confronted with regolxtions that you cannot comply with.
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NORMAN V. STEERE Readers of this article may wonder what relation there is between laboratory safety and Federal requirements for symbols and data far hazardous industrial chemicals. What value is there for laboratory personnel t o learn about the new system for hamrd symbols on Federal purchases, or the Material Safety Data Sheet required in the maritime industry? These .ere strbng indicatiolis that t,he hheling system and the data sheet requirement are going to become legally binding on every U.S. laboratory by 1973. U S . laboratories as employers are either under the jurisdiction of the Occnpntional Safety and Health Act of 1970, likely to became so, or are civilly liable for oompliance with accepted safety standards. One major reason for understanding these labeling and data sheet systems is t o find ways of using them to help protect
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your laboratory, operations, and personnel. Obtaining, storing, and retrieving safety data sheets will be one difficult problem, and another will be recognibion and use of the hazard labeling system. If your laboratory synthesizes new chemicals you will need to develop a simple, standard system for evalusting and reporting emergency health, fire, and instability hazards of the chemicals. The second major reason for rmderstanding the labeling and data, sheet systems and evaluating them critically as they might apply to laboratories, is so that you can take action for modifications that may be needed to make the standards sensible and workable in laboratories. If there &rechanges that you believeshould be made, work through your employer, your professional associations, the Research and Development Section of the National
Material Safety Data Sheet The U.S. Dept. of Labor acted in 1968 to require certain employers to obtain information on potential hazards in the use of pnrticuler materials. The action was t o amend the Safety and Health Regulations for Ship Repairing, Shipbuilding and Shipbreaking adopted under Public Law 83-742, the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensadion Act. The proeodure was to pltblish a proposal in the Federal Register t o give interested persons the opportunity to participate in the rule making t,hrough submission of written data, views, and comments regarding the proposal, and to amend the regulations after consideration of all relevant matter submitted. (Continued on page A76)
Volume 49, Number 2, February 1972
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If you or a representative of your organization or association do not read the Federal Register regularly yon are going to m i ~ sthe chance to comment on proposals of interest. Both the U S . Depts. of Labor and Transportation will be proposing separate new chemical labeling systems which are much more likely to be compatible or correlated if there is prompt and informed comment and follow-up by all interested persons. The results of the 1968 action by the Dept. of Labor were definitions of hazardous materials, prohibit.ion of t,heir use ont,il potential hazards were determined, setting standards far use of hszardous materials in t,heindustry heing regulated a t t h s t time, and establishment of a form for reporting potential hazards: the Material Safety Data Sheet (LSB-005-4). The completed Materid Safety Data Sheets were required t o be preserved and available for inspection for three months after completion of the jabs for which the materials were used. The 1968 regulations stated specifically t h s t "no chemical product, such its a solvent or preservative; no structural as cadmium or material, such zinc coated steel, or plastic material; and no process material, srtch as welding filler metal, which is a hazardous material (as defined) shall be osed until the employer has ascertained t,he potential fire, toxic, or reactivity hamrds which are likely to be encountered in the handling, application, or uti1il;ation of such a material." The term hazardous material was defined in t,he 1968 regulations as any material with one or more of t,he following characteristics: "(1) has a flash point below 140°F, closed cap, or is subject to spontaneous heating; (2) has a. threshold limit value below 300 ppm in the case of a gas or vapor, below 500 mg/hZa for fumes, and ~ of a dust: (31 has a below 2.5 ~ D D inC case
strong oxidizing or reducing ngent; (6) causes first degree bums to skin in short time exposure, or is systemically toxic by skin contact; or (7) in t,he courseof normal operations, may produce dusts, gases, fumes, vapors, mists, or smokes which have one or mare of the above chnracteristics." The 1971 Federal Standard 313 modified materials to the definition of h~zal~dolis include materials wit,h any flashpoint, and materials which produce sensitizing effects. A certified Material Safety Datn Sheet is reqldred by Federal Standard 313 for each item in the fallowing Federal Supply Clames: 3439 6810 6820 6830 6840
Welding and Brazing Supplies Chemicals Dyes Gases; Compressed and Liquefied Pest Control Apents and Ilisinfectants 6850 Miscellaneous Chemical Specialties 7930 Cleaning and Polishing Compounds and Preparations
(Continued on page A78)
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8010 Paints, Dopes, Varnishes, and Related Products 8030 Preservative and Sealing Compounds 8040 Adhesives (Packaged Products Only in Group 91) 9110 Fuels, Solid 9130 Liquid Propellents and Fuels, PetroleumBase 9135 Liquid Propellant Fuels and Oxidizers, Chemical Base 9140 Fuel Oils 9150 Oils and Greases: Cutting, Lubricating, and Hydraulic 9160 Miscellaneous Waxes, Oils and Fats 9920 Smokers' Articles and Matches (Lighter Fuel and Matches Only) The purpose of requiring a Material Safety Data Sheet for every itemin the first group of Federal Supply Classes is to assure positive and complete identification of any hazards of materials in the classes. I n s. second group of Federal Supply Classes listed below only the items having hazardous characteristics need to be identified and certified on Material Safety Data Sheets:
oration rate for liquids, and appearance and odor. (6) Fire and explosion hazard data ahout a single chemical or mixture of chemicals, including flash point temperature, flammable limits, suitable extinguishing agents, special fire fighting procedures, and unusual fire and explosion hazard information. (7) Health hazard data, including threshold limit value, effects of overexposure and emergency and first-aid procedures. (8) Reactivity data, including stability, incompatibility, haaardous decommsition ~roducts, and hazardous polymerization. (9) Procedures to be followed and precautions to be taken in cleaning up and disposing of materials leaked or spilled. (10) Special protection information, including use of personal protective equipment such as respirators, eye protection, and protective clothing, and of ventilation, such as local exhaust, general, special or other types. (11) Special precautionary information about handling and storage. (12) Any other general precautionary information.
I.Tazardous items such as cutback asphalt, deck and floor mvering, deck and surface underlay compound, sealing compound, flight deck compounds Photographic Supplies Only items rontaining haaardous chemicals, solvents, thinners and cements Photographio sebs, kits and Only items containing hnzardous chemicals, outfits solvents, thinners and cements Office Supplies Only hazardow it,ems, such as solvents, thinners, cleaning fluids, flammable inks and varnishes Perfumes, Toilet Preparations, Shipping cantainors, and prossuri~edcontainers wit,h flammable propellants only and Powders Toilet Soap, Shaving Prepara- (See FSC 8610) tions, and Dentifrices Fertilizers Only items containing weed and pest control or other harmful ingredients, or because uf their composition, are hsaardous
5610 Mineral Construction
6750 6780 7510 8510 8520 8720
The Material Safety Data sheet required by the Department of Labor, LSB-OOS-4, includes the following information: (1) The name, address, and telephone number of the source of information, preferably of the manufacturer of the product or material. (2) The trade name and synonyms for a, mixture of chemicals, a basic structural material, or for a process material; and the chemical name and synonyms, chemical family and formula for a single chemical. (3) Chemical names of hazardous ingredients, including but not limited to those in mixtures, such as those in (a) ~ a i n t s ,preservatives, and solvents; ( b ) alloys, metallic coatings, filler metals and their coatings or core fluxes; and ( c ) other liquids, solids, or gases. (4) An indication of the percentage by weight or volume which each ingredient of a. mixture beam to the whole mixture, and ~f the threshold limit value of each ingrelient, in appropriate units. (5) Physical data about a. single chemical or a mixture of chemicals, including boiling point, vapor pressure, vapor iensity of gas or vapor, solubility in water, 3pecific gravity, percentage volatile, evilp-
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Federal Standard 313 also illustrates another Material Safety Data Sheet, D D Form 1813, which provides ior additional information on Federal stock number, gross weight, outside package dimensions, and transportation data. The transportation data. include proper shipping name, DOT classification, label, marking and la card, to be taken in transportation, and emergency precautions and procedures for accidents. With the approval of the Bureau of Labor Standards, the safety data may he permitted on a. form essentially similar to the two sheets described. The similar form could modify the section on haaardous ingredients t o include a similar group of prodocts, such as paints, but would require d l other q~restionsto be answered in the same sequence but in the minimum space required for a t least the letters N.A. for "not applicable." Suppliers of hazardous materials under Federal Standard 313 are only required tb submit one Material Safety Data Sheet to a given eontractingoffieer unless changes in formulations affecting hazardous ingredients is made, with prior approval. Contractors bidding or quoting on haza d o u s materials may refer to Material
Safety Data Sheets submitted under previ-
Manufacturers can submit Material
encouraged to submit data sheets to: General Services Administration Federal Supply Service (FSE) Washington, U. C. 20390 and to the Defense Supply Agency, the Air Force Logistics Command, the Army Material Command, and the Navy Fleet Material Support Office. Hazard information submitted under the requirements of Federal Standard 313 will not he available outside of Federal Government activities unless the mmufacturer or contractor specifically authorises such disclosure on the Material Safety Data Sheet. Although the Federal Standard does not specify how the data sheets are to be used or distributed, the maritime industry regulations do require that the data sheets shall be preserved and available for inspection for 3 months after completion of the job for which the baaardous material wss purchased. If the same type of regulation is applied to data. on laboratory chemical.ls there is going to have to be consideration of effective data retrieval systems. The regulations adopting the requirement for Material Safety Data Sheets also specifies that, "the employer shall instruct employees who will be exposed to the
employer shall provide all necessary controls, and the employees shall be protected against the hamrdds identified.. ." on the Material Safety Data Sheets for which specific precautions are required. Adequate washing facilities are required, employees are to he informed of the need for removing surface contaminants before eating or smoking, and smoking and eating me to be prohibited in the immediate areas where operations produce atmospheric contaminants. The need for readily available chemical hazard information is unquestioned, even though the need has never adequately been met except for some common chemicals and within a few companies. The requirements for Material Safety Data Sheets are a commend%hleeffort to make all known hazard data avdable, and to focus attention on data which needs t o be determined. However, the data will not be useful until practical systems are developed to deliver the information. Chemical nomencl&ture, information access, selective distribution, bulk, and cost are some of the problems that must be dealt with so that chemical hssard information oan be available when and whereit is needed. (The new Federal Standard 313 for Symbols for Packages and Containers for Hazardous Industrial Chemicals and Meteridls will be described and discussed in the next section of this article.)
Volume 49, Number 2, February 1972
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