A FEW NECESSARY WORDS ON SAFETY

While reading a textbook on chemistry, I came upon the statement nitric acid acts upon copper . .. I had seen a bottle marked nitric acid on a table. .. I was willing to sacrifice one of the few copper cents then in my possession. 

A greenish blue liquid foamed and fumed over the cent and over the table. The air In the neighborhood of the performance became dark red. A great colored cloud arose. . . picking (the penny) up. .. I learned another fact—nitric acid not only 

The precedence for books demonstrating home chemistry has been well established, but so is the precedence for a safety discussion at the beginning. True, we are all reasonable, responsible adults here, but so was the hero of the above quote. Therefore, a few necessary words on safety could not hurt. The Joy of Cooking offers advice on food preserva- 

If you don t own a pair of safety glasses already, go now to the hardware store and buy a pair. Wear them while doing the demonstrations in this book. 

Read the safety precautions embedded in the demonstrations and take them to heart. 

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The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has found that current MSDSs do not always effectively communicate to employers and workers necessary information about combustible dust hazards or ways to prevent them. A CSB survey found that nearly half of MSDSs for known combustible particulate materials contained no dust explosion warnings, only seven referenced NFPA standards, and few contained practical information. Since the CSB study, OSHA has revised the HazCom requirements. Under the revisions, combustible dust hazards must be addressed on labels and SDSs. Label elements are provided for combustible dust in the final HCS and include the signal word Svarning and the hazard statement May form combustible dust concentrations in the air. For chemicals in a solid form that do not present a combustible dust hazard, but may form combustible dusts while being processed in normal downstream uses, OSHA allows the chemical manufacturer some fiexibility in labeling requirements. The manufacturer or importer to may transmit the label to the customer at the time of the initial shipment, but the label does not need to be included with subsequent shipments unless it changes. This provides the needed information to the downstream users on the potential hazards in the workplace, while acknowledging that the solid metal or other materials do not present the same hazards that are produced when these materials are processed under normal conditions of use. 

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