Environmental and Safety Data

Already it is well known that a number of common chemicals are toxic to humans and need to be avoided. One source of information on these chemicals is the Toxic Chemical Release Inventory (TRI), which is maintained by the U.S. EPA, and includes over 600 chemicals. A list of these chemicals is available at the Internet site  

Another source is provided by the ratings of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), which are tabulated for many chemicals in Data for Process Design and Engineering Practice (Woods, 1995). The first of three categories is titled Hazard to Health and is rated from 0 to 4, with 0 meaning harmless and 4 meaning extremely hazardous. 

As seen in Table 1.3 and discussed in Section 1.4, data on the flammability of organic compounds are tabulated and, for those compounds not included in the table, methods are available to estimate the data. In addition, tables of flammability data are also available for aerosols and polymers in Perry s Chemical Engineers Handbook (Perry and Green, 1997). The NFPA ratings provide a less quantitative source for many chemicals under Flammability Hazard, which is the second of the three categories (also rated from 0 to 4). 

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In this programme, co-producers of chemicals work together to share health, environmental and safety data, assess chemicals, and engage in a peer review of their assessments with government experts of OECD member countries and NGOs. 

Most organic liquids can act as a solvent in industrial processes. Solvents are an important component in the chemical industry processes and in the application industries that utilize solvents as ingredients in their products. Many of the organic solvents described in this book also serve as chemical intermediates in preparation of other valuable organic chemicals. The data on the solvents included in this book was extracted from product literature given to the author by the various solvent producers. This data reflects the most current physical properties as well as the current use opportunities for the solvents and the most recent environmental and safety data. Environmental concerns often mandate solvent substitution. 

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