Everyday Hazards

Laboratory workers should remember that injuries can and do occur outside the laboratory in other work areas. It is important that safety principles be practiced in offices, stairways, corridors, and similar places. Here, safety is largely a matter of common sense, but constant awareness of everyday hazards is vital. 

Wastes should be classified according to the type and degree of hazard, if necessary, as prescribed by government regulation. The following guidelines should be helpful in classifying hazardous materials. 

Acute hazardous wastes are substances that are fatal to humans in low doses or that have an oral LD50 toxicity (in rats) of less than 50 mg/kg, an inhalation LD50 toxicity (in rats) of less than 2 mg/L, a dermal LD50 toxicity (in rabbits) of less than 200 mg/kg, or that are capable of causing serious, irreversible, or incapacitating illness. 

Hazardous wastes are substances that meet any of the following criteria  

Corrosivity (e.g., aqueous solutions that have a pH less than 2 or greater than 12.5). 

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They understand the changing traffic and weather conditions, and everyday hazards of the job none better. They can provide insight from a real-world perspective on how an accident could have been avoided. 

The definition of hazard presented above has two elements. The first is that a hazard has within it the ability to harm a person. The second is that the existence of a hazard does not mean that harm will arise - a hazard only has to have the potential to harm. Identifying hazards is an ongoing process. There are everyday hazards associated with living - e.g. using gas as a fuel to cook food. There are unusual hazards that most people encoxmter only rarely - e.g. undergoing surgery. 

Handling hazardous ehemieals has beeome part of most people s everyday living. Just eonsider gasoline, and how most people fill their own tanks. In the manufaeturing arena, ehemieals are eommonplaee. On hazardous waste sites there are a variety of unknown ehemieal substanees and other hazards that may take the form of a solid, liquid, or gas. The eflfeets of exposure to toxie ehemieals may either be immediate (e.g., aeid burns) or delayed (e.g., lung damage from inhaling asbestos). There are four routes of ehemieal exposure that exist ... 

The federal government s national communication center that receives all reports of releases involving hazardous substances and oil. Hours 24 hours, everyday. 

Hazard is commonly defined as the potential to cause harm . A hazard can be defined as aproperty or situation that in particular circumstances could lead to harm (Smith et al., 1988). Risk is a more difficult concept to define. The term risk is used in everyday language to mean chance of disaster . When used in the process of risk assessment it has specific definitions, the most commonly accepted being The combination of the probability, or frequency, of occurrence of a defined hazard and the magnitude of the consequences of the occurrence (Smith et al., 1988). 

It should be emphasized that mankind has come and still comes into contact with fullerene in everyday life. Pristine fullerene C60 itself can be found in our environment, e.g., in the soot produced by free burning of hydrocarbons like benzene and cyclohexane, as well as in charcoal, though in very small amounts (Shibuya et al., 1999) and in the kitchen (in natural gas combustion streams) (Bang et al., 2004 Murr and Soto, 2005). The impact of these natural sources is rather negligible though with the growth of production of fullerenes it could lead to much more serious environment pollution and be (or could not ) of a hazard to some extent. 

Clearly it is not feasible to describe all the chemicals that one could come across in all different types of work, nor would it be all that useful. In point of fact, in most jurisdictions it is mandatory that the manufacturer of a chemical used in the workplace must provide information to the user on the nature of that particular chemical, its potential hazard, and the steps that should be taken both to protect against it and to treat any emergency exposure that may occur. This information document is generally known as an MSDS (Manufacturer s Safety Data Sheet) and should be available to all concerned in any place where that chemical is in use. This book is not intended to usurp the MSDS. In all cases in which a strange chemical is in use, the MSDS should be consulted. This book is intended to acquaint the reader with some of the problems derived from ordinary, everyday chemicals. 

Turfgrass chemicals are by no means the only toxic hazard faced by average people, nor indeed the most unjust or egregiously unfair one, of course. Consider, for example, the disproportionately high exposure of inner city residents to propoxur, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and permethrin used to treat the insects and pests that are an everyday part of life in poorly maintained structures, rented by absent and indifferent landlords. The use of such chemicals in lawn management is far less directly utilitarian than in inner city homes, however such urban residents face a health hazard where lawn managers face a mere nuisance, if that. 

Movement is an essential component of life. If something moves, it is assumed to be alive. External movement depends upon skeletal muscle whereas internal movement depends upon smooth and cardiac muscles. The latter muscles are discussed in other chapters. The term physical activity is another term for external movement. Hence, it depends on skeletal muscle. This chapter contains a discussion of the biochemistry of skeletal muscle, including its involvement in everyday activities. This leads into the biochemistry underlying both the benefits and hazards of physical activity. In addition, the biochemical bases of the common problem of fatigue and the debilitating condition of chronic fatigue are discussed. 

Because all of francium s isotopes are radioactive, they are a potential hazard to humans and should be handled only by experienced laboratory personnel. On the other hand, the scarcity of these isotopes makes it almost impossible to consider them harmful in our everyday lives. 

All these studies indicate that the incidence of serious adverse events in such studies is very low and is comparable with the normal hazards of everyday life. Nevertheless, it must always be remembered that the volunteer is placing his or her welfare in the trust of the research physician, who therefore bears an enormous responsibility. 

Regarding solvents in ordinary usage, two important things to consider are how much of a product is used and how often it is used. For instance, a teaspoon of vinegar is safe to use on a salad, but if a person drank several cupfuls daily it could cause serious harm. So we can say the dose makes the poison. In everyday products the amounts used are at safe levels for the average person. The consumer would usually not apply or eat enough of the chemical to be hazardous. However, when misused, used by children in appropriate amounts, or by people who have particular allergies or sensitivities, there is reason for concern. 

Beyond the list of 13 substances, a larger list of chemicals has been consolidated and is subject to reporting requirements under EPCRA and CAA (see footnote 1). Most are classified as extremely hazardous substances (EHSs) and are subject to limits on the quantities allowed on site (threshold planning quantities—TPQs). The use of EHSs requires that documentation, training, surveillance, and emergency planning protocols are created for dealing with everyday use and inadvertent release. 

Polymeric materials are commonly used in everyday life with increased fire hazards and therefore flame retardants are very often incorporated into them to limit their flammability (84,85). 

At the present time, the scientific society needs the development of new environment-friendly analytical methods. Thns, chemists are snpposed to develop analytical methods that are free from the nse of hazardous reagents and leave minimal amonnt of chemical waste. Snrfactants play an important role in onr everyday life becanse they are applied in honseholds as well as in many indnstrial processes. Most snrfactants are snsceptible to biodegradation, metabolic, and other breakdown reactions that may lead to metabolites with significant environmentally benign chemical properties. Generally, most snrfactants appear to be less toxic in the environment than wonld be inferred from laboratory tests. The quantities of each... 

The use of chemicals to dispatch enemies is not the sole prerogative of humans. Animals and plants have also adopted what is known as chemical warfare. Both animals and plants, as well as bacteria and fungi, can produce and contain some of the deadliest chemicals for the purpose of discouraging a predator or killing a potential meal. We come across such poisons in our everyday hves in the form of ant bites and wasp, bee, and nettle stings. In some countries the indigenous plants and animals may be especially hazardous, as we shall discover in Chapter 6. 

Thus we are exposed to many chemicals on a daily basis, but what do they do to the body and do they cause us real harm The purpose of this book is to explore these concerns and to try to answer the questions. Chemicals are therefore an important and integral part of our everyday lives. So why do they get such a bad press and why do they conjure up visions of poisoning, pollution, and hazard in the mind of the general public ... 

It has been emphasized already that you should be familiar with the regulations and codes of practice pertaining in your laboratory. We will not discuss safety legislation here but some fundamental rules should be stressed. Never work alone in a laboratory. Always wear suitable safety spectacles and a cotton lab coat, and use other protection such as gloves, face masks, or safety shields if there is a particular hazard. Never eat, drink or smoke in a laboratory. Work at a safe, steady pace, and keep your bench and your lab clean and tidy. Familiarity breeds contempt do not allow yourself to get careless with everyday dangers such as solvent flammability. Familiarize yourself with the location and operation of the safety equipment in your laboratory. 

Human health biomonitoring using biomarkers and chemical analyses are used in the following applications (1) Health surveillance of persons who are known to have high occupational or environmental exposures to potentially toxic chemicals. This may include those who work with chemicals, radioactive materials, or biohazards as part of their occupation. Examples include factory workers, chemical industry employees, farmers, health care professionals, nuclear plant employees, and veterans of the Gulf War I. This may also consist of those who are involuntarily exposed to such hazards in their everyday surroundings. Some examples are people living near land fills, factories, hazardous waste sites, or environmental catastrophes such as the Chernobyl... 

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