Hazard data, gathering

Objectives Gather data and discuss secondary waste issues specific to Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (TOCDF). Tour portions of TOCDF and alocal Utah hazardous waste incineration facility to familiarize committee with processes and practices. Discuss secondary waste regulatory issues with Utah environmental regulatory officials and representatives of Utah s Citizens Advisory Commission (CAC). Review initial findings, discuss report development, make writing assignments, and decide on future activities. 

The nature of a violation depends on how the violation prevents the EPA from performing its information gathering or regulatory functions under TSCA. The ERPs classify these functions as chemical control, control-associated data gathering, or hazard assessment. Chemical control violations are violations of use and handling restrictions on particular chemical substances. Chemical control violations are only applicable when the EPA... 

The ASSE Risk Assessment Institute provides a seven-step process for conducting a risk assessment (American Society of Safety Engineers, n.d.) 1. Gather data An organization should complete an in-depth inventory of all hazards and related risks. 

Hazard identification involves gathering and evaluating data on the types of health injury or disease that may be produced by a chemical and on the conditions of exposure under which injury or disease is produced. It may also involve characterization of the behavior of a chemical within the body and the interactions it undergoes with organs, cells, or even parts of cells. Hazard identification is not risk assessment. It is a scientific determination of whether observed toxic effects in one setting will occur in other settings. 

Collect Data on Quantities and Condition of Hazardous Material Use the list of hazardous materials contained in OSH A CFR1910.119, or other similar lists published by industry associations and regulators worldwide. Data on plant sections, quantities of hazardous material, and their storage conditions can be gathered in a number of different ways, depending on what information is available. 

The importance of frictional heating in the initiation of expls is a subject of considerable importance. The frictional sensitivity is directly involved in the handling hazards of all high-energy materials and considerable attention has been directed toward gathering of frictional sensitivity data on almost all mil expls, in addi- tion to an entire host of pyrotechnic mixts and certain propints (Refs 6 17)... 

There is no longer any reason for lab-scale resin-preps to be poorly controlled with only a skimpy process record. Neither can the close exposure of scientists to the hazards of a live reaction, for frequent control adjustments or data gathering be justified. 

Data acquisition/collection/gathering employee cooperation in, 14 218 in hazard evaluation, 14 219 in life cycle assessment, 14 813 primary and secondary sources in, 15 633, 634 reliability and, 26 994 for sensors, 22 263-264 Data analysis and preparation, 6 20-21 for ammonia plant, 26 996-997... 

An essential practice for managing chemical reactivity hazards is to gather chemical reactivity data on the chemicals likely to be present at your facility. This can be done based either on a current chemical inventory, or on a list of chemicals expected to be present. In either case, your management system must also include a means of detecting and checking any new or variant chemicals brought onsite for the first time. 

Chemical reactivity information is gathered from data searches, calculations, and reactivity testing. Qualitative hazard evaluation is one commonly used approach to assessing process hazards, including reactive hazards (CCPS, 1992). 

A comprehensive Manual for Investigation of HPV Chemicals is available (OECD 2004). The Manual describes procedures, including the use of electronic discussion groups and the online HPV database data gathering and testing SIDS, the SIDS plan, and the SIDS Dossier data evaluation initial assessment of data (guidance for assessing the hazards of chemical substances to man and the environment) preparation of the SIAR and SIAP and post-SIDS work. 

Data on potential reaction hazards should be gathered and disseminated throughout Dow. 

For example, once implemented, the European Commission s new chemicals policy REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals) -endorsed in 2003 - would require manufacturers and importers of over one ton per year of any chemical substance to gather information on the properties, hazards, and use of that substance, and submit the data to the European Chemicals Agency. The Agency would then determine if the chemical substance needed to be further regulated, restricted, or banned from use. It is estimated that about 30,000 existing chemicals produced in or imported into Europe would be subject to REACH. Key objectives of the European Commission s initiative on the reformulation of chemicals policy are to raise human and environmental safety levels as well as to simplify and standardize the current legislation. 

Environmental projects revolve around environmental data collection, analytical chemistry data for toxic pollutants in particular. Chemical data enable us to conclude, whether hazardous conditions exist at a site and whether such conditions create a risk to human health and the environment. We gather environmental chemical data by collecting samples of soil, water, and other environmental media at the right time and at the right place and by analyzing them for chemical pollutants. In other words, in the core of every environmental project lies an environmental sample. 

Adequate extrapolation of results from standard laboratory toxicity tests to other time scales of exposure and response requires observations on the time course of toxic effects. These observations can then be used to construct time-to-event models, such as the DEBtox model mentioned above. These models explicitly address both intensity and duration of exposure to hazardous chemicals, and better use is made of the data gathered from toxicity experiments. Diverse endpoints in time can be addressed, and individual organism characteristics and/or environmental circumstances (e.g., temperature) can be incorporated as covariables. An overview of time-to-event models and approaches and their use in the risk assessment of chemicals is provided by Crane et al. (2002). 

Hazard evaluation A component of risk evaluation that involves gathering and evaluating data on the types of health injuries or diseases that may be produced by a chemical and on the conditions of exposure under which such health effects are produced. 

The decision called for at this point in the process centers on confirming that, from the qualitative data gathered, a potential for an adverse effect has or has not been identified. If no hazard exists, further action is not warranted. If the potential for an adverse effect is evident, the process requires proceeding... 

The data from the evaluation effort will allow making a supportable decision on the hazards posed by the site. Also from the data gathered during the study, predictions and projections can be made as to the scope of both the current and future risks posed by the site. In addition, this process will provide information necessary to understand the risks associated with the specific remedial measures available and under consideration. 

The UK strategy states that in some cases hazard criteria are sufficient to move immediately to consideration of risk reduction strategies . Given that this statement implies avoiding risk assessment or further gathering of data (step 2), a brief review of Stakeholder Forum meeting reports finds no evidence for this approach. 

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