Labeling: Hazardous Chemicals

NFPA Hazardous Chemical Label— A color-coded labeling system developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) that rates the severity of the health hazard, fire hazard, reactivity hazard, and special hazard of the chemical. 

I A hazardous chemical label requires the following six elements ... 

NFPA Hazardous Chemical Labels should be affixed to hazardous chemical containers wherever appropriate and/or informative. 

Procedures for shipping boric acid esters depend on the particular compound. Aryl borates produce phenols when in contact with water and are therefore subject to shipping regulations governing such materials and must carry a Corrosive Chemical label. Lower alkyl borates are flammable, flash points of methyl, ethyl, and butyl borates are 0, 32, and 94°C, respectively, and must be stored in approved areas. Other compounds are not hazardous, and may be shipped or stored in any convenient manner. Because borate esters are susceptible to hydrolysis, the more sensitive compounds should be stored and transferred in an inert atmosphere, such as nitrogen. 

Probably one of the most important safety and healtli standards ever adopted is tlie OSHA hazard communication standard, more properly known as tlie right to know laws. The liazard communication standard requires employers to communicate information to tlie employees on liazardous chemicals tliat e.vist witliiii the workplace. The program requires employers to craft a written luizard communication program, keep material safety data sheets (MSDSs) for all haztirdous chemicals at the workplace and provide employees with training on tliose hazardous chemicals, and assure tliat proper warning labels are in place. 

Hazard and operability studies (HAZOP), 396, 399 Hazard classification, 443, 452, 453, 455, 469, 477, 478 Hazard warning labels, 394, 446, 447, 452, 461, 464 Hazardous reactions. See Chemical reaction Corrosion ... 

At present most of the pesticide and fertilizer storehouses are in a very bad condition. None of them answer to environmental and sanitary demands. Transportation, usage, distribution and storage of chemicals are not regulated. Hazardous chemicals are in sale everywhere - in the market, on the roads, in the boxes with food products, often without labeling. It is impossible to control chemicals. There is not a special waste disposal. 

Revised proposals put forward by a working group of the European Commission for the classification and labelling of hazardous chemicals are examined. Proposals relating to a number of individual chemicals are reviewed. EUROPEAN COMMISSION... 

An examination is made of the provisions of Italian legislation relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of hazardous chemicals. 

European Union and Italian legislation relating to hazardous chemicals is reviewed, with particular reference to classification and labelling requirements. 

To date, the Part II Programme has focused upon four major projects (1) The development and implementation of a set of Principles of Good Laboratory Practice (GLP s) (2) Resolution of issues concerning Confidentiality of Data (3) Development of a Glossary of Key Terms and (4) Development of guidelines and other procedures for the exchange of information (e.g., re test data, the export of hazardous chemicals, and the labelling of hazardous chemicals). 

There are OSHA standards designed to protect employees from acute chemical hazards resulting lfom reactive incidents-including fires, explosions, and toxic releases. The Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200) requires chemical manufacturers to evaluate chemicals produced or handled in their workplace and to communicate the hazards associated with the products they produce via labels and MSDSs. The standard also requires all employers to provide information to employees about the hazardous chemicals to which they could be exposed. The PSM Standard (29 CFR 1910.119) requires employers to prevent or minimize the consequences of catastrophic releases of highly hazardous chemicals, including highly reactive chemicals. 

All employers are required to develop, implement, and maintain at the workplace a written hazard communication program. The program must include the following components (1) a list of hazardous chemicals in the workplace, (2) the methods the employer will use to inform employees of the hazards associated with these chemicals, and (3) a description of how the labeling, material safety data sheet (MSDS), and employee training requirements will be met. 

The following information must be included in the program for employers who produce, use, or store hazardous chemicals in the workplace (1) the means by which MSDSs will be made available to outside contractors for each hazardous chemical, (2) the means by which the employer will inform outside contractors of precautions necessary to protect the contractor s employees both during normal operating conditions and in foreseeable emergencies, and (3) the methods that the employer will use to inform contractors of the labeling system used in the workplace. 

Committee of Experts has been allocated a unique four-digit number, called the Substance UN Number (or simply the UN Number). Thus a hazardous substance can be distinctly identified by the Substance UN Number (also called the Substance Identification Number or SIN). UN Serial number 0001 to 1000 are reserved for Class 1 items, that is, explosives and ammunition. The nine classes of dangerous goods and hazardous chemicals with a distinctive diamond shaped label bearing a pictorial diagram for quick hazard recognition are ... 

The terphenyl—quaterphenyl heat-transfer medium (Table 4), sold as Therminol 75 heat-transfer fluid, is shipped in drums, tank car, or tank truck lots. Its U.S. freight classification is Heat-Transfer Media, NOIBN. The material does not require a DOT hazardous material label, but does fall under the hazardous chemical criteria of the OSHA Hazards Communications Standard (19 CFR 1910.1200). 

Labeling. The Federal Hazardous Substance Labeling Act (95) requires that all containers sold to consumers be labeled with appropriate precautionary wording to protect the user and employees from injury resulting from contact with the chemical. The capacities of all packages up to and including 208-L (55-gal) drums customarily are indicated by labels. The information includes identification of the material, notification of principal hazards and precautions for use, and antidotes or first-aid measures if applicable. 

CHEMICAL MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION (CMA). Founded in 1863, this nonprofit trade association of chemical manufacture represents more than 90% of the chemical industry of the U S. and Canada. It is located at 2501 M St., N. W., Washington, DC 20037. It is particularly active in the fields of packaging, transportation, and safe handling of hazardous chemicals and wording of precautionary labels, as well as in general chemical education and all aspects of pollution control. It has instituted an emergency telephone information service called ChemTrec to provide instant information for safety precautions in accidents involving chemicals. 

Legislation on packaging and labelling of dangerous substances defines hazardous chemicals under the following categories ... 

CHRIS Chemical Hazard Information System 1,016 substances U.S. COAST GUARD Information on labeling, physical and chemical properties, health hazards, fire hazards, chemical reactivity, water pollution, and hazard classification... 

This one costly human error had a considerable effect on the Congress, just then in the process of hammering out certain provisions of TSCA—The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976. In particular those sections dealing with the premarket testing of hazardous chemicals, their labeling and distribution were affected (ref. 154). 

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