Materials hazardous

2 Chemical Substances, Hazardous Materials, Reactive Chemicals and Pyrotechnics 

Chemical substances are materials which can be produced or used in chemical processes. Chemical processes include such reactions as combustion. Since the rise of the modem chemical industry in the nineteenth century, numerous chemical substances have been developed and created including acids, bases, fertilizers, ceramics, catalysts, dyestuffs, fabrics, explosives, paints, plastics, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals, specialty chemicals, automotive materials, and home and commercial electronics components. 

Chemical substances which may cause adverse effects to human health, endanger people s lives or damage the environment are called hazardous materials. In Japan, hazardous materials are distinguished by two general legal definitions namely, hazardous chemicals in a narrow sense and hazardous materials in a broad sense. Hazardous chemicals in a narrow sense are those substances having ignitability and flammability as specified in the Japanese Fire Services Law these materials are listed in the Exhibit of the Law. 

The Fire Services Law was revised in May, 1988, and the listing of hazardous materials has been also revised as shown in Table 1.1. The new definition of hazardous materials under the revised Fire Services Law employs modem classification methods utilizing special evaluation techniques. The following quotation comes from the official gazette and demonstrates the principle of the revision 2 5 .  

Hazardous materials in the broad sense are materials having hazards such as combustibility, explosiveness, corrosiveness and toxicity. The concept is represented by the United Nations Recommendation on the Transport of Dangerous Goods. This classification has been adopted with almost no change in the IMDG-Code and 

Conduct an inventory and control of all materials used, stored, or generated Provide adequate space and equipment for handling and storing hazardous materials Monitor and document correct disposal of hazardous gases and vapors Develop work area and emergency response procedures to address specific hazards Use protective equipment when responding to hazardous materials spills or releases Maintain hazardous wastes manifests, permits, and licenses Ensure proper labeling of all hazardous materials and wastes 

At the core of the UN s scheme lies nine physical, chemical, and physiological properties that present hazards in transportation  

Regulations applicable to the shipment of radioactive materials provide an acceptable level of control of radiation, criticality, and thermal hazards to persons, property, and the environment during routine, normal, and accidental conditions by all modes, as governed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. These rules are promulgated in the Regulations for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Materials (RFT). 

The principles associated with the transport of dangerous goods by air are contained in Annex 18 to the Convention of International Civil Aviation— 

It should be noted that the majority of otherwise forbidden materials may be diluted, protected, refrigerated, mixed, or stabilized to enable their transportation by one or more modes. 

Dangerous goods. Articles or substances which are capable of posing a significant risk to health, safety or property when transported by air and which are classified according to Part 2, Chapters 1 to 10. ICAO 1-3.1 

After completing this chapter, you will be able to 

Two employees of a North Carolina company were helping to unload a truck on a warm sunny day when they inadvertently punctured a container of an unknown liquid chemical. A quick check of the contents revealed they had spilled a concentrated pesticide, intended to be mixed with water before application. Their first response was to grab a garden hose and use the water pressure to push it to one side. In a short time, they began to feel faint and short of breath, so they decided to ask for help. Since no one at the facility had specialized training to deal with the spill, the manager on duty called the local fire department. 

The increase in environmental regulation is probably the most significant legal development in America in the last 50 years. Safety practitioners do not need a detailed knowledge of the fine points of these laws and regulations. They do, however, need a basic understanding of the structure, scope, and framework of these laws in order to effectively measure and evaluate the nature of the compliance task faced. 

Many of the environmental problems faced by the safety practitioner are covered or touched on by the RCRA. When this act was passed in 1976, Congress was attempting to complete a series of legislative acts designed to protect the environment. A brief overview of some of the legislation that led to the passage of RCRA will be useful. 

In 1976, Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), giving broad powers to the EPA to regulate the production and use of potentially hazardous chemicals and to ensure that new chemicals do not pose unreasonable hazards. Under the TSCA, the EPA may require a company to submit test data on specified chemi- 

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Early decisions made purely for process reasons often can lead to problems of safety and health (and environment) which require complex and often expensive solutions. It is far better to consider them early as the design progresses. Designs that avoid the need for hazardous materials, or use less of them, or use them at lower temperatures and pressures, or dilute them with inert materials will be inherently safe and will not require elaborate safety systems. ... 

The best way to deal with a hazard in a flowsheet is to remove it completely. The provision of safety systems to control the hazard is much less satisfactory. One of the principal approaches to making a process inherently safe is to limit the inventory of hazardous material, called intensification of hazardous material. The inventories we wish to avoid most of all are flashing flammable liquids or flashing toxic liquids. 

Distillation. There is a large inventory of boiling liquid, sometimes under pressure, in a distillation column, both in the base and held up in the column. If a sequence of columns is involved, then, as discussed in Chap. 5, the sequence can be chosen to minimize the inventory of hazardous material. If all materials are equally hazardous, then choosing the sequence that tends to minimize the flow rate of nonkey components also will tend to minimize the inventory. Use of the dividing-wall column shown in Fig. 5.17c will reduce considerably the inventory relative to two simple columns. Dividing-wall columns are inherently safer than conventional arrangements because they lower not only the inventory but also the number of items of equipment and hence lower the potential for leaks. 

Intensification of hazardous materials results in a safer process. In... 

So far the emphasis has been on substituting hazardous materials or using less, i.e., intensification. Let us now consider use of hazardous materials under less hazardous conditions, i.e. at less extreme temperatures or pressures or as a vapor rather than superheated liquid or diluted, in other words, attenuation. ... 

When synthesizing a fiowsheet, the designer should consider carefully the problems associated with operation under extreme conditions. Attenuation will result in a safer plant, providing the attenuation does not increase the inventory of hazardous materials. If the inventory does not increase, then attenuation not only will make the process safer but also will make it cheaper, since cheaper materials of construction and thinner vessel walls can be used and it is not necessary to add on so much protective equipment. 

Choose the distillation sequence to minimize the inventory of hazardous material. 

When synthesizing a flowsheet, the designer should consider carefully the problems associated with operation under extreme conditions. Attenuation will result in a safer plant, providing the attenuation does not increase the inventory of hazardous materials. 

PACKAGING - CONTAINERS FORINDUSTRIALMATERIALS] (Vol 17) HMR See Hazardous Materials Regulations. 

Hazardous Materials Table, Code of Federal Regulations 49CFR 172.101 (revisedNov. 1989). 

Fire Protection Guide on Hazardous Materials, 9th ed.. National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, Mass., 1986, pp. 49—51. 

Shipment of hydrazine solutions is regulated in the United States by the Department of Transportation (DOT) which classifies all aqueous solutions between 64.4 and 37% N2H4 as "Corrosive" materials with a subsidiary risk of "Poison". Hydrazine has been identified by both the Environmental Protection Agency and the DOT as a hazardous material and has been assigned a reportable quantity (RQ) of 0.450 kg (1 lb) if spilled. Dmms for the shipment of these solutions must bear both the DOT specification "Corrosive" and "Poison" labels in association with the markings "RQ Hydrazine Aqueous Solution UN 2030." Aqueous solutions of 37% concentration or less are a hazard Class 6.1, UN 3293, Packing Group III and require "Keep Away From Food" placards and labels. 

DOT Hazardous Materials Code ofFederalRegulations, Tide 49, Washington, D.C. 

Finish removers are appHed by bmshing, spraying, troweling, flowing, or soaking. Removal is by water rinse, wipe and let dry, or solvent rinse. Removers may be neutral, basic, or acidic. The viscosity can vary from water thin, to a thick spray-on, to a paste trowel-on remover. The hazard classification, such as flammable or corrosive, is assigned by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for the hazardous materials contained in the remover. 

Health and Safety Code, Chap. 6.95, Art. 2, Hazardous Materials Management, State of California, Sacramento, Calif., 1986 Sect. 25531, RJsk Management and Prevention Program, 1987. 

U.S. Department of Transportation, Tables of Hazardous Materials, Tide 49, Subtitie B, Chapt. I, Subchapt. C, Part 172, Subpart B, Paragraph 101, of... 

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