Health hazard classes classification

The following classification proposal draws on the GHS criteria. The document includes both brief statements about the proposal for each health hazard class and details of all the available scientific evidence. 

Health NFPA 704 recognizes essentially three basic hazard classes, health, reactivity, and fire. In general, the health hazard class refers to the capacity of a material to cause ii jury from contact with or absorption into the body. In this classification scheme, only the health hazard arising out of an inherent property of the material is considered. Iiyury fix>m the heat of a fire or... 

Hazard Not Otherwise Classified (HNOC) Means an adverse physical or health effect identified through evaluation of scientific evidence during the classification process that does not meet the specified criteria for the physical and health hazard classes addressed in the HCS. 

Hazard not otherwise classified (HNOC) means an adverse physical or health effect identified through evaluation of scientific evidence during the classification process that does not meet the specified criteria for the physical and health hazard classes addressed in this section. This does not extend coverage to adverse physical and health effects for which there is a hazard class addressed in this section, but the effect either falls below the cut-off value/concentration limit of the hazard class or is under a GHS hazard category that has not been adopted by OSH A (e.g., acute toxicity Category 5). 

In accordance with both the old and the new European classification system teratogenic effects constitute a health hazard but a separate classification for teratogenicity is not provided. Instead, teratogens are classified as developmental toxicants, with developmental toxicity falling within the hazard class of reproductive toxicity. 

The basic idea of the CLH process is the transfer of responsibility for classification and labeling from industrial companies to authorities on a European Community level. In case of active substances in biocidal or plant protection products, all intrinsic properties including physicochemical properties, human health hazards, and environmental hazards are subject to the harmonization. By contrast, in the case of chemicals which are used in other application fields only some specific hazard classes are considered in the CLH procedure. According to Article 36 of the CLP Regulation, these are respiratory sensitization, carcinogenicity, germ cell mutagenicity, and reproductive toxicity. Consequently, these provisions have... 

Based on these principles, the hazardous waste classification system recommended by NCRP includes three classes of waste exempt, low-hazard, and high-hazard waste. Each waste class is defined in relation to the type of disposal system (technology) that is expected to be generally acceptable in protecting public health as follows ... 

The proposed framework for risk-based classification of all radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes developed in Section 6.2.2 represents waste classification in its broadest, most general terms. Thus, this classification system can be viewed as the highest level of a possible hierarchy of hazardous waste classifications (e.g., see Figure 4.2). Further subclassification of these broadly defined waste classes may be desirable for such purposes as protection of workers during waste operations, protection of public health and the environment following waste disposal, and development of efficient methods of waste management taking into account the characteristics of actual wastes. 

Development of a comprehensive and risk-based hazardous waste classification system, in which waste classes are defined in relation to types of disposal systems that are expected to be generally acceptable in protecting public health, would not obviate the need to establish waste acceptance criteria at each disposal site based on the characteristics of the site and engineered disposal facility and the properties of wastes intended for disposal therein. The primary purposes of a hazardous waste classification system are to facilitate cost-effective management and disposal of waste and effective communication on waste matters. 

As noted in the Classification of hazardous substances and mixtures (see Chapter 1.3), there may be some cases when the available hazard data may justify classification on the basis of other cut-off values/concentration limits than the generic ones specified in the health and environment hazard class chapters (Chapters 3.2 to 3.10 and 4.1). When such specific cut-off values are used for classification, they should also apply to the obligation to compile an SDS. 

Liquid and solid oxidizers are designated as Class 1, 2, 3, or 4 by NFPA 430, Code for the Storage of Liquid and Solid Oxidizers. Class 1 oxidizers are considered the least hazardous and Class 4 the most hazardous. The behavior of commercially available strengths of liquid and solid oxidizers under storage conditions is the basis for this classification system. This behavior includes fire hazard and reactivity. The acute and chronic health hazards as well as the environmental hazards of liquid and solid oxidizers are not addressed. 

Every substance can present a hazard in general. In principle, being hazardous is a consequence of one or more intrinsic hazard properties of a substance. In accordance with the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation [3], see also Sect. 26.6.3, hazardous substance are those substances that fulfil the criteria of at least one hazard class. The hazard classes comprise physical hazards, health hazards or environmental hazards (see Sect 26.3.2). 

The definitions of hazard will change to provide specific criteria for classification of health and physical hazards as well as classification of mixtures. These specific criteria will help to ensure that evaluations of hazardous effects remain consistent across manufacturers. This will result in more accurate labels and SDSs. Chemical manufacturers and importers must provide a label that includes a harmonized signal word, pictogram, and hazard statement for each hazard class and category. Precautionary statements must also be provided. Finally, the SDS will contain a specified 16-section format. 

Management and disposal of the wide variety of hazardous wastes has been aided by the development of waste classification systems. The term waste classification refers to broadly defined waste categories related, for example, to properties of waste materials, potential risks to human health that arise from waste management or disposal, or the source of the waste. Ideally, hazardous wastes in the same class should pose similar risks to human health and, thus, require similar approaches to safe management and disposal. 

The similarities are of the following kinds. First, neither classification system includes a general class of exempt waste. Second, neither classification system is comprehensive, because the classification system for radioactive waste distinguishes between fuel-cycle and NARM waste and the classification system for hazardous chemical waste excludes many potentially important wastes that contain hazardous chemicals. Third, any waste must be managed and disposed of in a manner that is expected to protect public health and the environment. In addition, the approach to disposal of hazardous chemical waste under RCRA, which emphasizes monitoring of releases from disposal facilities and an intention to maintain institutional control over disposal sites for as long as the waste remains hazardous, is applied to disposal of uranium or thorium mill tailings under AEA. 

The waste classification system presented in this Report would apply to all radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes from any source, and it would be based on considerations of health risks to the public that arise from waste disposal. The recommended classification system differs from the existing waste classification systems in three respects radioactive and hazardous chemical wastes would be included in the same classification system all waste would be classified based on its properties, rather than its source and the classification system would include a general class of exempt waste. 

Another desirable attribute of a waste classification system that is a corollary of the system being risk-based is that it treat wastes that pose similar health risks consistently. A chemically hazardous waste estimated to pose a certain risk should be in the same waste class as a radioactive waste that poses an equivalent risk, and similarly for mixed waste. Consistency also implies that wastes posing similar risks could be disposed of using essentially the same technology (municipal/industrial landfill, licensed near-surface facility for hazardous waste, or geologic repository). 

The basic framework for the waste classification system developed in this Report is depicted in Figure 6.1. Starting with the objectives that the classification system should apply to any waste that contains radionuclides or hazardous chemicals and that all such waste should be classified based on risks to the public posed by its hazardous constituents, the fundamental principle of the proposed system is that hazardous waste should be classified in relation to disposal systems (technologies) that are expected to be generally acceptable in protecting public health. This principle leads to the definitions of three classes of waste, and to quantification of the boundaries of the different waste classes based on considerations of risks that arise from different methods of disposal. The boundaries normally would be specified in terms of limits on concentrations of hazardous substances. At the present time, nearly all hazardous and nonhazardous wastes are intended for disposal in a near-surface facility or a geologic repository, and these are the two types of disposal systems assumed in classifying waste. The three waste classes and their relationship to acceptable disposal systems are described in more detail in Section 6.2. 

Safety Data Sheets (SDS) should be produced for all substances and mixtures which meet the harmonized criteria for physical, health or environmental hazards under the GHS and for all mixtures which contain substances that meet the criteria for carcinogenic, toxic to reproduction or target organ systemic toxicity in concentrations exceeding the cut-off limits for SDS specified by the criteria for mixtures (see Table 1.5.1 in Chapter 1.5). The competent authority (CA) may also require SDS for mixtures not meeting the criteria for classification as hazardous but which contain hazardous substances in certain concentrations (see Chapter 3.2). The CA may also require SDS for substances or mixtures that meet the criteria for classification as hazardous for non-GHS classes/end-points. An SDS is a well-accepted and effective method for the provision of information, and may be used to convey information for substances or mixtures that do not meet or are not included in the GHS classification criteria. 

OECD 1998. Harmonized Integrated Hazard Classification System for Human Health and Environmental Effects of Chemical Substances. OECD, Paris.http //www.oecd.org/ehs/Class/HCL6.htm... 

The UK Department of Transport Dangerous Goods Division and the UK Health and Safety Executive were consulted to discuss the classification of this liquid for transport. ()). Based on discussions with these organisations, their opinion was that fast pyrolysis liquid would be classed as a "dangerous good" or hazardous material, due to the chemical conplexity and composition. 

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