Inventory and Tracking of Chemicals

Laboratory workers, laboratory supervisors, and individuals who handle chemicals all will find essential information in this chapter. Each of these people has an important role to play in a chemical s life cycle at an institution, and each one of them should be aware that the wise management of that life cycle can not only minimize risks to humans and to the environment, but also decrease costs. 

Prudent management of chemicals in laboratories must begin long before the actual arrival of the chemicals. When experiments have been carefully planned, laboratory workers can be confident that they have chosen the procedures for working with chemicals that meet the following goals  

Strategies for achieving the first three goals generally also are effective in achieving a fourth  

In order to cut costs, manufacturing firms are increasingly asking for just-in-time delivery of raw materials. Laboratories might well borrow this strategy. A quantity of hazardous chemical not ordered is one to which workers are not exposed, for which appropriate storage need not be found, which need not be tracked in an inventory control system, and which will not end up requiring costly disposal when it becomes a waste. 

In acquiring a chemical, it is important to do a life cycle analysis. All costs associated with the progress of each chemical through its lifetime at an institution must be considwed. The purchase cost is only the beginning the handling costs, human as well as financial, and the disposal costs must be taken into account as well. Without close attention to this aspect of managing chemicals in laboratories, orders are not likely to be minimized and unused chemicals can become a significant fraction of the laboratory s hazardous waste. 

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Inventory and tracking of chemicals are primarily driven by Federal regulations, DOE requirements, and good business practices. Various site organizations utilize the chemical database as an information source for compilation of regulatory and DOE-required reports, for example, the EPCRA Tier II inventory, the Toxic Chemical Release inventory, the Ozone Depleting Substances inventory, the Air Emissions... 

NOTE The information that follows is a consolidation of existing federal safety and health requirements and national standards that relate to the inventorying and tracking of chemicals. It... 

This chapter identifies and consolidates existing chemical user safety and health requirements that address the inventory and tracking of chemicals and chemical products. It addresses relevant DOE and Federal chemical-related regulations and National Standards applicable to all locations involved in the storage and/or use of chemicals and chemical products (see def) and excludes State and local code requirements. 

Key to this chapter is its inclusion of the many regulations and standards for which an inventory and tracking system is an implied requirement that is necessary for proper compliance. Of additional importance in this regard is that whether direct or implied, requirements for the inventory and tracking of all classes of chemicals are consistent with OSHA s general duty clause which requires employers to protect their employees from all recognized hazards in the workplace. 

This chapter is divided into two major sections. The first section, 4.1, includes requirements that are directly applicable to the inventory and tracking of all chemicals. The second section, 4.2, consolidates additional, implied requirements specific to various health and safety regulations. 

The products of our chemical processing industries themselves could become the instruments of terrorists because of their flammability, reactivity, toxicity, or notoriety. It is critical to minimize the vulnerability of chemicals or chemical assets to attack, contamination, or diversion for terrorist purposes, particularly as weapons of mass destraction. Critical challenges include the development of systems or chemistries that reduce the amount of or substitute for materials currently at risk, alter the attractiveness of such materials to terrorists, minimize the inventory and transportation of such materials, and that can detect and track the covert production and transportation of such materials. 

Component balances can often be quite subtle, but they are particularly important in processes with recycle streams because of their integrating effect. They depend upon the specific kinetics and reaction paths in the system. They often affect what variable can be used to set production rate or reaction rate in the reactor. The buildup of chemical components in recycle streams must be prevented by keeping track of chemical component inventories (reactants, products, and inerts) inside the system. 

The documentation and periodie eonfirmation and validation of inventory records can be performed by the chemical inventory system mentioned in Section 2.3, Inventory and Tracking. 

CFR61 40CFR63 4.2.13 National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) Standards are provided for specific t) es of sources and processes involving hazardous air pollutants (including radionuclides). Requires registration of emission sources and quantity of air contaminant emissions. Contains standards for specific processes involving hazardous chemicals. A chemical inventory is needed to identify and track locations and quantities of chemicals that may be released as hazardous air pollutants. 

Section 4.1 consolidates the inventory and tracking requirements for the workplace, and includes specific regulatory reporting requirements. Section 4.2 consolidates those requirements that do not directly require an inventory of hazardous chemicals, but for which use of a chemical inventory and tracking system would be necessary for compliance with mandatory standards, or would facilitate compliance. 

The committee recommends that chemical suppliers adopt a uniform bar code identification system that would facilitate establishment and maintenance of laboratory chemical inventory and tracking systems. 

Inventory control is generally in the form of log books or computer-based inventory systems. Chemicals are issued through written requests on prescribed forms, but there is no tracking of chemicals after they are issued to individual laboratories. No record of their use and disposal is kept. Bar codes and radio frequency identification tagging are available in some developing countries but are not commonly used for keeping track of where or how a chemical is used. Chemicals procured by individual faculty members with project funds are often not recorded in the central inventory faculty members are expected to add them to the central inventory voluntarily but have little incentive to do so. This is also true for laboratories in most developed countries. 

A chemical and reagent inventory module that manages the purchase and use of laboratory supplies, keeps track of lot number purchases, shelf lives, and costs. 

Bingham Canyon mine is the largest mining operation in the world, positioned upstream of the major population centre, Huelva. According to the EPA database Toxics Release Inventory which follows the release and potential release of chemicals and metals into the environment, the Rio Tinto mine is the largest source of the 650 toxic compounds tracked in this database and emitted into air, soil, and water. 

The Chemical Information System (CIS) is used for chemical container tracking (inventory) and MSDS access. The system data is updated daily. Each container is bar-coded either by the JIT vendor, the laboratory owner, or the chemical inventory team. Every employee at SNL can view the data and perform searches. The bar-code number on each container allows access to information about the chemical name, location, quantity, NFPA codes, SARA codes, CAS number, specific gravity or density, and corresponding MSDS, synonyms mixture ingredients and percentage vendor information dates in and out and chemical owner. Information is obtained from the JIT and other vendors, lab owners, and the Chemical Inventory Team. Vendors supplying bulk quantities of chemicals (diesel fuel, liquid nitrogen, etc.) notify the CIS Team when they fill tanks. 

Chemical Accident Prevention Provisions. Requires offsite consequence analysis, development, and implementation of a Risk Management Plan to protect the public and the environment by preventing or minimizing the consequences of catastrophic releases of toxic, reactive, or flammable chemicals used in quantities at or above specified thresholds. Inventories of chemicals must be tracked in order to ensure that specified chemical limits are not exceeded. 

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