Particularly Hazardous Substances

MSDS Material Safety Data Sheet - a document that provides pertinent information and a profile of a particular hazardous substance or mixture. An MSDS is normally developed by the manufacturer or formulator of the hazardous substance or mixture. The MSDS is required to be made available to employees and operators whenever there is the likelihood of the hazardous substance or mixture being introduced into the workplace. Some manufacturers prepare MSDS for products that are not considered to be hazardous to show that the product or substance is not hazardous. 

Electronic Wastes Containing Particularly Hazardous Substances. 1216... 

AND DISPOSAL OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC WASTES CONTAINING PARTICULARLY HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES... 

All electrical and electronic wastes may be found to harbor components containing particularly hazardous substances. It is essential that these be removed (stripping of hazardous materials). Below are some examples of such components. Batteries and accumulators notably include the following ... 

Stripping of electrical and electronic waste appliances must be carried out properly. During the processing of waste appliances (e.g., in shredders), it is essential to avoid that components highly contaminated with hazardous substances end up in fractions that are intended for recycling. It is furthermore necessary to ensure that the disposal of treatment residues (e.g., shredder residues) is not impeded by the presence of hazardous substances. As a rule, components containing particularly hazardous substances are to be removed manually. Future disposal processes, such as pyrolysis, may allow recycling of appliances without prior removal of hazardous substances, in which case it will be possible to do without the disassembly of hazardous components.411... 

The requirements for proper disposal of electronic waste appliances are as follows (a) appliances may be broken up (shredded) only if the components containing particularly hazardous substances have previously been removed and (b) since in disposing of electronic appliances the main emphasis is on the recovery of nonferrous metals, nonstripped appliances must not be shredded together with scrap cars. As a rule, electronic appliances are dismantled manually to achieve effective separation of the components containing hazardous substances. 

Stripping of hazardous components In an initial step, the components containing particularly hazardous substances are for the most part removed manually. 

Handling and processing of stripped components containing particularly hazardous substances Batteries and accumulators are classified as hazardous wastes even if they are recycled. Mercury is classified as a hazardous waste and can be recovered in special plants. Condensers containing PCBs must be incinerated in a hazardous waste incineration plant. 

The only requirement for a disposal of small electrical waste appliances is that appliances may be shredded only if the components containing particularly hazardous substances have previously been removed. In the case of small cordless electrical appliances, the greater part of the hazardous substances can be eliminated by a prior removal of batteries and accumulators. 

Handling and processing of stripped components containing particularly hazardous substances Batteries and accumulators are classified as hazardous waste even if they are going to be recycled. 

Stripping of hazardous substances Mercury switches and other components containing particularly hazardous substances must be removed CFCs are recovered from the cooling circuit and PU foam with special equipment and appliances with varying degrees of automation ammonia is dissolved in water and separate disposal of waste oil (from compressors). 

One of the key elements of the WFD is the implementation of a combined approach of emission limit values and quality standards (for waters, sediments and biota), and also the phasing out of particularly hazardous substances. Accordingly, a list of 33 priority substances, which represent a significant risk to the aquatic environment at community level, was established. For the first time two surfactant metabolites, namely NP and OP, have been included in this priority list. 

The Construction Federation that represents the interests of the construction industry in Sweden, state in their response to the REACH consultation that "Particularly hazardous substances must be blacklisted and, accordingly, banned. Only substances for which there Is no safer alternative may be exempted and this only if there are strong social or economic reasons for doing so. 

Second, waste that contains hazardous substances is classified based on considerations of health risks to the public that arise from waste disposal. The existing classification systems for radioactive and chemical wastes in the United States are not based primarily on considerations of health risks to the public. Rather, classification of hazardous wastes has been based primarily on the source of the waste or the presence of particular hazardous substances. The absence of risk-based waste classifications has had a number of undesirable ramifications ... 

The dominance of the risk to inadvertent intruders at near-surface waste disposal sites allows the use of this type of scenario to develop a risk-based waste classification system. However, NCRP recognizes that exposures of the public and protection of the environment also are of concern in determining acceptable disposal practices at specific sites. The potential for off-site releases of hazardous substances is the primary reason that classification of waste based on risks to hypothetical inadvertent intruders does not obviate the need for site-specific risk assessments to determine waste acceptance criteria in the form of limits on disposal of particular hazardous substances. 

The risk index defined in Equation 6.1 (see Section 6.2.1) is intended to provide a measure of the potential risk that arises from disposal of any waste that contains hazardous substances. In Section 6.3, the general definition of the risk index is elaborated and recommendations on suitable approaches to calculating the risk index for individual hazardous substances are presented. For purposes of developing a comprehensive and risk-based waste classification system, a simple method of calculating the risk from disposal of mixtures of hazardous substances is needed. The method must take into account that the allowable concentrations of particular hazardous substances in waste of a given class generally will be lower when multiple substances are present than when only a single substance is present. Such a method is presented and discussed in this Section. 

Use of the risk index in classifying waste requires that adequate data be available to allow estimation of dose-response relationships for substances that induce stochastic or deterministic responses. The availability of suitable data is a potential problem only for hazardous chemicals. If suitable data are not available for particular hazardous substances, there is no satisfactory approach that could be used to include these substances in classifying waste. However, this would be an important deficiency only if substances with inadequate data on dose-response posed an important hazard in the waste. NCRP does not expect that the most important hazardous substances in waste in regard to potential risks would be lacking information on the dose-response relationship. 

As indicated by the current subclassifications of existing waste classes summarized above, a variety of waste properties could be used to develop meaningful subclassifications of broadly defined waste classes. These properties include, for example, waste volumes, levels of decay heat and external radiation, and the long-term persistence of the hazard posed by waste constituents. Subclassifications of waste classes also could be based on the presence of particular hazardous substances. However, if the broadly defined waste classes are based on risk, as in the classification system proposed in this Report, the intrinsic toxicity of hazardous substances normally would not provide a basis for subclassification, because this property already is accounted for in determining the basic classification of any waste. Examples of possible approaches to subclassifying the basic waste classes are discussed in the following paragraphs. 

Analyze in real-time to prevent pollution Develop the tools available to perform real-time analysis of in-process monitoring and control during syntheses to minimize or eliminate the formation of byproducts, particularly hazardous substances. 

Medical surveillance at least annually and at the end of employment for all employees exposed to any particular hazardous substance at or above established exposure levels or those who wear respiratory protection for 30 days or more per year. Such surveillance is also required if the worker is exposed by unex-... 

Managers of laboratory personnel also ensure that additional provisions for personnel protection are made for those who work with particularly hazardous substances and that work with particularly hazardous substances covered under the OSHA Laboratory Standard is performed in a designated area. They must also ensure that SNL personnel understand and comply with SNL s Chemical Hygiene Plan and 29 CFR 1910.1450 (and its appendices), as well as the additional requirements defined in the "Hazard Communication Standard," and the TSCA for chemicals that are developed in the laboratory or imported into the laboratory. 

Section 4.3 addresses the requirements for the control of chemicals used in laboratories, including particularly hazardous substances. The requirements consolidated in this section include those that address the preparation of a chemical hygiene plan fire hazard classification fire protection plans and equipment special protections for explosives the handling, transfer and transport of flammable, reactive or toxic chemicals and compressed gases in laboratories and additional laboratory safety controls. 

The determination of whether a suspected carcinogenic chemical must be treated as a "particularly hazardous substance" in the context of a particular laboratory use will be affected by the scale and circumstances associated with the intended experiment. The laboratory worker must decide whether the amount and frequency of use, as well as otho" circumstances, are such that additional precautions beyond the basic prudent practices of section 5.C are required. For example, the large-scale or recurring use of such a chemical might suggest that the special precautions of section 5.D be followed to control exposure, whereas adequate protection from a single use of a small amount of such a substance may be obtained through the use of the basic procedures in section 5.C. 

Select appropriate procedures to minimize exposure. Use the "basic prudent practices for handling chemicals," which are discussed in Chapter 5, section 5.C, for all work with chemicals in the laboratory. In addition, determine whether any of the chemicals to be handled in the planned experiment meet the definition of a particularly hazardous substance due to high acute toxicity, carcinogenicity, and/ or reproductive toxicity. If so, consider the total amount of the substance that will be used, the expected frequency of use, the chemical s routes of exposure, and the circumstances of its use in the proposed experiment. As discussed in this chapter, use this information to determine whether it is appropriate to apply the additional procedures for work with highly toxic substances and whether additional consultation with safety professionals is warranted (see Chapter 5, section 5.D). 

---