PRECAUTIONARY STATEMENTS

When sufficient information is available concerning a substance to justify releasing it to the general public, labeling containing adequate directions for use and necessary precautionary statements should be prepared and affixed to each package. Users of economic poisons should be educated to follow directions and observe precautions in every instance... 

The evaluation of robustness should be considered in the development of the assay and will depend on the type of procedure under development. It must show the reliability of a method with respect to deliberate variations in method parameters. If measurements are susceptible to variations in analytical conditions, the analytical conditions should be suitably controlled or a precautionary statement might be included in the procedure. One consequence of the evaluation of robustness may be that a series of system suitability parameters is established to ensure that the validity of the analytical procedure is maintained whenever used. Typical parameters to be tested would be the following sample concentration, sample stability, labeling variability (if applicable), injection variability, reagent lot-to-lot variability, and capillary vendor. 

Be sure to follow the label precisely and to observe all precautionary statements. 

When the results are affected by some critical experimental parameters, a precautionary statement should be included in the analytical procedure to ensure that this parameter is tightly controlled between experiments. For example, if percent ionpairing of mobile phase affects the results significantly, the analytical procedure should explicitly be written with a precautionary statement for aqueous component, for example, 40% aqueous 20mM octanesulfonic acid 2% absolute. 

The evaluation of robustness should be considered during the developmental phase of a method and depends on the type of procedure under study. If measurements are susceptible to variations in analytical conditions, the analytical conditions should be suitably controlled or a precautionary statement should be included in the procedure. Once tire robustness of a method has been established,... 

Precautionary statements required for the safe and effective use of the feed. 

If analytical measurements are susceptible to variations in the analysis parameters or sample preparation conditions, the method must be suitably controlled or a precautionary statement must be included in the written procedure that alerts the chemist to the susceptibility. The method s system suitability parameters should be defined in such a way that meeting all system suitability criteria would ensure that the method is currently being performed within the acceptance window provided by validation robustness testing. 

If measurements are susceptible to variations in analytical conditions, the analytical conditions should be suitably controlled or a precautionary statement should be included in the procedure. 

These precautionary statements appear on the label s front panel. They tell you the relative toxicity of the product and how you should respond if you or a coworker is exposed to the product. 

Figure 2.9 Precautionary statements under Hazards to Humans section on the label (EPA, Protective Clothing for Pesticide Users Poster).

Pesticides are useful tools. But wrong or careless use could cause undesirable effects. To help avoid this the label provides precautions for protecting nontarget organisms and the environment. Some general statements appear on the label of almost all pesticides for example, most labels warn not to contaminate water when you apply or dispose of pesticides. The label will contain specific precautionary statements if the pesticide poses a specific hazard to the environment. Some examples are ... 

Read the label. The formulation, signal word, precautionary statements, personal protective equipment statements, the application method, and projected length of exposure indicate the personal protective equipment you need. 

If you are in an enclosed area and the pesticide you are handling has a labeling precautionary statement such as "do not breathe vapors or spray mist," or "harmful or fatal if inhaled."... 

Some pesticides that get into yonr eyes can cause temporary or permanent blindness or severe irritation. Other pesticides may not irritate your eyes, but pass through your eyes and into yonr body. These pesticides can travel throughout your body, causing harm in various ways. Table 7.1 lists the typical precautionary statements found in pesticide labeling. 

Table 7.1 Typical precautionary statements on pesticide labeling.

Pesticide product labeling statements are intended to alert you to particular environmental concerns that a pesticide product poses. The lack of a particular precautionary statement does not necessarily mean that the product poses no hazard to the environment. 

Precautionary statement means a phrase (and/or pictogram) that describes recommended measures that should be taken to minimize or prevent adverse effects resulting from exposure to a hazardous product, or improper storage or handling of a hazardous product ... 

GHS is based on standardized approaches to make it easier for companies to comply with and for countries to implement the system. Standardisation can be applied to certain label elements - symbols, signal words, statements of hazard, precautionary statements - and to label format and colour and to SDS format. 

For labels, the hazard symbols, signal words and hazard statements have all been standardized and assigned to each of the hazard categories. These standardized elements should not be subject to variation, and should appear on the GHS label as indicated in the Chapters for each hazard class in this document. For safety data sheets, the chapter Hazard communication Safety Data Sheets (Chapter 1.5) provides a standardized format for the presentation of information. Although precautionary statements have... 

There are many other label elements which may appear on a label which have not been standardized in the harmonized system. Some of these clearly need to be included on the label, for example precautionary statements. Competent authorities may require additional information, or suppliers may choose to add supplementary information on their own initiative. In order to ensure that the use of non-standardized information does not lead to unnecessarily wide variation in information or undermine GHS information, the use of supplementary information should be limited to the following circumstances ... 

A precautionary statement means a phrase (and/or pictogram) that describes recommended measures that should be taken to minimise or prevent adverse effects resulting from exposure to a hazardous product, or improper storage or handling of a hazardous product. The GHS label should include appropriate precautionary information, the choice of which is with the labeller or the competent authority. Annex 3 contains examples of precautionary statements, which can be used, and also examples of precautionary pictograms, which can be used where allowed by the competent authority. 

Hazards identification GHS classification of the substance/mixture and any national or regional information. GHS label elements, including precautionary statements. (Hazard symbols may be provided as a graphical reproduction of the symbols in black and white or the name of the symbol e.g. flame, skull and crossbones.) Other hazards which do not result in classification (e.g. dust explosion hazard) or are not covered by the GHS. 

General and specific considerations concerning labelling requirements are provided in Hazard communication Labelling (Chapter 1.4). Annex 2 contains summary tables about classification and labelling. Annex 3 contains examples of precautionary statements and pictograms which can be used where allowed by the competent authority. 

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