Toxic materials regulations

Most chemical spills can and should be cleaned up by laboratory workers themselves. In general, these are spills of known composition that do not involve injury, do not represent a fire or personal hazard, and are less than 1 gallon (or less for very toxic materials). Regulations allow laboratory workers to clean up such spills, although it is advisable that they have training to handle spills and adequate equipment to carry out the cleanup safely. Outside help, properly trained, should be requested if there is any doubt about the ability of the laboratory personnel to clean up the spill safely. But once help is requested from outside the immediate spill area, specific personnel training requirements and other regulatory control may apply. 

Swallowing. If it is sufficiently irritant or caustic, a swallowed material may cause local effects on the mouth, pharynx, esophagus, and stomach. Additionally, carcinogenic materials may induce tumor formation in the alimentary tract. Also, the gastrointestinal tract is an important route by which toxic materials are absorbed. The sites of absorption and factors regulating absorption have been reviewed (42,43). 

Polyisobutylene and isobutylene—isoprene copolymers are considered to have no chronic hazard associated with exposure under normal industrial use. Some grades can be used in chewing-gum base, and are regulated by the PDA in 21 CPR 172.615. Vulcanized products prepared from butyl mbber or halogenated butyl mbber contain small amounts of toxic materials as a result of the particular vulcanization chemistry. Although many vulcanizates are inert, eg, zinc oxide cured chlorobutyl is used extensively in pharmaceutical stoppers, specific recommendations should be sought from suppHers. 

Silver-brazed joints are used when temperature or the combination of temperature and pressure is beyond the range of soldered joints. They are also more reliable in the event of plant fires and are more resistant to vibration. If they are used for fluids that are flammable, toxic, or damaging to human tissue, appropriate safeguarding is required by the code. There are OSHA regulations governing the use of silver brazing alloys containing cadmium and other toxic materials. 

In addition, restrictions on industrial air emissions under the Clean Air Act (CAA) as amended in 1977, the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990, and other state and local statutes and regulations have universal impact on the storage of toxic materials, with direct and significant effects on the design and operation of toxic material storage facilities. Whereas the primary factors which once determined how air emissions from storage tanks were handled were fire protection and loss prevention, in recent years environmental protection concerns nearly always determine the extent and nature of the air emission controls required to be installed. 

All toxic materials were disposed of in accordance with the policy of UTMDACC to handle and dispose of hazardous waste, which is in accordance with the regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Federal Department of Transportation, Texas Department of Health, and the Texas Water Commission. 

Unfortunately, in the minds of many regulators the word laboratory may conjure up visions of fires, explosions, and highly toxic materials. For that reason, a laboratory planner should be prepared to present the proposed operation in great detail and to answer all questions, even those which may not seem relevant. Any work planned for the future should also be discussed, since the added cost of accommodating for it in the beginning may be just a fraction of what would have to be paid for later modifications. All pertinent facts must be revealed a minor omission could make a big difference in laboratory safety. A laboratory operator who has studied the various rules and regulations with care will have no problem handling such discussions. 

Some of the materials and techniques used in molecular biology may attract royalties if used for commercial purposes. Vectors, host strains and off-the-shelf DNA manipulation methods are usually readily available for modest licence fees for research purposes, but additional licences would need to be sought (and fees paid) if these systems were used in a commercial process. Where commercial exploitation is planned, the researchers should be prepared to switch to royalty-free genetic systems and avoid the use of costly and potentially toxic materials, such as artificial inducers or substrates, as gene expression regulators. 

The pollution control decision-maker must know the relative contributions of natural and specific man-made sources of toxic materials in order to establish criteria for control regulations. 

Calcium carbonate is listed as a food additive and nut considered a toxic material. The exposure lo dusl is regulated and a Threshold Limit Value-Time-Weighted Average (TLV-TWA) of 10 mg/m1 is set. Both natural ground and precipitated calcium carbonates can contain low levels of impurities that are regulated. 

There are several specific regulatory documents governing the siting, design, and capacity of impoundment systems. For flammable materials, these requirements are outlined in the LNG Federal Safety Standards, 49 C.F.R. 193 (1990) and the National Fire Protection Association s Flammable and Combustible Liquids Code, NFPA 30 (1990). For toxic materials, similar design guidelines are specified in the sections of the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R., EPA Section 32 and EPA Section 40). 

While industrial practice requires a trial burn and a facility may not operate until the data are accepted, industrial facilities obtain approval to process many different waste streams based on a single trial burn. In special situations, particularly with toxic materials such as polychlorinated biphenyls, both a surrogate burn and a trial burn would be required. RCRA regulations offer the option of allowing the use of data from another facility, under certain conditions, in lieu of a trial burn. However, industry has used this mechanism at only a few sites with similar units. It has been used twice by the CMA for the Tooele, Utah, disposal facility. The CMA should pursue this mechanism with the respective regulatory authorities. The committee believes that chemical agent disposal facilities are treated similarly to industrial facilities with respect to the conduct of trial bums. 

Processing with the styrene monomer requires that precautions have to be taken to ensure the proper removal and handling of this toxic material. Legal limits in the workplace have been set up by regulations. Other monomers used include diallyl phthlate (DAP), para-methylstyrene (PMS), vinyl acetate (VA), vinyl toluene (VT), adding paraffin wax, and styrene suppressant additive. Suppliers and fabricators continue to target in the reduction of styrene monomer quickly, effectively, and economically. A wide variation in properties can be obtained by changes in polyester formulation. 

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