MSDS Chemicals Safety

Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) provide critical information about chemicals used in occupational or educational settings. They exist for every potentially hazardous product, from highly hazardous industrial acids to everyday chemicals such as paint. Required by law in many countries, these sheets ensure employees and students know the best way to use and store chemicals and provide information for dealing with emergencies.

Identification

• MSDS formats vary, but all must provide basic safety and handling data for chemicals. They should include the chemical's name, the basic physical properties of the chemical and any health hazards the chemical poses. For example, an MSDS will detail a chemical's flammability, whether it is poisonous, potentially dangerous reactions with other chemicals and instructions for safe handling and storage. The length ranges anywhere from a single page to more than 10 pages, though most are just a few pages long.

History

• Chemists wrote safe handling instructions as early as the 19th Century, and the Public Health Service and the Manufacturing Chemists Association both made the sheets widely available in the United States during the first half of the 20th Century. The United States began requiring MSDSs for the maritime industry in the 1960s and required all employers to carry relevant MSDSs by 1987. Other regions, including Europe, Canada and Australia, also require employers to carry some form of MSDS. The concept behind the sheets, however, dates back to ancient times, according to researcher Samuel Aaron Kaplan. Some hieroglyphics in the pyramids, for example, detail safe chemical handling instructions.

Features

• An MSDS contains several sections of safety information about a chemical. The physical characteristics section details the chemical's normal appearance, melting and boiling points and its volatility. The flammability section gives a chemical's flash point and describes how to put out fires involving the chemical. A reactivity section tells whether mixing with any other chemicals will cause toxic fumes or explosions. A heath hazard section warns about any exposure dangers. Often, an MSDS scores these sections in the 0 to 4 range, with a 0 denoting low risk and a 4 denoting high risk.

Function

• An MSDS's primary function is to inform employees and employers of hazard prevention and any potential dangers presented by the chemicals they work with every day. Emergency personnel, such as firefighters or paramedics, also need the data when responding to emergencies involving hazardous chemicals. Additionally, students use them when working with chemicals in a laboratory settings. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Household Products Database contains more relevant information for household chemical use.

Location

• Workplaces should have copies of MSDSs available to employees for all chemicals they use in daily operations. If these are missing, the distributor who provides the chemical also should be able to provide copies. Numerous commercial services, such as MSDSWriter, Actio Corp. and Solvent Engineering specialize in composing regulatory compliant MSDSs for manufacturers that develop new products that require them. Websites such as MSDSonline and 3E's MSDS Solutions also maintain a collection of millions of MSDSs available for download.