Chapter 4

Chemicals

4.1 Introduction

Many materials encountered in the Physics Department are classified as "chemicals'', although this term is difficult to define. For purposes of the following discussion, "chemicals" will be defined as "... any material which was or could have been purchased from a chemical company.'' Most chemicals are not inherently dangerous but can become so under some circumstances: (1) when handled carelessly, (2) when the person is not trained in general procedures for safe handling of chemicals, or (3) when the person is unaware of specific hazardous properties of the material. It is the intent of the following section to give you general rules of safe chemical handling techniques as well as apprise you of the location of information detailing specific hazards associated with specific chemicals.


Materials classified as "chemicals" are found in virtually all areas of the Department, specifically including research and teaching labs, shops and the stockroom. Since all employees work in or pass through one or more of these areas, it is important that everyone have at least a general knowledge of "do's and don'ts" for these materials. The most general admonition is simply "...be careful around materials you don't understand." A bottle of acid will not jump off a bench top and burn you, but you can be harmed if you knock the bottle off the benchtop and break it or if you carelessly walk into someone carrying an open container of the material. Your interest in being able to read the hazard information on a chemical label could increase if you rest your elbow in the powder next to a bottle of some chemical while discussing last night's ball game. The same applies when you don't go outside for a smoke during a snowstorm but step into a closet where someone forgot to put the cap onto a bottle of flammable solvent. Hence the general prohibitions against eating, drinking and smoking in any area where chemicals are used or stored.

The general classes of hazards associated with chemicals are discussed in section 1 of 4.4.1, which should be studied by everyone. They include health, flammability, reactivity and skin contact. Health and skin contact are most relevant to "casual visitors." The routes by which chemicals attack you are ingestion (eating), inhalation (breathing), and skin contact. You may therefore minimize both your need to understand details of chemical properties and your suffering from exposure if you avoid eating, drinking, inhaling and touching these materials. The general rule remains the same: think about how chemicals could hurt you (ingestion, inhalation, skin contact, fire...) and avoid those situations.

4.2 General Procedures for Working with Chemicals

4.2.1 Labels

labelAll chemical containers must be labeled defining the chemical contents, the date received,
and the expected shelf life. Chemicals that are rebottled for use in a laboratory should have secure, waterproof (or "solvent-proof") labels that contain information about hazards as well as the name, formula, date packaged, and the strength or purity. Do not use any substance in an unlabeled or improperly labeled container. Unlabeled containers and those with printed labels that have been partly obliterated, scratched over, or crudely labeled by hand should be returned to your supervisor.

The chemicals in your laboratory should be:

  1. clearly identified so they can be used
  2. made nonhazardous and disposed of locally or
  3. disposed of through the Department of Environmental Health and Safety (1-6590) as hazardous waste.

4.2.2 General rules for working with chemicals

  1. Because there are undesirable effects of chemicals that scale with tissue softness, always wear safety glasses or a face shield when using chemicals; eyes are the most sensitive.
  2. Wear gloves and a rubber apron (available in the Chem Room, 119 JFB) when handling acids and other corrosives. Rubber gloves and safety glasses are available from the stockroom. A table listing the chemicals from which one is protected by different kinds of gloves is included in the safety manual as Appendix F.
  3. Never handle acids in open containers outside a fume hood. Use a fume hood that has been approved for use with corrosives (119 and 328 JFB, as labeled). Vapors are particularly corrosive to delicate electronic equipment in the lab.
  4. The hazard typically increases with increasing concentration.
  5. Chemical reactivity increases with temperature.

4.2.3 Storage

All chemicals in the stockroom and laboratory should be stored so as to avoid incompatibilities. The best segregation scheme is as follows:
Class 1- Flammable or combustible and not highly toxic and compatible with water
Class 2- Flammable or combustible and not highly toxic and incompatible with water
Class 3- Oxidizers and non-flammables, compatible with water
Class 4- Oxidizers and non-flammables, incompatible with water
Class 5- Air sensitive
Class 6- Chemicals requiring refrigeration
Class 7- Compressed gas cylinders, separated as to oxidizers, reducers, corrosives, toxics
Class 8- Unstable chemicals (explosives).

a) Store flammable liquids in approved fire cabinets.
b) Make sure shelves holding containers are secure, restrained by shelf fronts or wires that will restrain chemicals during a mild earthquake.
c) When opening newly received chemicals, immediately read the warning label to be aware of any special storage precautions like refrigeration or inert atmosphere storage.
d) No chemicals are to be stored in aisles or stairwells, on desks or laboratory benches, on floors or in hallways.
e) Mark the acquisition dates on all peroxide-forming chemicals and dispose of them after six months.
f) Have spill cleanup supplies (absorbents, neutralizers) in any room used for chemical storage or use.

4.2.4 Hoods

1. Fume hoods serve to exhaust toxic, offensive, or flammable vapors from the laboratory and, with the hood sash closed, to provide a physical barrier between the laboratory worker and the chemical reaction. Apparatus used in hoods should additionally be fitted with condensers, traps, or scrubbers to contain or collect waste solvents or toxic vapors. The hood is not a means for disposing of chemicals.

2. Before each use, be sure that the hood is working properly. The hood in 119 JFB has an integral air flow meter. Check it. Adequate air flow (which can also be checked with a Kimwipe&reg) and the absence of excessive turbulence are necessary for safe operation. Equipment should be placed as far back in the hood as practical and activities carried out at least 6 inches from the front edge of the hood. Keep your head outside of the hood face.

3. Hoods should not be used for storage of chemicals. Chemicals should be removed from hoods and stored in appropriate locations.

4. Fume hoods are recommended for most experiments. They are particularly important when flammable vapors are involved as a gaseous product, as in the distillation of ether. Most vapors have a density greater than that of air and will settle on a bench top where they may diffuse to a distant burner or ignition source. These vapors will roll out over astonishingly long distances, and any ignition will flash back to the source.

5. Always use a hood with the sash lowered as far as possible.

6. Clean up all working areas in the hood when finished.

7. Use perchloric acid only in hoods designed for its use and then only after washing down to remove organics.

4.2.5 Chemical spills

1. Spill avoidance is much more important than cleanup. If you want to avoid cleaning up a spill, plan beforehand how to avoid making it. Pay attention to what you are doing!

2. The Physics Dept. Stockroom stocks chemical absorbent pillows for large spills and special absorbent paper towels for small spills. Purchase cleanup materials (or, at least, know where to get them quickly) before beginning any use of chemicals.

3. Large mercury spills are to be vacuumed up with a special Hg vacuum, available from the OptoElectronic Materials Lab, which also has a container of dirty mercury for recycling. Residual mercury which cannot be removed from cracks may be amalgamated with a powder called "HgAbsorb", available from the Stockroom.


4.2.6 Disposal procedures

The University Department of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) is charged with the responsibility of removing all hazardous materials, both used and unused, from University facilities. Hazardous materials are defined as those materials that are flammable, corrosive, reactive or toxic. (The complete legal definition of these terms is given in Section 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 260, available on from a link on the Internet in the EHS Web page: http://www.ehs.utah.edu/dispose.html This page also gives a more complete listing of the information listed below. ) Materials picked up by EHS are taken to the Regulated Waste Management Facility where they are recycled, used by someone else or disposed of at an EPA approved facility. To have hazardous materials removed from your area you must:
1. Use safe containers. Please package all hazardous materials properly for transport by EHS personnel, see packaging requirements below.
2. Fill out a Hazardous Materials Inventory Tag. These tags are available from the grey cabinet in the Physics Stockroom, 114 JFB, or directly from EHS, call 1-6590 for the latter.
3. Mail the top (white) copy of the tag to EHS, Building 590. Please check that all sections are filled out accurately and completely. The information on the tags is used by chemists to safely handle your chemicals and to file an annual report with the Environmental Protection Agency. Incomplete tags will be returned. Hazardous materials will be picked up from your lab on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
For chemicals to be useable by someone else they must be unopened. These chemicals will be placed into the Chemical Exchange Program (see below). The information on the inventory tag will enable someone who has a question about the age or purity of the chemical to contact you about it.

PACKAGING REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
1. The outside of the containers must be clean and free of chemical contamination.
2. Use appropriate containers. All glass containers must be securely packaged to prevent breakage during transport.
3. All containers of liquids must have screw lids and must not leak when inverted. Corks, cotton plugs, tape, or parafilm, are not acceptable lids for containers of hazardous materials.
4. If possible, use the same container for the disposal of used material that held the new material originally.
5. Metal cans are not acceptable for accumulating hazardous solvents -- except for waste oil. Five gallon polyethylene containers are available at no cost from EHS, call digital pager 464-9032.
6. Loose solid materials must be placed in a sealed container or in a cardboard box lined with two closed polyethylene bags.
7. Remember that EPA regulations require that containers storing hazardous materials must be kept closed, except when adding or removing the contents.

CHEMICAL EXCHANGE PROGRAM
Unused chemicals are accumulated in Building 590. These chemicals are available to campus labs at no charge. A list of available chemicals is located on the Web at http://www.ehs.utah.edu/chemx.html. The list is updated monthly. If you see a chemical on the list that you can use in your lab, or if you wish to receive a chemical list, call digital pager 464-9032. If the chemical is available, it will be delivered to your lab. For additional information call 5-5892

DEFINITIONS OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
Hazardous materials are those that "could cause injury or death; or damage or pollute land, air, or water". Hazardous wastes are defined as substances that are ignitable (flammable), corrosive, toxic, explosive, or reactive, (i.e., react with air, water, acids, etc). Specific definitions are found in the Code of Federal Regulations (40CFR part 261). These are summarized below.
Ignitable: This category contains materials that are flammable. This includes (1) liquids that have a flash point less than 60º C (140º F); (2) non-liquids that are capable, under standard temperature and pressure, of causing fire through friction, absorption of moisture, or spontaneous chemical change and, when ignited, burn so vigorously and persistently that they create a hazard; and (3) any ignitable compressed gas described in 40 CFR 173.300. Examples include (1) solvents: acetone, benzene, ethyl acetate, ethanol, ethyl ether, methanol, methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK), stoddard solvent, xylene; (2) ignitable paint waste: some paint removers, brush cleaners, and stripping agents; epoxy resins and adhesives - epoxies, rubber cements and marine glues; inks containing flammable solvents, and some degreasers. Information on flash points is available from the Condensed Chemical Dictionary and Merck Index. The OptoElectronic Materials Lab has copies of both these references. For additional information see 40 CFR 261.21.
Corrosive: This category includes: acids and bases or mixtures having a pH less than or equal to 2 or greater than or equal to 12.5; and materials that burn the skin or dissolve metals. Examples are: strong mineral acids (chromic, sulfuric, hydrochloric, hydrofluoric, and nitric), strong alkalis (ammonium, sodium, and potassium hydroxide), rust removers and acid or alkaline cleaning fluids. For additional information see 40 CFR 261.22
Reactive: This category includes materials that are unstable or undergo rapid or violent chemical reaction with exposed to air, water or other material, generate toxic gases or vapors when mixed with water or when exposed to pH conditions between 2 and 12.5 (as in the case with cyanide- or sulfide- containing materials), forms potentially explosive mixtures with water, are capable of detonation or explosive reaction when heated or subjected to shock. Examples include alkali metals, chromic acid, cyanides, hypochlorites, organic peroxides, perchlorates, permanganates, some sulfides (NOT arsenic sulfide), some plating materials and bleaches. For additional information see 40 CFR 261.23.
Toxic: This category includes heavy metal elements and their compounds, including arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, silver, selenium, etc., as well as carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, methyl ethyl ketone, trichloroethylene, and benzene.
Pathogenic, Carcinogenic, Infectious, and Etiologic agents: Includes any material that will directly cause serious health problems such as, "a viable microorganism, or its toxin, which causes or may cause disease in humans or animals" (41CFR173.134). Infectious waste includes bloodborne pathogens (for example, hepatitis or AIDS virus). For a more detailed definition see the University of Utah's Biosafety Manual and Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Plan, available from the Department of Environmental Health and Safety (phone 1-6590).
IMPORTANT: It is an EPA regulation that when hazardous waste is being accumulated in a container, the tag must be placed on the container as soon as any waste is placed in the container. Failure to do this may result in fines from the EPA.
Additionally, please be aware that the EPA has imposed severe penalties and fines (up to $25,000.00) on individuals submitting false information concerning hazardous waste. These fines also apply to individuals improperly disposing of hazardous waste. To insure compliance with EPA regulations it is your responsibility, as the person generating the waste, to be knowledgeable about the process that produced the waste. This insures that the waste is described accurately on the hazardous waste tags; thus, correct information is provided to the disposal facility. Failure to do so may result in a fine and imprisonment. The Department has already been hit with a $500 fine for leaving a hazardous waste disposal container uncovered.
There is another class of materials which are classified as hazardous by the Salt Lake City-County Health Department. These are called "sharps". Sharps are defined as any non-contaminated sharp object that can penetrate the skin, including, but not limited to: broken glass tubing, pipettes and other glassware, razor blades, blades from power tools, glass microscope slides and cover plates, and hypodermic and non-hypodermic needles...basically anything someone could cut themselves on. These may be disposed of in the local dumpster after packaging so that they are not easily accessible to janitorial staff, children or scrap scavengers. (Yes, there are people who scavenge the U dumpsters for cans and other items of value!)
There may be other hazardous substances that are not included here. It is your responsibility to determine if the materials you use are hazardous to human health or the environment.

4.3 Properties of Some Common Chemicals You May Encounter in the Physics Department

1. Common corrosives. These are not "extremely hazardous" to the tough skin on your hands but will cause serious chemical burns, essentially instantaneously, if the chemical is hot or the tissue is soft. Goji Kodama, Professor of Chemistry, once spilled hot concentrated nitric acid on the soft inner side of his forearm. Despite the fact that his arm was under flowing cold water within 2 seconds and held there for 15 minutes, plastic surgery was required to replace the skin. Eye tissue is much softer and irreplaceable. Examples of strong corrosives commonly found in the Physics Department include but are not limited to:

  • Acids: HCl (hydrochloric), HNO3 (nitric), H2SO4 (sulfuric), CH3 COOH (acetic), H3 PO4 (phosphoric), HF (hydrofluoric)
  • Bases: NaOH, KOH, NH4OH (sodium, potassium and ammonium hydroxide)

If any of these substances comes in contact with your skin, wash them off immediately: hold under cold water for at least 5 minutes. Again, the temperature of the acid and softness of the exposed tissue are important. If the burn is more than superficial, immediately contact the Burn Center at the University Hospital, 1-2700.

2. Fairly common materials that are, or can be extremely hazardous:

  • Concentrated (anhydrous) sulfuric acid is bad; "30% fuming sulfuric" is even worse. Not only are these corrosive to tissue, but they are extremely hygroscopic. This means they extract water from your skin in a reaction which generates sufficient heat to also cause thermal burns!
  • Red fuming nitric acid is not only very corrosive, but also is a very strong oxidizer and hence will cause combustible materials to ignite.
  • Aqueous HF is very bad; therefore, never handle without gloves. Anhydrous HF (the pure liquid, not the standard 48% water solution) is much worse. In either case the burning pain associated with tissue damage does not occur until after the damage has been done. Worse, skin is fairly transparent to HF, allowing it to diffuse to bones where it reacts with the calcium to make insoluble CaF2 . Any significant exposure, particularly to anhydrous HF, must be immediately followed by a visit to the Burn Center at the University Hospital. Sometimes a good plastic surgeon can repair the damage. A very skillful plastic surgeon was able to repair the damage caused by 3 drops of anhydrous HF on Matt DeLong's finger without transplanting tissue. The associated nerve damage healed in about 10 years.
  • H2S (hydrogen sulfide) is relatively common and popularly regarded as "cute" because of its offensive odor. It is as toxic as HCN (hydrogen cyanide) and deadens the nasal detection system.
  • Anything toxic dissolved in DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) is potentially very hazardous. The skin is transparent to DMSO; whatever is dissolved in it goes along.
  • Solutions of strong bases in ethanol are hazardous for reasons similar to DMSO solutions, but the hazards are not as extreme.
  • Cyanides are relatively common in the Physics Dept. Solid cyanide salts are relatively innocuous with two exceptions: 1) ingesting small amounts can be fatal (see calculation in section 4.4.5) 2) contact with an acid produces HCN gas, which is also extremely toxic and fatal in small doses.
  • Alkali metals, particularly the heavier ones, may ignite spontaneously in air (lithium to a limited extent) and react violently with water. The reaction with water generates hydrogen which explodes and throws out pieces of burning metal. Alkali metals are typically stored under mineral oil and used only in an inert (including vacuum) atmosphere.
  • Laser dyes may be a highly toxic powder dissolved in an organic solvent, although the dyes themselves are usually listed as "hazard unknown". The dye powder should be handled in a fume hood; rubber gloves appropriate for the particular solvent must be worn when handling the solution. The dyes themselves have no EPA number. Spent dye solutions must be disposed with in accordance with the hazard of the solvent.
  • Many chlorinated solvents (carbon tetrachloride, 1,1,1-trichloroethane...) are carcinogenic (cancer causing). Wear gloves appropriate for chlorinated hydrocarbons and work in a fume hood. Both the PVC and neoprene gloves sold in the stockroom are acceptable for brief exposures to CCl4; PVC is not recommended for trichloroethylene.

4.4 Use and Location of a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)

4.4.1 Reading a Material Data Safety Sheet

An excellent resource for understanding how to read an MSDS is the University's Waste Management and Pollution Prevention Manual. The relevant section is located on the Web at http://www.ehs.utah.edu/msds.html, which contains an annotated MSDS for acetone. Similar information is given below.

MSDS's are organized into sections. All have the same format, so corresponding information is found in the same place in all of them.

Section 1: Chemical identification

This section lists the chemical name and formula as well as trade names and common names of the material, allowing you to identify the contents. It also gives the formula weight, allowing you to distinguish among various forms of the chemical, e.g. dimers and hydrates. Based on the identity of the chemical established in this section, you can consult other sources (e.g. those referenced at the end of this section of this document) to get additional information. The name, address and phone number of the manufacturer as well as the phone number of a 24 hour emergency center are also listed. This section also includes a quick, general synopsis of the hazards of the material. Hazards with respect to health, flammability, reactivity and skin contact are rated on a scale of 0-4 where 0 indicates the material is harmless and 4 means extremely hazardous. Similar information is found on the labels of chemicals produced in the last few years. The hazard information specifically refers to:

  • Health: the ability of the material to make you sick. Example: NaCN (sodium cyanide) is poisonous; eating or inhaling it will be harmful or fatal.
  • Flammability: the ease with which the material burns or supports combustion. Example: gasoline and acetone are highly flammable.
  • Reactivity: the possibilities for potentially hazardous chemical reactions (evolution of toxic products, evolution of heat, evolution of large quantities of gas...) with other materials. Example: NaCN reacts with strong acids to liberate HCN gas, which is extremely toxic; Na metal reacts with water to liberate flammable H2 gas.
  • Skin contact: the ability of the material to damage your skin or other external tissues. Example: strong mineral acids and bases destroy tissue (some faster than others).

Section 2: Hazardous ingredients

The information in this section is rarely useful in the laboratory. Example: Household dry bleach contains about 10% dichloroiso-cyanurate, a strong oxidizer and source of active chlorine.

Section 3: Physical data

Listed in this section are data for the melting and boiling points, vapor pressure, density, water solubility, color, and odor. This information may help you recognize that the container is mislabelled; hence that the hazards may be different from those stated on the label! A flammable material with a low boiling point will be hazardous at a considerable distance from an open flame, particularly in a poorly ventilated room.

Section 4: Fire and explosion hazard

Data given in this section include the flash point and explosive concentrations. The flash point is an operational temperature related to both the "intrinsic flammability" and vapor pressure of the material. The lower the flash point, the greater the hazard. Any material with a flash point below room temperature is dangerous when used "in the vicinity of" an open flame. Examples: (ethyl) ether: -45&degC = -49&degF; ethanol: 13&degC = 55&degF; peanut oil: 280&degC = 540&degF. So peanut oil can be used in your wok; ethanol at room temperature will burn immediately when exposed to a flame, and ether is sufficiently combustible and volatile to be hazardous at a considerable distance from the actual flame. The autoignition temperature is the temperature at which combustion will begin in the absence of an external initiator (flame or spark). This number is extremely important for storage. The autoignition temperature of ethyl ether is 180&degF. The upper and lower explosive limits are the concentrations of the material, in air, which will explode if exposed to a spark or flame. If the ratio of the vapor pressure of the material at ambient (i.e. storage) temperature to atmospheric pressure exceeds the lower explosive limit, an open container constitutes an explosion hazard. The upper explosive limit is typically rendered useless by ventilation.

Section 5: Health hazard data

This section gives information about the quantities or concentrations of the material which will probably make you sick when ingested (eaten), inhaled (breathed), gotten on your skin or in your eyes. Values given are for acute (direct, immediate) and chronic (long term) exposure. Chronic exposure is typically not relevant in a laboratory environment. Information includes symptoms of overexposure: how you can tell if you are being harmed by the material. In some cases this is obvious (strong mineral acid on your skin or in your eyes); in other cases it is not (breathing too much acetone vapor for too long while cleaning a pump). Values given include the TLV (Threshold Limit Value), the concentration in which you can safely work for 40 hours a week. Coupled with a knowledge of the vapor pressure at room (or other appropriate) temperature, you can use this number to get an idea as to whether the work you are doing can be performed in an open room, or must be done in a fume hood. "LD for..." is extremely important. It gives the lethal dose that kills 50% of the test animals by a specified route (typically ingestion). The units are mg chemical per kg of body weight. LD = 6.4 mg/kg for NaCN (sodium cyanide) and LD = 3.75 g/kg for NaCl, (sodium chloride, table salt) both orally in white rats. To the extent you are willing to model yourself as a 70 kg white rat; this means that eating 448 mg of NaCN or 263 g (a little more than a half pound) of NaCl will probably kill you. This is extremely important information in both positive and negative senses. It not only tells you that NaCN is quite toxic, but also that the volume associated with 448 mg is .28 cm3, corresponding to a cube 6.5 mm (almost exactly 1/4 inch) on a side; this is not an invisible speck. Hence, you won't be killed by eating an invisibly small piece of sodium cyanide. Proper care and respect are warranted; total paranoia is not.

Section 6: Reactivity data

Information is given on other materials that are incompatible with the one being described. Strong oxidizers are incompatible with combustibles; strong acids are incompatible with strong bases (in the sense that violent reactions liberating large quantities of heat occur).
Cyanide salts are incompatible with strong acids; the reaction product is highly toxic HCN gas. Alkali metals are incompatible with water.

Section 7: Spill and leak procedures

Information is given on proper procedures for cleaning up spills or dealing with leaking
containers. This information helps you identify the equipment (absorbent pillows, Hg vacuum pump...) necessary to deal with a spill before the spill happens. Hence you can purchase the required spill clean up equipment beforehand or at least know where to find it quickly. You don't want to be thumbing through the Yellow Pages with five gallons of acetone or a gallon of sulfuric acid on your floor!

Section 8: Special protection information

This section lists protective equipment to be used in conjunction with handling or using the material: glasses, face shields, gloves, ventilation, etc.

4.4.2 Sources of Material Safety Data Sheets

Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) are available to Departmental personnel from a variety of sources. Probably the most convenient for most people is the Chemistry Department gopher file. If you have access to the Internet, simply click on the Gopher icon, then "Academic Organizations", "Chemistry", "Material Safety Data Sheets". Compounds are listed alphabetically by chemical name. Hence double click on "A" to find the MSDS for Acetone, then go down the list until you find "Acetone". Double click on it. This is a Windows-based application, so all standard Windows commands work. There is also a "search" feature, so once you are in the window for a specific chemical you can immediately search of "flammability", or "TLV" or whatever.

A huge collection is accessed from the Marriott Library home page: http://www.lib.utah.edu. Scroll down to and click on "Databases", then down about halfway to Materials Safety Data Sheets Web Interface.

Although this search engine claims to access 70,000 MSDSs, its utility is limited. For common chemicals you will do much better with the chemistry gopher. Searching "acetone" AND "MSDS" with the Web search engine gives 1012 responses, the first 10 of which do not include generic acetone. Searching "dimethyl ketone" AND "MSDS" gives 12 responses, many of which are generic acetone. Like everything else in life, this process works well if a little intelligence is applied. On the other hand, the Web engine is excellent for trade name chemicals. (Most of the first 10 responses are 3M adhesives.)

The MSDS's for a large fraction of the chemicals found in the Department are found in the grey file cabinet just inside the stockroom door. When any chemical is received in the stockroom, a copy of the MSDS is made. One copy goes to the recipient of the chemical, and the other goes into this file.

Another source of MSDS's is the University MSDS coordinator at 1-8671. The collection is actually quite complete.

Final comment: Unfortunately, the primary objective of writers of MSDS's is to avoid product liability litigation; communication of information useful to the lab worker or student is secondary. Hence, extracting useful information from an MSDS is often not easy. For example, the MSDS for nominally pure ethanol (from one manufacturer) states that it is incompatible with acids and moisture. It is well known that ethanol can safely be mixed with citric acid (orange or grapefruit juice) or water. On the other hand, explosive products result from mixing it with strong oxidizers like nitric acid. NaCN is also blandly listed as being incompatible with strong acids without driving home the point that the reaction being described is the one very effectively used in the San Quentin gas chamber! Similarly, one MSDS for ethanol lists under spill procedures "...wear self-contained breathing apparatus, rubber boots and heavy rubber gloves..." which may be appropriate if a 55 gal. drum is emptied in a small room, but gives no useful information applicable in a laboratory. This may seem a trivial point, but if the same caution is given for a material for which the user has no previous experience, the results can be highly undesirable.

4.5 References, sources of additional information

  1. Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories: Available from the MSDS drawer of the file cabinet in the stockroom (114 JFB)
  2. The Merck Index: Source of hazard information on a huge number of chemicals.
    Available in OptoElectronic Materials Lab.
  3. Condensed Chemical Dictionary: Another valuable source of physical and
    toxicological data. Available in OptoElectronic Materials Lab.
  4. CRC Handbook of Laboratory Safety, Steere: Physics Library, QD51.S88
  5. Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials, Sax: Physics Library, T55.3.H3.S3
  6. Toxic Gases - First Aid
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