7Dec06: School Chemistry Laboratory Safety Guide

Some things noticed while skimming this new [Nov. 2006] 60-page NIOSH publication [2007-107], also listed as CPSC publication No. 390, received thanks to Ralph Stuart, via DCHAS-L list:

OVERALL RATING: GREAT! e.g.

page C72: Poster: “Safety Dos and Don’ts for students”, and the other “pullouts.”

Very highly recommended--obviously represents a staggering amount of very conscientious work by many capable people. Tons of excellent advice and tips, e.g. did you know that artificial fingernails are extremely flammable, and very difficult to extinguish once ignited?

Nonetheless:

Problems

Description:

Billed as in a “checklist format.” It is not what I would call a checklist format. An earlier publication [NIOSH Safety Checklist Program for Schools…(NIOSH Pub. No. 2004-101) was. I reviewed that for the NEACT Journal [New England Association of Chemistry Teachers [NEACT Journal, 24(1), Summer-Fall, 2005] and provided that review to people at the School of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey [a NIOSH ERC] charged with preparation of the new publication, at their request (or were they working on a new edition of the checklist itself?). This publication seems to have far fewer problems.

Sad mistakes in English, e.g. on p Bi: “Consumer Safety Product Commission,”

on pBv: “Foreward” [at least they got the “e” in there. K ]

on pC12 “Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) contains…”

on several pages: misuse of “i.e.” [id est-- that is] for “e.g.” [exampli gratia-- for example]

C44: “Safety in Academic CL” [Besides the “abbreviation,” ref is to the 1984 edition.]

C67: “50mg/kg or less of body weight…” pfd: “equal to or less than 50mg/kg of body…”

And:

Technical misstatements, e.g. on p C9 of 60= p17 of 86 in the pdf file: “Metals will decompose explosively with peroxides.” [Metals are elements…]

on p C9 of 60=26 of 86: “phosphorous” … “phosphorous pentoxide”.

on p C31=39: “combustible liquid flash point less than 100^oF.” [Such liquids are called “flammable” to distinguish them from “combustible” liquids—those with a flash point higher than 100^oF.]

p C32=40: under NFPA hazard labels: “OX” for oxidizer; NFPA uses “OXY” I believe.

pC34 “chloropromazine” [isn’t it “chlorpromazine”?]

C35 under p-dioxane: “forms peroxides (Group 2)” [Is Group 2 explained?]

C37 “phosphorous, red and white” [though phosphorus is spelled correctly in the entry above].

C42: “hydrogen sulfide” is listed as “corrosive.” It is a deadly toxic gas, and very flammable, I would say.

C50: Under OSHA PELs: “Ceiling limit (C) the concentration limit that must not be exceeded at any part of the work day” In my experience, OSHA’s ceilings are not ceilings in this sense. This reflects a confusion of ACGIH ceilings with OSHA’s.

C50ff: The whole discussion of limits unfortunately does not mention the various assumptions buried in those limits.

Stephen Stepenuck, prof. emeritus

Keene State College, Keene, NH