Environmental Health and Safety San José State University

Hazardous Materials

and Laboratory Safety

Environmental Health and Safety

San Jos¨¦ State University

?

?

?

We highly encourage you to watch this video:

?

The video examines three university lab accidents, their

consequences, and what should be done to prevent their

reoccurrence.

Case studies examined by the Chemical Safety Board:

? UCLA

? Criminal charges filed against UCLA and professor

? Faced up to 4.5yrs jail $1.5million fines

? Settled 800hrs community service, $10k fines

? Dartmouth

? Texas Tech

2

?

What makes a material hazardous?

?

In General, we abide by 4 hazardous

classifications

? Ignitability

? Corrosivity

? Reactivity

? Toxicity

3

?

Ignitability - Ignitable wastes

can create fires under certain

conditions, are spontaneously

combustible, or have a flash

point less than 60 ¡ãC (140 ¡ãF).

?

Corrosivity - Corrosive wastes

are acids or bases (pH less than

or equal to 2, or greater than or

equal to 12.5) that are capable

of corroding metal containers,

such as storage tanks, drums,

and barrels. Battery acid is an

example.

?

Why 2 and not 2.5 to mirror the

12.5 on the basic side?

?

Reactivity - Reactive wastes are

unstable under "normal"

conditions. They can cause

explosions, toxic fumes, gases,

or vapors when heated,

compressed, or mixed with

water. Examples include lithiumsulfur batteries and explosives.

?

Toxicity - Toxic wastes are

harmful or fatal when ingested

or absorbed (e.g., containing

mercury, lead, etc.). When toxic

wastes are land disposed,

contaminated liquid may leach

from the waste and pollute

ground water.

4

?

The Department of

Transportation further classifies

Hazardous Materials into 9

categories

?

These are usually represented as

placards on packaging and

transport vehicles

?

If we ever ship hazardous

materials, we have to follow

these standards

5

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download