Chemical Safety
ES 10: Chemistry for Engineers
Cyhdar G. Racho
Note: These lecture slides are not meant to be published.
Why study chemical safety?
Knowing about chemical safety results to more
efficient laboratory practices—correct storage,
Atmosphere handling, use, and disposal.
This would also reduce potential harm to
human health, the environment, and public
attitudes toward chemical enterprises.
Hydrosphere Anthrosphere
The more we understand potential hazards
and precautions against them, the better we
can prevent exposure.
We need to cultivate a new culture of safety and
security consciousness, accountability,
Geosphere Biosphere organization, and education.
Knowledge = safety (yours and others’)
Definition of Terms
• Hazard - any item or substance that has the potential to cause
harm to humans or the environment
• Risk - the chance that a person or the environment will be
harmed by the hazard
Definition of Terms
• Likelihood - the measure of how likely an accident / event could
happen
• Severity - a measure of how serious an injury or the damage
could be
• Control measures - steps taken to remove hazards or reduce
exposure
The risk matrix shows the relationship
Definition of Terms of likelihood and severity to the level of
risk a certain hazard carries.
If a hazard is of high
severity (may cause
severe injury or death),
and high likelihood
(very likely to happen),
then it is considered
high-risk or even
critical.
If a hazard is of low severity (far from
causing severe injury or death), and low
likelihood (not likely to happen), then it
is considered low-risk.
Hazards
• HACCP - Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points
This is one of the management systems
that ensures food safety by addressing
physical, biological, and chemical hazards.
Hazards
Biological
Chemical Physical
Hazards
Biological
Chemical Physical
Routes of Entry
• Inhalation
• Contaminated air, inhalation into lungs, alveoli's blood vessels
• Absorption through skin
• Through the skin or wounds/cuts, or through the eyes
• Ingestion
• Via the mouth into the gastrointestinal system if food or hands are
contaminated
• Injection
• Sharp object punctures the skin and injects a chemical directly into the
bloodstream
Hazards
• Types of Exposure
Single short exposure
Longer-term exposures
• Manifestation of Effects of Exposure
Immediately after contact
Many years after exposure
• Here are a few classifications of potential hazards.
Compressed Gases
• chemicals stored as a gas under high pressure
• may explode
• e.g. methane, propane, acetylene, hydrogen,
oxygen, bromine, chlorine, carbon monoxide,
hydrogen sulfide, helium, nitrogen,
carbon dioxide, argon
Flammables Flash point: lowest temperature at which
a substance produces enough vapor to
ignite / catch fire / burn in the presence
of an ignition source
• readily catch fire and burn in air
• vapors released from a flammable liquid are a common fire
hazard
• Need to know: flash point, flammable
limits, autoignition
temperature
• e.g. acetone, diesel, gasoline, toluene
The orange logo is the old logo,
while the one in red diamond is the
new logo.
Oxidizers
• chemicals which decompose readily under certain conditions to
yield oxygen
• cause a fire to burn violently
• must NOT be stored with
flammables
• e.g. hydrogen peroxide, nitric acid,
perchloric acid, sulfuric acid, chlorates,
chromates, nitric acid, peroxides,
permanganates
Toxic Chemicals
1. may be fatal or cause serious damage to health
2. may cause cancer, birth defects
• e.g. sodium cyanide, dimethyl
mercury
• e.g. benzene
acute: single exposure
chronic: long term repeated exposure
Corrosives
• cause destructive burns on the tissue
• can also occur in the respiratory tract or in the gastrointestinal
tract
• e.g. sulfuric acid, nitric acid, potassium
hydroxide, sodium hydroxide
(caustic soda), bromine, phenol
Damage is irreversible.
Other Health Hazards
• may cause skin and eye irritation
• e.g. ammonia, formaldehyde,
halogens, sulfur dioxide
Damage is reversible.
Water Reactive Chemicals
• react violently when they come in contact with water
• e.g. lithium, sodium, potassium, aluminum bromide, calcium oxide,
sulfur trioxide, phosphorus pentachloride
• (see video in Google Classroom)
Priority: #1. If #1 is not doable,
Control Measures proceed with #2, and so on.
1. Eliminate the hazardous chemical No hazardous chemical, no risk!
For example, using pellets
2. Substitute with a less hazardous chemical instead of powder
Using physical barriers, exhaust
3. Install engineering controls
ventilations, fume hoods, etc.
Using procedures implemented by
management such as minimizing number
4. Put administrative controls in place of exposed employees, rotation, trainings,
etc.
Goggles, lab gowns, gloves, etc.
5. Use personal protective equipment (PPE) This should be your last line of defense.
These are documents that
contain all necessary
Safety Data Sheets information for handling
hazardous substances.
1. Identification and preparation of the substance Here are the different
sections of a safety data
sheet.
Safety Data Sheets
2. Hazards identification
Safety Data Sheets
3. Composition / information on ingredients
Safety Data Sheets
4. First aid measures
Safety Data Sheets
5. Fire-fighting measures
Safety Data Sheets
6. Accidental release measures
Safety Data Sheets
7. Handling and storage
Safety Data Sheets
8. Exposure controls / personal protection
Safety Data Sheets
8. Exposure controls / personal protection
Safety Data Sheets
9. Physical and chemical properties
Safety Data Sheets
10. Stability and reactivity
Safety Data Sheets
11. Toxicological information
Safety Data Sheets
12. Ecological information
Safety Data Sheets
13. Disposal considerations
Safety Data Sheets
14. Transport information
Safety Data Sheets
15. Regulatory information
Safety Data Sheets
16. Other information
Safety Data Sheets
• ensure product is being used as intended by manufacturer
• tool for risk assessment
• provides options for appropriate control measures and
procedures
