WEBINAR 1 SCHOOL CHEMICAL SAFETY
- May 14, 2024
- 4 min read
Webinar 1 school chemical safety
Legacy Chemicals: History, Identification and dangers
Introduction and welcome
Your trainer: Becky Andersen, Hazardous Materials Consulting from Iowa.
Funding provided by a grant from EPA Region 1 to the Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission and coordinated by Vickie Davis of the Commission- THANK YOU!
Goals for these webinars:
Provide pertinent, effective guidance and education to best reduce risk of unsafe chemical management in schools.
Identify resources that may be useful.
Answer questions.
Today’s topic: How do you determine if you have Legacy Chemicals and what to watch out for.
1. History of Legacy Chemicals and Rehab the Lab efforts.
2. Focus today is on RECOGNIZING Legacy Chemicals.
3. Discussion on the Highly Hazardous Legacy Chemicals to be aware of.
Identification of Legacy Chemicals and Staying Safe
1. History of Legacy Chemicals:
a) We are going to start our lab chemical safety with an acronym: RAMP (Recognize, Assess, Minimize, Prepare)
b) The Sputnik story emerged as a source.
c) Age of containers: These are very old (50+ years). Label styles have not been used by the manufacturer in decades.
d) Across the country, teachers were asking for help. Dave Waddell in King County, WA became a leader (and my mentor) in addressing the problems.
e) What we found included highly hazardous unstable chemicals, damaged and leaking containers and high levels of risk for teachers and students. Today we will discuss the most dangerous (Legacy High Hazards) for you to be on the lookout for.
2. Before we work to RECOGNIZE high hazards, we must start with safety.
a) Do not start moving containers. Observe labels, container integrity without touching. Observe if chemicals are stored by class or in alphabetical order. This will give you clues about where the dangerous chemicals are stored.
b) Clear an area in your stock room for containers that you USE and are not a risk. Move ONLY those containers. Leave dangerous Legacy Chemicals in place. Make a list of the dangerous chemicals you can find so you can begin working on prioritized disposal.
c) Do NOT move any containers that are unidentified (unless you know what they are such as stock solutions).
d) Be sure to use appropriate Personal Protective Equipment when working to identify dangerous Legacy Chemicals: safety glasses or goggles, chemical resistant apron, disposable nitrile gloves, closed toe shoes.
e) Increase ventilation by opening windows and adding a fan to move vapors away from you.
f) If you find yourself overwhelmed, there are hazardous waste disposal resources to help identify chemicals for disposal. We will address this in a later Webinar.
g) If you find High Hazard Legacy Chemicals, is it an EMERGENCY? Not unless you mess with them. They have been present for decades. Keep them locked up and work with your administrators on a plan for disposal.
3. RECOGNITION OF HIGH HAZARD LEGACY CHEMICALS. NOTE: This is NOT an all- inclusive list. Please research further before you go poking around!
a) Shock Sensitive Chemicals that are unstable due to age or peroxidation. Examples include Ether, Tetrahydrofuran, Cyclohexene, Styrene, Acetaldehyde- Universities have lists!
b) Shock Sensitive Chemicals that are unstable due to lack of moisture. Examples include Picric Acid, Collodion, Nitrocellulose, Organic Peroxides.
c) Water Reactive Metals that are unstable due to peroxidation or degradation. Examples include Sodium, Lithium, Potassium.
d) Air Reactive Chemicals. Examples include White and Yellow Phosphorus.
e) Acute Toxins that present significant exposure risk. Examples include Arsenic Trichloride, Sodium Cyanide, Potassium Cyanide, Calcium Cyanide, Anthracene. Large number of Organic Solvents that are carcinogenic, toxic or both: Methylene Chloride, Benzene, Carbon Tetrachloride.
f) Bioaccumulative Toxins that present long term risk from exposure. Examples include compounds containing metals (Arsenic, Antimony, Chromium, Cadmium, Mercury, Selenium)
g) Containers with integrity risk: Acids and bases with “frosted” glass, crystallization on the exterior of containers (not always shock sensitive, but require research), brittle plastic containers, degraded paper containers.
h) Controlled substances regulated by DEA. Examples include Chloral hydrate, Barbituates, Testosterone, Red Phosphorus.
i) Radioactive chemicals as identified by EPA, NRC, DOT or the state Department of Public Health. Examples include Cesium, Cerium, Iridium and Uranium compounds (liquids and powders), and radiological button sources.
4. Five things you can do TODAY to improve safety.
a) Develop an inventory of WHAT YOU USE for class (make a list).
b) Alert your Administration and your Science Colleagues that you have found High Hazard Legacy Chemicals and will need help disposing of them.
c) Remind administrators and colleagues that this is NOT an emergency- as long as no one moves or touches. They have been sitting growing old for decades with no emergency.
d) Lock up and secure the area from students. Do not alert students to the situation.
e) Attend the next Webinar and, if needed, reach out to one of the resources listed on the last page of this presentation.
We look forward to continuing work with you.
The next webinar is: March 14, 2024 and the topic is “DECIDING WHAT CHEMICALS TO KEEP IN THE SCIENCE STOCKROOM.”
