Chemicals Management: The Importance of Chemicals Management
in Moving toward Sustainability
Modern industrial practices and domestic lifestyles depend on the use of a wide
range of chemicals. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that
there are about 100,000 manufactured chemical substances in use as well as
thousands of substances of natural origin. Most of these are used in very small
amounts as only about 1,500 chemicals account for over 95 percent of total world
production.
While best practice chemical use involves a high degree of safety, there is a need
for considerably more work to be done to ensure that chemicals are used and
managed in a manner that can be considered sustainable. Although chemicals generally undergo extensive testing before they are approved for use in Australia,
some potential long-term effects of specific chemicals emerge only after these
products have been use for many years. The effects, for example, of chlorofluorocarbons on the ozone layer were not foreseen until after the chemicals were widely
used. More information is needed about many currently used chemicals before
reliable risk assessments can be made.
Safe disposal of chemicals, particularly those considered toxic, is essential to
prevent future environmental damage. Precaution needs to be exercised in judging
safety of disposal techniques because many of today's contaminated sites resulted
from disposal methods considered safe at the time. Safety has to be ensured over a
chemical's entire life cycle.
Even though countries like Australia have well-established frameworks for
managing chemicals, many developing countries lack the infrastructure to ensure
that chemicals are used and managed safely. Problems are compounded by the
export to developing countries of chemicals banned in industrialized countries.
Such export violates international treaties. Engineers working in developing
countries have to be particularly careful to ensure use of safe chemicals
management methods in the absence of regulations, classification and labelling
requirements, skilled workforces and other factors which lead to safe practices in
Australia.
In view of the limited knowledge about longterm effects of many chemicals and
the difficulties and cost involved in safe use and disposal, considerable benefit can
be obtained from the application of cleaner production techniques. Using such
techniques, less harmful substances are substituted for substances of concern.
Manufacturing processes can be redesigned to eliminate the problems caused by
use and disposal of difficult substances. In the agricultural field, integrated pest
management can reduce or eliminate dependence on toxic pesticides.
Checklist for Improved Chemical Use
Most workplaces meet the requirements for chemical use under the National
Occupational Health and Safety Act and various State Acts and Regulations (such as
Dangerous Goods). But many worksites can still improve their environmental
performance by looking at chemical use from a waste management perspective. By
following the waste management hierarchy below, you could help your company
save money and reduce the environmental effects of its operation.
Benefits of Improving Chemical Use
 reduced operating costs through reduced usage
 reduced worker exposure and risk of accidents through simplified chemical
storage and handling
 reduced toxicity of your effluent, possibly reducing waste disposal charges
 reduced load on and upsets to wastewater treatment plant, particularly if
biological
Criteria for Judging the Environmental Effects of Chemicals
If the chemical is imported, this information may already be available. If it isn't, ask
your supplier; the more that suppliers are asked to provide environmental
information, the more readily available the material will become.
BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand)
 gives an indication of how much oxygen is required to oxidise the biodegradable
portion of the product
 products with a very high BOD can lead to anaerobic conditions due to the high
demand for oxygen.
COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand)
 gives an indication of the `concentration' of the waste
BOD/COD ratio
 the closer to one, the more biodegradable the contaminants in the effluent
EC50
 indicates concentration required to create toxic effect (higher values therefore
better)
Pow (Octanol Water Partitioning Coefficient)
 indicates how much of the product will enter the water column
Concentration of key components Avoid or minimise the following:
 sulphides
 chlorinated hydrocarbons (found in solvents)
 these are persistent/ do not biodegrade
 generally, the more chlorinated the greater the environmental impact
 chlorinated aromatics are particularly problematical (especially
polychlorinated biphenyls)
 metals, in the following order: tin (tributyl, found in plasticisers), silver, mercury,
cadmium, lead, copper, beryllium, thallium, selenium, aluminium (in acidic
environments), cyanide
 pesticides (aldrin, dieldrin, chlordane etc.) and herbicides (acrolein etc.)
 phthalate esters
Minimising Waste from Chemical Use
Avoid use
 modify process to remove need for chemical eg drip trays under leaky
equipment, recycle product where possible
 improve housekeeping (eg replace pesticide use with planting of heatresistant
low-growing native plant in fire danger areas, or manual removal/ controlled
burning)
Reduce/Reuse
 dilute chemical where possible (dial-in dispensers which mix with water at drum
source)
 use less toxic chemical, as per above criteria (see examples on next page)
 check with guidelines for water reuse - is your waste stream a secondary
resource? Can it be reused for lower grade uses?
 prevent rainwater ingress into storage area, to reduce volume requiring treatment
 store in 10qOL bulky boxes, rather than 20L drums to reduce handling waste
disposal and improve control (automate?)
 improve control system by online monitoring to reduce use eg cooling water
systems; biocide control reduces blowdown frequency, saves water, reduces
disposal requirement
Treat
 reduce toxicity before discharge
Dispose
 the final choice when other options are exhausted
Examples of Chemical Substitutions'
Industry
Chemical
Use
Alternative
Printing
Organic solvents
Cleaning
Vegetable oil
Laboratories
Acetone
Glass drying
All
Methylene chlorine/
phenol (solvents)
Paint removal
Heat drying/ pneumatic
drying
Sand or garnet blasting/ alkali
All
Solvent
Oil
Paint carrier
Paint carrier
Silicate
Waterborne
Metal work
Lubricant
Vegetable oils/ soapy water
All
Petroleum products/
mineral oils
Chlorinated
Cleaning/ degreasing
hydrocarbons
Abrasion/ alkali/ soapy
water/veg oil
Manufacturing
Adhesives
Bonding
Mechanical/ physical
assembly/ hot melt
Welding
Polyurethane filler
References
1. ANZECC, 1992, `Australian Water Quality Guidelines for Fresh and
Marine Water', Canberra.
2. Numerous Worksafe Australia Publications (NOHSC 1008 (1994), 2011(1994),
3017 (1994) etc.
Prepared by Tracey Colley
Colley Consulting Pty. Ltd.
for the Chemical College Board
Institution ofEngineers, Australia
Related Issues
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risk assessment
precautionary principle
cleaner production
site remediation
waste management
water quality
Case Study
Henderson's Automotive Group, Melrose Park Plant
(as part of Commonwealth Cleaner Production Dem onstration Program )
Method: Replaced oil based lubricant with water based lubricant
Benefits:
 reduced worker dermatitis
 decreased frequency of waste disposal
 improved safety performance
 reduced costs
 better quality because of reduction in rust associated problems