Chemical and Biological
Safety Training
Center for Environmental Health
and Safety
SIUC
• Training is required annually for all people
who work with chemical or biological
agents.
• There are two regulatory agencies which
required annual training: the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration, or
OSHA, and the Environmental Protection
Agency, or EPA.
OSHA
• Occupational Safety and Health
Administration, a Federal agency
• BUT in Illinois, the OSHA regulations are
administered by the Illinois Department of
Labor
• So the Illinois Department of Labor is our
OSHA agency
OSHA Standard #1
Formaldehyde
• Regulates the use of formaldehyde,
formalin, and paraformaldehyde
• Establishes Permissible Exposure Limit of
0.75 parts per million in 8 hours
• Formaldehyde products are known human
carcinogens
OSHA Standard #2
Air Contaminants
• Lists more than 400 substances
• Establishes Permissible Exposure Limits,
PELs – legal limits
• Most PELs are outdated and too high
• Better numbers are from Recommended
Exposure Limits, RELs
• PELs can be enforced by law, but RELs
are just recommendations
OSHA Standard #3
Respiratory Protection
• Requires that respiratory protection be
used if engineering controls can’t remove
all the air contaminants
• Must have a medical evaluation and
annual fit testing
• Use full-face and half-face respirators
• Disposable paper masks and surgical
masks DO NOT protect you against
chemicals!
OSHA Standard #4
Hazard Communication Standard
• Mainly for industrial use of chemicals , like
in factories
• You have the right to know about
hazardous chemicals!
• Requires improved chemical safety
labeling, with 9 hazard pictograms
• Requires improved safety data sheets
• Requires training
OSHA Standards #5
Occupational Exposure to
Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories
• Protects against hazardous chemical
exposure in laboratories
• Requires a chemical hygiene plan
• Requires safety data sheets
• Requires training for physical and health
hazards
• Requires training records
Chemical Hygiene Plan
• A safety manual for laboratories
• Distributed in the new Chemical and
Biological Safety Manual
• This 3-ring binder is in every lab on
campus
• Lists standard operating procedures
• Must be reviewed every year
Safety Data Sheets
• Sent by the manufacturer the FIRST time
you order a chemical
• Keep them in the lab or always accessible
(not locked up somewhere)
• You must have an SDS for every chemical
in your lab
• Only one source of safety information;
other sources can be used too
Chemical Exposure
• Routes of exposure: inhalation,
absorption, ingestion, injection (parenteral)
• Chronic exposure is long-term, usually
low-level
• Acute exposure is short-term, usually highlevel
• Symptoms: coughing, burning, itching,
rash, eye or throat irritation
Reduce Chemical Exposure
• Work with the smallest amount of chemical
possible
• Don’t leave chemical containers open
• Work in a fume hood. CEHS measures
and certifies the hoods at least annually.
• Wear personal protective equipment: lab
coat (buttoned up), disposable gloves, eye
protection
Glove Protocol
• Don’t use latex gloves. Choose nitrile or
vinyl.
• Never re-use a disposable glove.
• Once you put gloves on, you must assume
that all the surfaces are contaminated.
Don’t touch the light switch, faucet
handles, drawer handles.
• Take your gloves off before you leave the
lab! Do NOT wear gloves in the halls!
Physical Hazard in the Lab
• These are things that release energy
violently.
• We will discuss the most common ones
found in our labs.
• They are the most common source of
injuries in labs.
Physical Hazards
• Flammable Liquids
– Handle them in a fume hood!
– Store them in a flammables cabinet
• Extreme temperatures
– Autoclaves, Cryogens, High-Temperature
Processes
• Air- and water-reactive compounds
– Don’t handle them on the bench!
– Use a glove box!
Physical Hazards
• Corrosives
– Acids (low pH) and bases (high pH)
– Handle in a fume hood!
• Compressed gas cylinders
– Must be tied up at all times
– Must have a cap over the valve, unless a
regulator is attached
– Separate empty cylinders from full cylinders
Physical Hazards
• Oxidizers: Chemicals that promote and
support fires. Chemicals with “per” in the
name (peroxides, permanganates), nitric
acid, most nitrate salts. Store them AWAY
from flammable liquids!
• Peroxidizable compounds: Chemicals that
become shock-sensitive with time, like
ether and THF. Keep them only for a year!
Health Hazards in the Lab
•
•
•
•
•
Hazard
Carcinogens
(formaldehyde)
Reproductive toxins
(chloroform)
Allergens
(latex)
Corrosives
(acids, bases)
Specific organ toxicity
(acrylomide, neurotoxin)
Controls for all health
hazards
•
•
•
•
Minimize exposure
Use fume hoods
Wear correct PPE
Use smallest amount
possible
Institutional Oversight, Part 1
• There are certain things with which you
cannot work until you have special
training, submit a protocol form to an
institutional committee, and get approval.
• IRB: Institutional Review Board – for work
with human subjects
• IBC: Institutional Biosafety Committee –
for work with recombinant DNA and
human pathogens
Institutional Oversight, Part 2
• Institutional Animal Care and Use
Committee, IACUC: all vertebrate animals
• Radiation Safety Committee:
radioisotopes, sealed sources
Training Records
• Each person must have a paper training
record completely filled out and signed,
kept in the lab where he/she works
• Put them in the correct section of the new
Chemical and Biological Safety Manual
Emergency Contingency Plan
•
•
•
•
Required by both OSHA and EPA
Fill out, sign, date every year
Hang inside lab near door
Color-coded each year
Commonly-Cited OSHA
Noncompliances
• Cluttered, dirty workspaces
Commonly-Cited OSHA
Noncompliances
• Unlabeled or improperly labeled
containers
Commonly-Cited OSHA
Noncompliances
• Blocked emergency exits and blocked
safety equipment
Chemical Spills
• You clean it up
– If it’s a small spill
– If you have the correct personal protective
equipment
– Clean it up, put it in a plastic bag, label it as
chemical waste
• CEHS cleans it up
– If you are afraid of reactions or offgassing
– If you don’t have the correct PPE
– If it’s larger than 5 gallons
Biological Safety
• There aren’t many laws about biological
safety
• Funding agency, National Institutes of
Health (NIH) has regulations
• If anyone on campus receives NIH
funding, everyone must abide by the NIH
regulations
• Biosafety in Microbiological and
Biomedical Laboratories – BMBL
Hazardous Waste
• Regulatory agency is the Environmental
Protection Agency, or EPA
• There is a Federal agency, and state
agencies
• We have Illinois EPA as our agency
• The law is called “Resource Conservation
Recovery Act, ” or RCRA
What NOT to
Put Down the Drain or In the Trash!
• Flammable liquids
– Alcohols, acetone, ethyl acetate, etc.
• Corrosive liquids
– acids with a pH less than 2 or bases with a pH
over 9.5
• Air- or Water-reactive compounds
• Toxic compounds
– Metals, solvents, herbicides, pesticides, toxic
organic compounds
CEHS Disposes
Hazardous Waste
• We will bring you clean, dry, unlabeled bottles with
screw tops, any size from 100 g to 55 gallons
• You collect waste and store it in your “Satellite
Waste Accumulation Area”
• Request a waste pickup online
• CEHS will come get it, bring it to our “Central
Waste Accumulation Area” and send it offsite to a
contractor
• THERE IS NO CHARGE FOR ANY OF THIS!
• If in doubt – don’t put it down the drain, send it to
CEHS
Chemical Waste:
Containers
• Use bottles with
screw lids.
– No stoppers
– No parafilm
– No duct tape!
Chemical Waste:
Labeling
• Completely remove all other labels
• Use a yellow “Hazardous Waste” label
• Do NOT put it on top of another label!
Waste Segregation
• Do NOT pour all chemical waste into one
container!
• Separate out waste streams as much as
possible.
• It’s more easily recycled, less expensive,
less likely to react
• CEHS will give you as many bottles for
waste as you want, for free
Satellite Waste Accumulation Area
• Choose a place for waste in your lab and
hang the poster up
• Get everything else out from the area – no
good reagents, no apparatus, no junk
• Place the bottles with the yellow labels in it
• One bottle for each kind of waste
• When you fill up a bottle, file an electronic
pickup request form and CEHS will get it
Satellite Waste Accumulation Area
• Area must be inspected every 31 days!
• Fill the form out, sign and date it, put it in
the 3-ring binder
Common Chemical Waste
Noncompliances
• No yellow label on waste container
• Multiple labels on a single container
Common Chemical Waste
Noncompliances
• Any chemical container in the lab that is
damaged, leaking, bulging, rusty, or
unlabeled is DEEMED BY EPA to be
hazardous waste.
• Get rid of them!
Biological Waste
• There are two kinds of biological waste.
• This kind is heavily regulated. Keep it separate.
Potentially infectious medical waste:
–
–
–
–
–
Sharps containers
Recombinant DNA
Chemotherapeutic agents
Pathogenic microorganisms
Waste soaked in human blood
• This kind is less heavily regulated. Keep it separate.
Non-potentially infectious medical waste:
– Animal carcasses
– Petri plates
– Exam room waste
Biological Waste Disposal
• Put biological waste in a red bag, then in a
red plastic bin or a specially marked
cardboard box
• Fill out an online pickup request form
• CEHS collects biological waste on
Wednesdays and takes it to the incinerator
at Physical Plant
Waste Minimization
• Separate different kinds of waste (acids,
bases, solvents, toxic salts, etc.)
• Substitution of less hazardous materials
• Work on semi-micro or micro scale
• Purchase the smallest amount useable
• Avoid: As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Pb, Hg, Se, Ag, CN
• Don’t purchase compressed cylinders; order
refillable ones from Airgas
• Use digital photography if possible
No Mercury!
• Mercury thermometers and mercurycontaining equipment are no longer
allowed at SIU
• Mercury is very environmentally persistent
• Mercury vapor is a potent neurotoxin
• If you spill mercury, DO NOT try to clean it
up! Get everyone out of the lab and call
CEHS.
Questions?
Contact:
Center for Environmental Health and Safety
www.cehs.siu.edu
453-5187