Chemical Safety at the APS

CHEMICAL SAFETY AT THE APS

Hazardous and Toxic Chemicals at the APS

The APS does not prohibit experimenters from using hazardous or toxic chemicals when they work at the APS. The APS does require that appropriate controls be put into place so that, for any experiment, the risk involved is low. Completely filing out and submitting the APS Experiment Safety Approval Form and GSECARS Safety Analysis Form will flag potential transportation issues associated with bringing chemical and analytical samples to the APS.

Safety Protocols

Safety protocols for the transportation, storage, use and disposal are required when using several types of chemicals at the APS :

carcinogens (known or suspect)
mutagens (known or suspect)
teratogens (known or suspect)
high acute toxicity

Users will work with GSECARS staff to put together the required safety protocols. The CARS Safety Committee will review each protocol and submit a copy to the APS. Experimenters are required to provide a copy of the Material Safety Data Sheet for each compound they will be working with. Any manufactured reagent is required by law to have a MSDS. If a user does not have a MSDS for a given material, you can call the manufacturer and request one.

If the material is a lab-produced research sample, and no commercially prepared MSDS is available for iit, the substance falls into the category of "analytical sample". For such analytical samples, a reasonably diligent hazard evaluation must still be conducted to identify possible health and safety concerns. The results of the evaluation must be communicated to GSECARS staff so that a safety protocol can be developed.

What about small quantities of toxic or dangerous materials? The material is still "hazardous" because of its inherent toxicity or other dangerous properties. But the risk associated withthe material may be low because fo the small quantity. Some small quantities of hazardous materials are covered by exceptions written into DOT regulations. The excepted quantities are limited to :

30 ml or less for certain categories of liquids
30 g or less for certain categories of solids
1 g or less for poisonous materials

The important thing to remember is that you need to get answers before you travel with any chemical(s) or sample(s).
If you have any questions, please contact :

GSECARS Chemical Safety Supervisor Matt Newville (newville@cars.uchicago.edu) or
GSECARS Safety Supervisor Mark Rivers (rivers@cars.uchicago.edu).

TRANSPORTING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

The procedures give below apply to all materials that are considered hazardous by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Shipments of small quantities of some materials may qualify for an exemption from DOT requirements (see above).

Incoming Shipments

When possible, obtain hazardous chemicals from the APS stockroom. If you can't get what you need from the stockroom, keep the amount being shipped to the APS as small as possible. Under no circumstances may you transport a nonexempt hazardous material to the APS in your own car or other personal vehicle.

To have a hazardous material shipped to the GSECARS facilities at the APS, follow these steps:

1.Arrange to have all shipping duties handled by persons with appropriate hazardous materials training.

2.Provide the above individuals with all the information they need to prepare the shipment.

3.Inform GSECARS Staff (newville@cars.uchicago.edu or rivers@cars.uchicago.edu) of the planned shipment and arrange for any special handling the shipment may require upon arrival.

4.Advise the shipper to address the package to

Recipient's name
APS/ANL
Sector No. 13
Argonne National Laboratory
c/o Building 5, Hazardous Materials Receiving
9700 South Cass Avenue
Argonne, IL 60439

Also inform the shipper of any supplementary labeling information recommended by the Safety Coordinator to help ensure proper handling of the shipment upon arrival.

Outgoing Shipments

To ship a hazardous material from the APS to an off-site location :

1.Give the following information to GSECARS staff :
      identity of material
     amount of the material
     all associated hazards.
The GSECARS Staff member will then work with ANL to prepare an ANL shipping order and obtain appropriate packaging.

Internal Shipments

Do not use your personal vehicle to move a hazardous material from building to building within ANL. The GSECARS Floor Coordinator (Rod Salazarz) will help you arrange all on-site moves.

    RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS

If you plan on using radioactive sample(s) in your work at APS, please contact Sector 13 Safety Supervisor Mark Rivers (rivers@cars.uchicgao.edu) or Steve Sutton (sutton@cars.uchicago.edu) or CARS Safety Committee Chairman Joe Pluth (pluth@cars.uchicago.edu).