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Chemical and Other Substances
This page offers a collection of health and safety resources for those performing research on or working with chemicals and other substances, such as hazardous materials, controlled substances, and more.
Be sure to also review the Hazardous Waste page, as disposal of most chemicals and hazardous materials is highly regulated.
Regulations and Policies
- Controlled Substances Standard
DEHS provides a brief overview of compliance issues surrounding the the use of controlled substances in research and teaching, for which there are numerous federal and state regulations and University Regents' Policies that apply:- Federal and State Regulations
- University Regents' Policies
- Laboratory Safety Standard
This DEHS overview of the Laboratory Safety Standard states the information that laboratory workers must know and have access to in order to work with chemicals. This standard is regulated by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). - Minnesota Employee Right to Know Act
DEHS offers a brief overview of the Minnesota Employee Right to Know Act (MERTKA) that is a regulation established by the Minnesota branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) - Policy For Termination of Laboratory use of Hazardous Materials
There is a University policy on properly disposing of any hazardous materials when closing down or transfering research to another laboratory. - Recommended Practices for Working with Polychlorinated Byphenyls (PCB's)
This standard protects workers that use or come in contact with PCBs, and details the limits of PCBs that a person may work with, training requirements, and more. - Requirements for Compound-Specific Standards
This resource details the compounds that have exposure monitoring and surveillance requirements, regulated by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
References and Tools
- Chemical Labeling
DEHS details how to properly label chemicals. -
Chemical Spill Emergency Procedure
This DEHS resource details the five steps to take in the event of a chemical spill. - Disposal of Expired, Excess, and Unwanted Controlled Substances
A DEHS resource that describes how to dispose of controlled substance. - List of Highly Toxic Materials for Hazardous Class Designation
DEHS has developed a short-list of toxic materials to use in determining the appropriate hazard class for chemical laboratories. - Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)
DEHS provides links to numerous databases that maintain material safety data for 100s of thousands of common chemicals and chemical products. - National Pesticide Information Center
This National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) provides objective, science-based information about a wide variety of pesticide-related subjects. - Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards
This site provides key information and data, in abbreviated or tabular form, for chemicals or substance groupings found in the work environment. - Shipping Hazardous Materials
The U.S. Dept of Transportation (DOT) has set strict standards for shipping hazardous materials.This page describes the various resources available to help ship hazardous materials correctly. - Suggested Safe/Lockbox for Controlled Substances
DEHS provides a suggested lockbox to store controlled substances that meets regulations.
Forms