Chemical Hazards & Hazard Communication This month our safety meeting topic is hazardous chemicals and hazard communication.

Chemical Exposures Chemicals Chemicals Released Into the Environment Last 50 Years – Number of New Chemicals Have Increase Exponentially Chemicals Released Into the Environment Air Water Ground Exposure to People – Focus on Workplace Exposures In the last 50 years the number of new chemicals have increased exponentially. There are hundreds of thousands of chemical compounds. In terms of impact to the environment - chemicals can be released into the air, into the water, and into the ground, which in turn can contaminate our groundwater. However, this safety training module will focus on exposure to chemicals in the workplace with brief mention about chemicals in the home.

Chemical Exposures – Routes of Entry Inhalation - Lungs Breathe 20,000 – 25,000 Times Per Day At Rest – Inhale 10,000 to 14,000 Liters of Air Per Day Absorption – Skin Ingestion – Digestive Tract Injection – Typically Through Sharps Chemicals are only a hazard when you have been exposed to the chemical. There are four major routes in which chemicals can enter you body. The most common type of exposure is through inhalation. You inhale the chemical, which would then enter your lungs, where it would be absorbed into your blood stream. The majority of our exposure to chemicals is through inhalation. We breathe approximately 20 to 25 thousand breaths in one day, which averages a total volume of 10,000 – 14,000 liters of air in a day. The second most common type of workplace chemical exposure is absorption through the skin. For certain chemicals, once it is absorbed through the skin, it goes into the blood stream. The third most common type of chemical exposure is through ingestion, where the chemical enters the body through your mouth and is absorbed through the digestive tract. To minimize the ingestion route, good hygiene practices need to be observed - wash your face and hands prior to eating and drinking. The last type of chemical exposure is through injection….where the chemical enters the body through a sharp object like a needle.

Types of Chemical Exposures Acute – Short Term Chronic – Over a Long Period of Time Chemical Exposures May or May Not Result in Adverse Impact, Depending on the Amount of the Exposure (i.e., the Dose) Chemical exposures fall into two general categories: An acute exposure occurs over a short period of time, such as a few minutes, or an hour. Chronic exposures occur over a long period of time, months or years. For an office-type environment like UCOP, our major concern would be acute-type of exposures, where a chemical/or chemicals may enter our environment, and employees may be exposed to the chemical for a short period of time. However, the impact which the chemical may have on the UCOP employee depends on the amount of the exposure, which is commonly referred to the “dose”.

"Dosis facit venenum" - The Dose Makes the Poison All substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison…." Paracelsus (1493-1541) 10 Grams Caffeine – Usually Fatal 150 mg – Stimulate Entire Spinal Cord 65 to 350 mg in 8 oz. of Coffee 55 mg in 12 oz Can of Mountain Dew® 45 mg in 12 oz Can of Coke® or Diet Coke® A sixteenth-century Swiss chemist named Paracelsus gave us the most basic rule of toxicology: "The dose makes the poison." Practically every substance on earth (including water and Vitamin C) can kill you if it's concentrated enough in your stomach or your bloodstream. For instance, let’s take a very common substance caffeine. If a person consumes 10 grams at one time, that amount would be fatal. However, caffeine is a common substance which is found in our food and beverages. This slide shows the amount of caffeine which can be found in many of our common beverages.

UCOP Potential Chemical Exposures Primarily Office Environment Chemical Exposure Issues Indoor Air Quality Issues Building Ventilation Building Remodeling Office Supplies Printers/Copying Machines New Furniture Cleaning Supplies Personal Items At UCOP, we are primarily an office-type environment. The potential for chemical exposures to UCOP employees is very remote. However, there are conditions and/or items in our workplace which have the potential to expose UCOP employees to chemicals – Indoor air quality issues (building ventilation or building remodeling issues), office supplies, use of printers and copying machines, new furniture, cleaning supplies, and use of personal items. We’ll briefly discuss each of these items.

Indoor Air Quality Issues Building Ventilation Each Morning – Ventilation Turned Up Prior to Arrival of Employees Building Remodeling - Facilities Administration Relocation & Furniture Manager (7-9293) Coordinates Projects with Department Schedule Project During Off Hours/Weekends Temporarily Relocate Employees IAQ issues many times can be tied to the building ventilation system. The Kaiser Bldg., being constructed in the 1960’s actually has 100% outside air coming through the building ventilation system. So no indoor air in the Kaiser Bldg. is re-circulated. At Franklin Street, at minimum there is 10 percent outside air circulated in the building, We are lucky to live in the Bay Area which has a very temperate climate. This allows more outside air to be drawn into the building to minimize heating and cooling costs. So there are times when over 60 percent of the air in the building is outside air. At Franklin Street, each morning, prior to employees arriving, the building ventilation is turned up to flush out the air from any type of cleaning/maintenance activities which may have been done during the off hours. Building remodeling & construction, if not properly planned and coordinated, can lead to employee exposures to dust, paint fumes, etc. The UCOP Facilities Relocation & Furniture Manager (Griselda Balanza) works with each Dept. to coordinate any such construction & remodeling. Attempts are made to schedule projects off hours & on weekends. If project scheduling cannot be done, arrangements will be made to temporarily relocate employees during the remodeling project.

Office Supplies Marking Pens, White Board Cleaners, and Liquid Paper Can Contain: Ethyl Alcohol; and/or Isopropyl Alcohol; and/or N-Butyl Acetate; Small Quantities Acute Health Effects Eye Irritation Headaches Respiratory Tract Irritation UCOP Office supplies which contain volatile chemicals are marking pens, white board cleaners, and liquid paper. These office supplies may contain solvents such as ethyl alcohol (alcohol in beverages), isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol), or butyl acetate. These products contain small quantities of the chemicals so there should not be harmful exposures from using these office supplies. In other words, the “dose” is very very low. Acute health effects from short term exposure to these solvent-like chemicals are irritation to the eyes, headaches and some minor respiratory tract irritation.

Printers and Copiers Ink Cartridges & Toner Cartridges Copiers & Printers – May Emit Ozone Ozone – Eye & Respiratory Irritation Do Not Place in Room with Poor Ventilation Do Not Point Printer Exhaust at Individuals Hewlett Packard Study on Printers Ozone Levels: <0.001 ppm to 0.016 ppm Cal/OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit: 0.2 ppm Ink and toner cartridges are “enclosed” systems. When left intact there will be no exposures to the materials in the cartridges. So do not open them. Certain models of copiers and printers may emit ozone. Ozone at high levels can result in eye and respiratory irritation. To minimize employee exposures to ozone, printers and copiers should not be placed in poorly ventilated rooms. As recommended by the manufacturer, printers should not be placed in locations where the exhaust ventilation points directly at workers. Hewlett Packard conducted a study of the ozone levels for certain models of printers. They found the ozone levels ranged from below detectable, up to 0.016 ppm. The Cal/OSHA permissible exposure limit for ozone is 0.2 ppm for an 8 hour workday. For a copy of this study, you can go to the Be Smart About Safety Webpage and look under the October 2006 Safety Meeting training topic.

New Furniture UCOP Furniture Vendor – Steelcase Products “Green Guard” Certified Low Chemical & Particulate Emissions for Furniture Meet Indoor Air Quality Standards within 5 Days of Unpacking The official furniture vendor for UCOP is Steelcase. Steelcase products are Green Guard certified, which means they are low emitting for chemical and particulate emissions. Therefore their furniture meets American Society for Testing & Materials (ASTM), U.S. EPA, and the State of Washington Testing for interior furnishings and construction materials for indoor air quality test emissions within 5 days of unpacking.

Cleaning Supplies UCOP Owned Building Require the Use of “Green Seal Certified” Cleaning Materials – Undiluted Cleaner: Non-Toxic Not a Skin Sensitizer Does Not Contain Substances Which Contribute to Poor Indoor Air Quality Cleaning Supplies Meet Green Seal Standard #37 www.greenseal.org Next are cleaning supplies. All UCOP owned buildings are required to use cleaning supplies which are Green Seal Certified as containing non-toxic materials, no skin sensitizers, and no substances which contribute to poor indoor air quality. UCOP Cleaning supplies meet the Green Seal Standard #37 for Bathroom, Glass & Carpet Cleaning Standards for Industrial and Institutional Purposes. A copy of the Green Seal Standard #37 can be found on the Green Seal webpage at www.greenseal.org, or on the UCOP Be Smart About Safety webpage under the October 2006 Safety meeting training topics.

Personal Items Fragrances, Nail Polish Remover Perfumes After Shave Lotion Nail Polish Remover Acetone Be Aware of Your Co-Workers Personal Items such as perfume, fragrances, after shave lotion give off scents. Nail polish remover contains the chemical acetone. For items like these we should all be aware of our co-workers. Many of our co-workers may be sensitive or have reactions to some of these items. We should be “open” and sensitive to making our co-worker’s work environment enjoyable.

Cal/OSHA “Right to Know” – Hazard Communication Regulation Workers Right to Know - Hazards of Chemicals Which They Are Exposed To 1977–Chemical Plant in Lathrop, Calif. Workers Exposed to a Pesticide, 1,2-Dibromo-3-Chloropropane (DBCP) Reproductive Hazard Research Literature was Published Next let’s discuss the California Worker’s “Right-To-Know” Hazard Communication regulation. This regulation was promulgated to ensure that workers have the right to know the hazards of the chemicals to which they are exposed to in the workplace. Historical background on what triggered the this regulation. There was a chemical plant in Lathrop California (near Stockton). Workers in one area of the plant worked on the DBCP production line. DBCP is a pesticide which was used in the United States to control nematodes. During lunch time and breaks employees started talking about the problems they had trying to start a family. They started to notice no employees in their particular area of the plant were successful. Employees ended up going to their doctors, and it turned out all the employees in this particular line were all sterile. It turned out several years ago literature was published by a UCSF researcher who found that DBCP was a reproductive hazard. This was published information…but workers were never informed regarding this particular hazard. Fortunately for these workers, the effects of the exposure was not long term. So once they were removed from the DBCP production line, the reproductive effects from the DBCP exposure were reversible.

Right To Know – Hazard Communication Regulation Cal/OSHA Hazard Communication Regulation Promulgated in 1981 List of Hazardous Substances Required Manufacturers to: Develop a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for Each Hazardous Substance They Manufacture Provide Employers with Access to MSDSs MSDS The DBCP case triggered legislative hearings which resulted in California passing a new statue in the California Labor Code in 1981 which is commonly known as the Hazard Communication Regulation. The new regulation required the California Department of Industrial Relations to create a list of hazardous substances. It required manufacturers to develop material safety data sheets (MSDS) for hazardous substances which they manufactured and provide a copy of the MSDS to the employer when they purchase the hazardous substances from the manufacturer.

Major Requirements in Hazard Communication Regulation MSDS Available for Hazardous Substances in the Workplace Exemption for Consumer Products If Exposures Not Greater Than the Consumer Exposure During Use Hazardous Materials Labeled Employees Trained in the Hazards Written Hazard Communication Program What are the major requirements in the Hazard Communication regulations? First, there is a requirement for the employer to have the MSDSs available for employees to review for all hazardous substances in the workplace. The exception to this requirement is for consumer products. If exposures to the employee are not greater than what a consumer would receive for using a consumer type product, then the hazard communication regulation would not be applicable for that particular type of consumer product. The second major requirement is that the container of the hazardous material is label with the name of the hazardous substance in the material. Third, employees must be trained in the hazards of the materials to which the employees may be exposed to. Lastly, the employer must have a written hazard communication program. Hazard Communication Program

UCOP Hazard Communication Program HazCom Program Use of Office Supplies – Not Significantly Greater Than Consumer Use Training MSDS for Office Supplies Available at: http://www.ucop.edu/riskmgt/ehs/msds.html Questions/Concerns – Contact UCOP Safety Officer, Larry Wong, CIH at 510-987-9772 or larry.wong@ucop.edu UCOP’s Hazard Communication Program – Chemical exposures from the use of office supplies is not significantly greater that typical consumer use. Therefore a full hazard communication program for UCOP office areas is not required. UCOP still would like to be “proactive” regarding communication of chemical hazards in the workplace. So ongoing training regarding the chemical hazards will be part of the safety training topics throughout the year. The material safety data sheets for many of the UCOP office supplies can be accessed through the UCOP Be Smart About Safety webpage link in the slide (NOTE: Safety Officers – If possible, set up the computer for internet access, and demonstrate how to access the material safety data sheet through the webpage. You should select the Sanford Office supplies link and the OfficeMax link to access the material safety data sheets) If any UCOP employees have questions or concerns about exposure to chemicals at UCOP, please contract our UCOP Safety Officer, Larry Wong at the phone number or e-mail address listed on this slide

Home Use Products National Institute for Health (NIH) Home Products Data Base Commonly Used Household Products Ingredients Health Effects Safety and Handling http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/products.htm Lastly, let’s briefly mention chemical hazards in the home. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institute for Health (NIH) has an excellent home products data base. You can fine out information regarding the ingredients, the health effects, and recommended safe handling for many commonly used household products. Just go to the webpage link listed on this slide any you can access the information about hundreds of household products.

Questions? Any questions????