Chemical Safety
Guides
Resin 3D Printer Ventilation: Fume Extraction & Enclosure Buying Guide
What to evaluate before buying fume extraction, carbon filtration, or a ventilated enclosure for resin (SLA/DLP/MSLA) 3D printers, and how VOC exposure controls fit into lab EHS compliance.
Compressed Gas Cylinder Safety: Hazards, Handling, and What Causes Cylinders to Explode
The mechanical and chemical hazards of compressed gas cylinders, the real causes of cylinder explosions and failures, and the handling, PPE, and emergency-response practices that prevent them in a research lab.
ASHRAE 110 Fume Hood Testing: The Tracer-Gas Containment Method Explained
What ASHRAE 110 fume hood testing actually measures: the three-part test method (face velocity, smoke visualization, tracer gas containment), the AM/AI/AU test conditions, and how it fits alongside routine annual certification.
TSCA R&D Exemption: What It Covers and What It Doesn’t
The TSCA Section 5(h)(3) R&D exemption lets labs manufacture or import small quantities of new chemicals for research without filing a Premanufacture Notice with EPA. It covers PMN filing only — not border import certification, hazard communication, or other TSCA compliance obligations.
Compressed Gas Cylinder Disposal: A Lab Guide
How to dispose of compressed gas cylinders and lecture bottles safely: the return-to-supplier default, when a licensed hazmat contractor is needed instead, and the specific problem of orphaned lecture bottles.
Compressed Gas Cylinder Storage Requirements: OSHA, CGA and Cal/OSHA Rules
How OSHA 1910.101, CGA Pamphlet P-1, NFPA 55 and California Title 8 CCR 4649 govern compressed gas cylinder storage: securing, segregating oxidizers from fuel gases, labeling, and inspection.
Lab Pack Services: What They Are, When to Use Them, and How Pricing Works
Lab pack services are the standard disposal method for small-quantity, mixed, or unidentified chemical waste — an on-site chemist identifies, segregates, and packs containers into compliant outer drums for transport. This guide covers what the service includes, when it beats bulk disposal, how pricing is structured, and what to confirm before signing a vendor contract.
Formaldehyde Disposal: RCRA Rules, OSHA Limits, and Neutralization
How labs should classify, handle, and dispose of formalin and formaldehyde waste: RCRA U122 vs. spent-solution status, OSHA 1910.1048 exposure limits, sewer-disposal restrictions, neutralization, and manifested hazardous waste pickup.
Waste Minimization Plan: How to Build One for a Lab
How to build a lab waste minimization plan: EPA’s source-reduction hierarchy, RCRA’s LQG waste minimization certification, chemical waste disposal methods, segregation, and procurement’s role in reducing waste before it’s generated.
Hazardous Waste Labeling Requirements: What RCRA Demands on Every Container
What RCRA requires on a hazardous waste container label, when the accumulation start date is required, and how satellite accumulation labeling differs from central accumulation area labeling.
RCRA Hazardous Waste Training Requirements
RCRA hazardous waste generator training obligations differ by generator status: LQGs must complete formal training within six months with annual review (40 CFR 262.17), SQGs must ensure staff are “thoroughly familiar” with procedures (40 CFR 262.16), and VSQGs have no specific federal training citation but should confirm state rules.
OSHA SDS Requirements: What Employers Must Actually Do
What OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200) requires for safety data sheets: written programs, accessibility, training, retention, and getting an SDS before you order a chemical — not just how to read one.
Secondary Containment Requirements: What OSHA, EPA, and Fire Code Actually Require
OSHA has no single secondary-containment regulation. This guide breaks down which rule actually applies — OSHA 1910.106 tank diking, EPA RCRA hazardous waste containment, SPCC oil rules, and NFPA 30 fire code — with the real sizing formulas for each.
SDS Management Software: What It Does and How to Choose One
What SDS management software is, how it differs from chemical inventory systems, the GHS labeling and compliance features to evaluate, and whether free options are workable.
TSCA Form: How to Complete the Chemical Import Certification
What the TSCA form (import certification statement) is, the difference between positive and negative certification, who files it with CBP, and what research labs importing chemicals from overseas need to know before shipments arrive.
Laboratory Safety Rules: A Practical Guide for Research Labs
A hub guide to general lab safety rules — training, the hierarchy of controls and PPE, chemical and biological safety, physical hazards, emergency response, and the OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1450 Chemical Hygiene Plan requirement — with links to CASRAI’s detailed guides on each specific hazard.
Chemical Hygiene Plan Training: What OSHA Requires Labs to Provide Employees
What OSHA’s Laboratory Standard actually requires: when Chemical Hygiene Plan training must happen, what topics it must cover, and how labs document it.
Chemical Storage Compatibility: Segregation Rules for Acids, Bases, Oxidizers, and Flammables
The standard chemical segregation groups, the incompatible pairs that cause real lab incidents (acids/bases, oxidizers/flammables, cyanide salts/acids), and how to build a working segregation plan using cabinets, secondary containment, and SDS Section 7/10 data.
Secondary Container Labeling: OSHA HazCom Rules for Lab Chemicals
How OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard governs labels on secondary/workplace containers — squeeze bottles, aliquots, waste containers — and when the narrow immediate-use exemption applies.
Peroxide-Forming Chemicals: Identification, Testing, and Safe Disposal Timelines
How to identify peroxide-forming chemicals like diethyl ether and THF, the Class A/B/C testing system, and safe testing, labeling, and disposal timelines for the lab.
Chemical-Resistant Glove Selection Guide: Matching Glove Material to Hazard
How to read a glove chemical-resistance chart and match glove material to chemical hazard: degradation vs. penetration vs. permeation, ASTM F739 breakthrough time, ANSI/ISEA 105 classes, and a material-by-chemical-class comparison table.
Common Lab Chemical Hazard Classes Explained: A Researcher’s Primer
A primer mapping out OSHA/GHS chemical hazard classes — physical, health, and environmental — and how each one shapes lab storage, PPE, inventory, and waste decisions, with links to CASRAI’s deeper guides on specific hazard classes.
The Chemical Hygiene Officer Role: Responsibilities and Authority in Lab Safety
OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1450 requires labs to designate a Chemical Hygiene Officer, but leaves most of the role’s duties and authority to non-mandatory guidance and institutional policy. Here’s what the CHO actually does, who typically holds the role, and how it differs from related safety positions.
Chemical Fume Hood Certification and Inspection: How Often and What Gets Checked
How often chemical fume hoods must be certified, what ANSI/AIHA Z9.5 face-velocity testing actually checks, and how to read and act on certification results.
Reactive Chemicals: Water-Reactive and Pyrophoric Compound Handling
What makes a chemical pyrophoric or water-reactive under OSHA/GHS, common lab examples (alkali metals, alkyllithiums, metal hydrides), storage and inert-atmosphere handling, why water/CO2 extinguishers are wrong for reactive-metal fires, and safe disposal.
Flammable Liquid Storage Cabinet Requirements: OSHA and NFPA Rules Explained
How OSHA 29 CFR 1910.106 and NFPA 30 govern flammable liquid storage cabinets in research labs: capacity limits, construction specs, labeling, venting, and how many cabinets a room can hold.
How to Read a Safety Data Sheet (SDS): The 16-Section GHS Guide
A practical, section-by-section guide to reading a Safety Data Sheet (SDS): what each of the 16 GHS-aligned sections covers, how it differs from a GHS label, and how to actually use it in the lab.
Particularly Hazardous Substances in the Lab: Select Carcinogens, Reproductive Toxins, and High Acute Toxicity Chemicals
What makes a lab chemical a “particularly hazardous substance” under OSHA’s Laboratory Standard (29 CFR 1910.1450): select carcinogens, reproductive toxins, and substances with a high degree of acute toxicity, plus what a PHS designation requires in your Chemical Hygiene Plan.
Satellite Accumulation Areas: Rules for Chemical Waste at the Point of Generation
Satellite accumulation areas let labs collect hazardous waste right where it is generated, within strict quantity limits and a three-day rule once those limits are exceeded. Here is how 40 CFR 262.15 works in practice.
Lab Chemical Inventory Management: Systems and Best Practices
What a complete chemical inventory record needs, the system options for maintaining one (spreadsheet, barcode, dedicated software), and the audit and upkeep practices that keep it accurate for OSHA HazCom and EPCRA Tier II compliance.
Corrosive Chemicals in the Lab: Hazards, Handling, and First Aid
What makes a chemical corrosive under OSHA/GHS, the corrosive acids and bases most labs stock, why hydrofluoric acid needs separate handling, safe storage/segregation, and first aid for skin, eye, inhalation, and ingestion exposure.
PPE Selection for Chemical Handling in the Lab: Gloves, Eyewear, and Lab Coats
How to choose the right eye protection, gloves, and lab coats for chemical handling tasks, based on OSHA PPE standards and real glove-permeation and flame-resistance considerations.
How to Write and Maintain a Chemical Hygiene Plan (OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1450)
A step-by-step guide to drafting and maintaining an OSHA-compliant Chemical Hygiene Plan under 29 CFR 1910.1450, from designating a Chemical Hygiene Officer through the required annual review.
Understanding GHS Labels: Pictograms, Signal Words, and Hazard Statements
A complete guide to reading GHS chemical labels: the nine pictograms, signal words (Danger/Warning), hazard statement (H-code) and precautionary statement (P-code) systems, and how labels relate to Safety Data Sheets.
