Natural vs Consumer Safety
Honey is a chemical stew of sugars, acids, enzymes, proteins, vitamins, minerals and more. Of course, when people advertise chemical-free honey, they don’t really mean it. They mean a product free of industrial or synthetic chemical compounds. It’s a concept invented by a marketing genius to sell products, and embraced by consumers looking for products that are extra-safe.
Is the word “natural” equivalent to the word “safe”? Is a product free of industrial chemicals necessarily harmless? It has become an opening statement when advertising for many products to describe it as “natural” or “chemical free”. The natural world brought us honey, lavender, spring flowers, fresh fruit and vegetables. We feel good about consuming honey as a healthy choice from nature. On the other hand, some of the most dangerous toxins on Earth are natural, including plant poisons such as cyanide or nicotine, snake and insect venoms, and poisons produced by the bacteria that cause tetanus and botulism. These things are natural as well.
Modern chemistry has brought us some great innovations and we’re very happy to have them during this time of pandemic illness. It is currently very difficult to find antimicrobial chemicals such as rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol), bleach (sodium hypochlorite), peroxide (hydrogen peroxide) and quats (quaternary ammonium salts). Without these chemicals made by large scale industrial processes the fight against the novel coronavirus would be very difficult for the average person.
Why does the word “chemicals” cause fear and send people in search of “natural” solutions? Generally, people are not exposed to concepts such as exposure limits and maximum accepted dose level. It’s possible to drink enough water that it is lethal. It turns out that every chemical product is required to have a safety data sheet. A Safety Data Sheet (SDS) is a document produced in alignment with the UN’s Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) that the manufacturer, importer, or distributor of a chemical product is required to provide to downstream users. An SDS needs to have a specific 16-section format (see below), and the process of creating a properly formatted SDS is known as SDS authoring.
Identification: Product identifier, manufacturer or distributor name, address, phone number, emergency phone number, recommended use, and restrictions on use.
Hazard(s) identification: All hazards regarding the chemical and required label elements.
Composition/Information on ingredients: Information on chemical ingredients and trade secret claims.
First-aid measures: Required first aid treatment for exposure to a chemical and the symptoms (immediate or delayed) of exposure.
Fire-fighting measures: The techniques and equipment recommended for extinguishing a fire involving the chemical and hazards that may be created during combustion.
Accidental release measures: Steps to take in the event of a spill or release involving the chemical. Includes: emergency procedures, protective equipment and proper methods of containment and cleanup.
Handling and storage: Precautions for safe handling and storage, including incompatibilities.
Exposure controls/Personal protection: OSHA’s permissible exposure limits (PELs), threshold limit values (TLVs), appropriate engineering controls, and personal protective equipment (PPE).
Physical and chemical properties: The chemical’s characteristics.
Stability and reactivity: Chemical stability and possible hazardous reactions.
Toxicological information: Routes of exposure (inhalation, ingestion, or absorption contact), symptoms, acute and chronic effects, and numerical measures of toxicity.
Ecological information: How the chemical might affect the environment and the duration of the effect.
Disposal considerations—describes safe handling of wastes and methods of disposal, including the disposal of any contaminated packaging.
Transportation information—includes packing, marking, and labeling requirements for hazardous chemical shipments.
Regulatory information—indicates regulations that apply to chemical.
Other information—includes date of preparation or last revision.
How many times have we been given an SDS for any chemical product at the hardware store? What about and SDS for laundry detergent? How about an SDS for deodorant? Hand soap? The answer is NEVER! The information is not readily available. What happens in the event of a lack of information? People draw their own conclusions and make decisions to protect themselves in the absence of full information. After working in the chemical industry for about 25 years I was surprised to find how difficult it is to find easy access to this information. I had always had access to a database or library with an endless supply of chemical information. Everyone should be able to get to chemical safety data whenever they want. It seems appropriate to talk about the requirements of communicating chemical safety information and who is responsible to generate it and, most important, how to get it.
The Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) (29 CFR 1910.1200(g)), revised in 2012, requires that the chemical manufacturer, distributor, or importer provide Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) (formerly MSDSs or Material Safety Data Sheets) for each hazardous chemical to downstream users to communicate information on these hazards. So, the code of federal regulations (the CRF in 29CRF1910.1200) requires this information be provided by the manufacturer, distributor or importer. It would be really nice to be able to get this information from single source such as the occupational safety and health administration (OSHA) or the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). It turns out there is some information at these sites but not all chemicals or chemical products are found here. Ultimately, the provider of the SDS is from the manufacturer, distributor or importer.
OSHA does not require that SDSs be provided to purchasers of household consumer products when the products are used in the workplace in the same manner that a consumer would use them, i.e.; where the duration and frequency of use (and therefore exposure) is not greater than what the typical consumer would experience. So, that’s why you do not get a SDS with every purchase of gasoline, bug spray or shampoo. Although, it would be nice to have access to known information about the product or product components.
Sometimes the manufacturer will make the SDS of their more popular products available on-line.
Most people have WD40 in their garage or toolbox and likely have never seen the SDS for this chemical product. If you ever wanted to know this information here it is: https://www.wd40company.com/files/pdf/wd-40-ae38549276.pdf. Interesting to note in the toxicological section that it is not a suspected carcinogen. In the ecological section there is no aquatic information but it is not expected to be harmful to aquatic organisms and its readily biodegradable. It’s important to note that some information isn’t known or is simply not listed. There are many reasons why the information isn’t listed but a good approach with a chemical that doesn’t list information or states that it isn’t know would be to proceed with caution. By the way, if an SDS is not available the manufacturer must provide one when requested.
Future installments will discuss chemicals or products that are commonly used to reveal what is known, what isn’t know, discuss myths and facts and provide recommendations for substitutes to look for in other products. The ultimate goal is to start a dialog about chemicals and products in the marketplace so we can decide if these are things we are willing to consume. As spring continues to progress and we are allowed to venture further from our homes be very careful to not get exposed to mellitin (https://www.caymanchem.com/msdss/17494m.pdf).
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