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Jack - you wanted a new topic so this one is for you. Over the past 18 months i have become much more aware of chemical safety than I ever have in the past. Many environmental and health issues are being raised by governments all over the world.
MSD sheets seem to be my latest "bug" so i would like to inform everyone here how they really work. My starting point is one of the things you need to be aware of is the differences between Canadian and US laws.
In Canada, by law we must list any "hazardous ingredient" that is present in any product (as long as it is over 1% of the weight or volume.) Our Company has been inspected many times by the MSDS police and we have passed every time. You need to know that there is no point in trying to hide or screw anything up. The days of litigation are upon us and this is one issue that we as a company can easily avoid.
There are many other Compnaies in Canada who do not share this view and so they do not tell you everything they should. Whether this is right or not is another subject. You, as the user, however, do have the right to know.
In the US, any manufacturer does not have to tell you anything. They can either claim "New Jersey Trade Secret" or not list anything. THE LAW DOES STATE however, that they must tell you any and all safety information related to the ingredients. As an example, ethanol is a suspecyted carcinogen. If I include it in my product i should be telling you this somewhere the safety information. This is not being done.
I see so many MSD sheets that are bogus - it doesn't bother me but it sure as heck should bother you!. After all you are the one using it! If you see any MSD sheet that contains a whole bunch of "nothing" I for one would be questioning it. Last week, I saw one for a solvent based protector. They said nothing about its' safety or wear a mask or anything. All it will take is 1 lawsuit and that guy will be toast.
I would urge everyone to carefully read your MSD sheets and if you don't understand something talk to the supplier or manufacturer. i would highly recommend taking a safety course.
Lets put the safety issue in perspective. Most of us understand that smoking for 40 years is not healthy. Most of us understand that getting drunk every night for 10 years leads to SERIOUS problems as well. The issue with chemicals is CONTINUAL LOW LEVEL EXPOSURE.
To put this perspective - any asbestos worker could easily explain low level exposure to you. Then again, they are all dead so I guess they can't.
I have lots more to say butt his is a good starting point
Jim
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Jim Darling
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