Ideal Resource for Ready Use

HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS DESK REFERENCE N. Irving Sax and Richard J. Lewis Sr. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1987.1,096 pp. $69.95. Hazardous materials reference works generally fall into two categories—limited or intricately detailed, say the authors of the new Hazardous Chemicals Desk Reference. They claim to have alleviated the problem by producing a moderately sized resource that is ideal for ready use by those working with or evaluating the hazards of chemicals. After close examination, it appears that they have done just that. The book is divided into two main sections. The first consists of five highly concise chapters written by authorities on safe storage and handling of chemicals, respirators, protective clothing, fire protection and first aid in the work- place. Each chapter ends with a list of resources that contains more detailed information. The authors note that these chapters are intended to provide guidelines for persons responsible for maintaining safety programs. The terseness of the section (all five chapters take up only 100 pages) precludes its use as a working or “how-to” manual; however, it does serve to focus attention on pertinent aspects of each topic for proper implementation or teaching strategies. This section will be useful only to those with prior training in the areas under discussion. It should have included as an introductory chapter a review of toxicity—what makes a chemical a hazard, how toxic effects are ranked, etc.—similar to that found in Hazards in the Chemical Laboratory (L. Brethereck, Royal Society of Chemistry), even though it is clearly not a book for beginners. The second section of the book, more than 700 pages long, contains entries on some 5,000 materials. Each entry includes molecular formula, molecular weight, synonyms and hazard rating on a scale of one to three. A rating of three indicates an LD-50 (median lethal dose) below 400 mg/kg; two, an LD-50 of 400-4,000mg/kg and one,’ an LD-50 of 4,000-40,000 mg/kg. This system effectively pinpoints the most toxic materials. When available, the following data also are included: the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration Permissible Exposure Limits, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygenists’ Threshold Limit Values, the German Research Society’s values, the U.S. Department of Transportation classification numbers, and a brief toxicological summary. The generalized descriptions of thermal decomposition in the summaries—such as “emits toxic fumes of Cl- or of NOx, POx, SOx, “emits acrid and irritating fumes,” etc.—are extremely valuable, particularly in the case of an explosion or fire. Few reference books contain this information in such a concise, readily available form. With few exceptions, the entries also include the accession numbers of the Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances, produced by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). NIOSH must have been a primary source of information; some items are missing their Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) numbers inadvertently. (A search of the CAS registry indicated that plutonium and nitric oxide, for example, do have CAS numbers.) Some unexpected materials are included, such as human sperm, wine and whiskey, with little information except the NIOSH number. The two appendices, alphabetical synonym cross-reference and CAS number cross-reference, are very helpful. For some chemicals, the synonyms are overly extensive (including some foreign ones); for others there are none. Users must know active ingredients in formulations since trade names are not used. The CAS registry numbers are familiar to most safety personnel and provide unequivocal identification of materials. If the newest editionof Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials (N.I. Sax, Van Nostrand Reinhold) is available to you in a central location, this book is useful as a personal desk reference. Hazards in the Chemical Laboratory and the Compendium of Safety Data Sheets for Research and Industrial Chemicals (edited by L. Keith and D. Walters, VCH Publishers), which recommends actions for human exposure and spills, also should be on the same shelf. Marco is a retired senior group leader and manager in Ciba-Geigy Corp.’s Biochemistry Department, Greensboro, NC 27409.

Ideal Resource for Ready Use

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