That's the real question. How do students get out of ANY degree program without being able to read the SDS on the materials they use? Giving degrees to people who can't read them is fraud, in my opinion. And I believe that this cannot be left up to individual professors in each course. There needs to be a required course on safety and environmental issues in all departments that teach with potentially toxic materials, not just the sciences.
From: Mary Beth Mulcahy <mulcahy.marybeth**At_Symbol_Here**GMAIL.COM>
To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Sent: Wed, Apr 11, 2018 8:58 am
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] "Read the SDS"
This morning I looked up the SDS for NaCl and H2SO4. Looking at the two of them side-by-side, I think even a novice could clearly differentiate that sulfuric acid is more hazardous than table salt based on the SDSs. If though the novice did not have the SDSs to compare and you took the name off of the SDS, I wonder how a novice would interpret the hazards of table salt. For example, the SDS for NaCl that I am looking for exposure guidelines states "This product does not contain any hazardous materials with occupational exposure limits established by the region specific regulatory bodies," and then under Other International Regulations states "Mexico Grade-Severe risk, Grade 4." How does a novice interpret that? Do you teach your students the limitations of regulatory-based exposure limits? Do you teach them about Mexico Grades? Do you focus on the NFPA diamond?
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