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Subject: [DCHAS-L] Open Associate Chemical Hygiene Officer Position UNC
Date: Friday, June 10, 2022 at 8:41:14 AM
Author: Sara J <saanjohn87**At_Symbol_Here**GMAIL.COM> 		Next by Date:
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Disposing of kanamycin
Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2022 13:47:57 -0400
Author: Jennifer Gile

From: Jeffrey Lewin <jclewin**At_Symbol_Here**MTU.EDU>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Hazardous Chemical Purchasing Process
Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2022 08:57:56 -0400
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Message-ID: CAEwQnqhqDtD9y=f-4aF3=1zpahsgSKsCtDSn-8GKxFtCwFaS1g**At_Symbol_Here**mail.gmail.com
In-Reply-To


There may be a difference in "safe" vs. "practical." Our Chem Stores manager has asked that his store room stay above 50F (10C) since he has some chemicals that phase change at that temperature.

Even if phase changes weren't a critical issue, I'd still avoid going below 10C for areas storing aqueous solutions to provide a safety factor and account for uneven room heating issues to prevent freezing. If you only have solvents, you might get away with a lower temperature, but I'd still avoid it (a solvent spill at subzero temperatures could lead to frostbite).

I set the heaters (electrically classified) at a minimum of 60F (15C), in my standalone waste accumulation area for summer (we can dip down to 40F at night) and slightly higher in winter (to account for uneven heating).

Jeff


On Fri, Jun 10, 2022 at 7:56 AM Ralph Stuart <ralph**At_Symbol_Here**rstuartcih.org> wrote:
>Our property management group asked me recently if there is a minimum temperature that a chemical stores room must be to ensure safe storage.

Facility operators have a tendency to ask these broad questions which have many detailed answers.

I have used / currently use unheated chemical storage spaces in cold climates, but these spaces have served chemical waste needs rather than reagents. For our purposes, as long as the aqueous wastes didn't freeze and escape their containers, we didn't worry about minimum temperatures.

If I was storing reagents in these spaces, it would make sense to keep them above 0 degrees C to avoid excessive humidity condensation on and in the containers (I have seen chemicals stored in cold rooms that suffered from this problem, leading to degradation of labels and caps; those cold rooms stank). But this would be for quality control reasons more than for safe storage concerns.

Good luck!

- Ralph

Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
ralph**At_Symbol_Here**rstuartcih.org

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--
Jeff Lewin
Director of Chemical Laboratory Operations
Research Integrity Office
Laboratory Operations
205 Lakeshore Center
Michigan Technological University

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