The Material Safety Data Sheet

The material safety data sheet (MSDS) is designed to inform the reader of specific details about the product.  By law, a manufacturer is required to provide an MSDS to each company when the product is purchased for the first time or when a change has been made to the MSDS.

If you are unfamiliar with an MSDS, trying to find what you need can be a daunting task.  There is no required format and that only adds to the frustration.  You need to read the MSDS for a specific chemical or product before you use the chemical or product.   Don’t wait for an emergency situation and then try to find what you need.  Become familiar with it before you need it.

The first section of an MSDS is usually the Chemical Product and Company Identification. You can find synonyms in this section, address of the manufacturer and an emergency telephone number.The other sections can be numbered differently but most MSDSs will start with this information.

There will be a Composition/Ingredient section.  Here you should find which hazardous chemicals are present in your chemical product and in what percentages. There could be only one component that is hazardous and it is only present at 1%.

You will see a Hazards Identification section. This section will list the hazards associated with the product. You may find HMIS Classification, NFPA Rating and Potential Health Effects.

There will be a First Aid section which will tell you what to do to help someone who has been exposed to the product by any route: inhaled, ingested, skin, eye contact or injected – whichever routes are deemed possible based on the manufacturer’s knowledge of the product.

A Fire Fighting section will be written to aid fire fighters in a fire emergency.

A section on what to do during an Accidental Release will be included.  Here you should find precautions for personal protection, protection of the environment and spill and leak procedures for clean-up.

A Handling and Storage section will tell you where to safely store the material and give you safe handling guidelines.

The Exposure Controls and Personal Protection section will tell you about regulations that are in place for the product, including OSHA’s permissible exposure limits (PEL) and ACGIH threshold limit values (TLV).  Also, in this section, you should find information on what is needed for respiratory, eye, hand and skin protection.

A section on the Physical and Chemical Properties of the product is provided showing information like the molecular weight, boiling and freezing points, vapor pressure, etc.

A Stability and Reactivity section may be included detailing the stability of the chemical and with which other chemicals it is reactive.

Toxicological Information should be included which will show how toxic the product is based on research available for it.  The carcinogenic properties of the chemical will be found in this section.

Ecological Information will advise you on how the product affects the environment.

Disposal  Information will show you if the chemical is on a hazardous waste list.  It will also tell you to dispose of the chemical in compliance with federal, state and local regulations.

A section on Transportation Information tells you how to safety transport the chemical by land, air and sea.

Regulatory Information will list US Federal and State regulations as they relate to the product.  This section will also list risk phrases and safety phrases.

The last section in most MSDSs is labeled Other Information.  Here a manufacturer may add a disclaimer and/or definitions as well as any information that is not covered elsewhere on the MSDS.

So, as you can see, there is a lot of information in the MSDS.  It is relevant to all chemical users.  Take time to read the MSDS for the chemicals and products you need to use during your work at KSU before you start the work. 

For more information, contact KSU’s Chemical Safety Manager, Vanessa Biggers, at vbigger1@kennewsaw.edu or 678-797-2415.

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