Transitioning to Safer Chemicals in Academic Research Laboratories: Lessons Learned at the University of Washington

Details

• Personal Author:
  Krenz J ; Simcox N ; Simpson CD ; Stoddard Tepe J
• Description:
  Chemicals are an integral component of laboratory activities in academia but minimizing hazards and environmental impacts of chemicals is challenging. This paper describes how laboratories in University of Washington's Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (UW DEOHS) partnered with the UW Green Laboratory Program to explore approaches for assisting laboratories to adopt green chemistry principles and select safer chemicals. Chemical inventories, purchasing records, and hazardous waste data were used to quantitate chemical use in DEOHS. Characterizing chemical use based on the data sources provided the project team with a summary of the high volume chemicals used by departmental laboratories. As a way to target chemicals that are highly hazardous but not used in large masses/volumes, laboratory managers were asked about highly hazardous or toxic chemicals they used. Two chemicals were selected for alternatives assessments and developed into case studies that represent different barriers that laboratories face in their efforts to transition to greener and safer chemicals. This project provided a unique opportunity to survey chemicals used by a set of laboratories with diverse research topics and to assess the practicality of transitioning to safer and greener chemicals in laboratory research using case studies. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Hazardous Substances Laboratories Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Assessment Author Keywords: Hazard Chemical Hazards Chemicals Chemical Safety Environmental Impacts Green Certification Programs Laboratory Work Nucleic Stains Safety Research Toxic Materials

  More +
• ISSN:
  2168-0485
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  4
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20063722
• Citation:
  ACS Sustain Chem Eng 2016 Jul; 4(7):4021-4028
• Contact Point Address:
  Nancy Simcox, MS, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, 4225 Roosevelt Way, NE, Suite 100, Box 354695, Seattle, Washington 98105, United States
• Email:
  nsimcox@uw.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0247d3b640d0a6149214f5fa645cffa1792cbac52f7193c826488454d763f0a17b3ea2e1ae7d3e6be68515e6c573bf282732756cc22cd5d25302b98f8f91c46b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222283/cdc_222283_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 464.10 KB ]