Georgetown University Medical Center EH&S Newsletter
Susan Martin, DirectorCatalina Kovats, Radiation Safety Officer
| Transporting Hazardous Materials |
| Personal Protective Equipment |
| In the NEWS |
| Announcement |
| Farewell |
| Welcome Aboard |
| Ask EH&S |
| Carcinogens |
| The Raving |
Radiation Safety Training Schedule
For Toxicology Quiz and Answers, See June 1998 Newsletter
Reviewing incident / spill reports for the last few years has revealed the fact that a large number of spills have occurred while transporting materials in public spaces (hallways, sidewalks, elevators, and others).
The following requirements describe good practice in transporting hazardous
materials.
In cooperation with the Dean of Research, the Office of Environmental Health and Safety will begin a more proactive enforcement program aimed at increased compliance with OSHA Personal Protective Equipment and Lab Chemical Hygiene regulations and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations. When EH&S staff notice non-compliance with personal protective equipment (PPE) use standards, a warning letter will be issued to the employee with a copy to their supervisor and department. Repeated violations will result in suspension of the employee until appropriate PPE is obtained and donned.
Several of these standards/ rules are listed below. For more detailed listings consult the Laboratory Chemical Hygiene Plan, GUMC Laboratory Safety Guidelines, and Radiation Safety Policy and Procedure Manual.
Open-toed shoes are prohibited in laboratories. Lab coats must be worn when working with or near laboratory materials. Gloves must be worn when working with potentially hazardous materials.
If you have any questions regarding this policy, or personal protective equipment use, please contact EH&S at 7-4712.
"Too Close to Home: Chemical Accident Risks in the United States," U.S. PIRG and National Environmental Law Center (NELC), 23 July, 1998. Authors of this report found that more than 41 million Americans could be exposed to chemical (airborne) releases from nearby facilities. According to one U.S. PIRG Environmental Advocate, "Far too many citizens live or work in the shadow of risks posed by the storage and use of extremely dangerous chemicals". The top ten states, ranked by worst-case accident potential are Texas, Ohio, Louisiana, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina, Michigan, and Georgia. More than half of the counties analyzed had facilities with vulnerable zones greater than five miles. Fourteen of the top 20 counties for disaster potential were also among the top 20 in the frequency of accidents reported between 1993 and 1995.
Motor Vehicle Deaths Unchanged in First Three Months of 1998. National Safety Council, June 1998. Motor vehicle deaths for January through March of 1998 totaled 9,440. The three month figure from January through March of 1997 was also 9,440. Disabling motor-vehicle injuries for the first three months of 1998 are estimated to be nearly 570,000.
"EPA to Hunt Dangerous Chemicals in Everyday Products." New York Times, 31 August 98. The article offers a detailed look at EPA's plan to examine all pesticides plus 15,000 common commercial chemicals for effects on the endocrine systems of humans or wildlife. The list of target chemicals was developed by sorting approximately 87,000 common industrial chemicals by size and production volume; the final list is composed of chemicals small enough to pass through cell membranes and produced yearly in amounts of 10,000 pounds or more. The agency has contracted with OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. to conduct the initial screening of the chemicals by exposing genetically engineered human cells to each chemical. Human cells were engineered with firefly DNA to produce cells that glow yellow when exposed to a chemical that affects the cell's hormones. Any chemicals that cause the cells to glow will then be subjected to a variety of further tests.
Jon's expertise, wit and humor will be missed. Good luck. Keep the powder dry.
What constitutes a rating of a "3" or a "4"?
What if I order new chemicals?
The diamond may need to be changed. Several manufacturers place the NFPA
rating on the chemical bottle or MSDS. If the ratings on the bottle are
greater than those on the door, the door label must be changed. Contact
EH&S if you have additional questions or if the label needs to be changed.
Reminder: Forward a copy of the lab fire plan and chemical inventory to
EH&S.
Group 1: The agent is carcinogenic to humans. Also called a "known" carcinogen. Sufficient evidence is present to establish a causal relationship between exposure to the agent and human cancer.
Group 2: The agent is probably carcinogenic to humans. Also called a "probable" carcinogen. This category generally includes agents for which there is limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans and sufficient evidence in experimental animals.
Group 2B: The agent is possibly carcinogenic to humans. This category includes agents for which there is limited evidence in humans and the absence of sufficient evidence in animals. It may also be used when there is inadequate evidence in humans, but there is sufficient evidence in animals.
Group 3: The agent is not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans. Agents are placed in this category when they do not fall into any other group.
Group 4: The agent is probably not carcinogenic to humans. There is evidence suggesting lack of carcinogenicity in humans and evidence suggesting lack of carcinogenicity in animals.
Once upon a Wednesday dreary, while I labored far from cheery,
Over many a serious process and repetitive chore -
While I labored, barely flowing, a silent hazard was a'growing,
Not that I was in the knowing, work that day was such a bore.
I paid so little notice as work had become so much a bore -
Only 2 long hours more.
Ah yes, as I ruminate, it was just before my grant's big due date;
The previous night I had worked too late and spilled something upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the weekend; to go fishing down at the creek bend
Was all from my thoughts I could depend - I wanted to be in the great outdoor.
Frivolously filled with thoughts of fun, my mind was not down on the floor -
Need to work just 2 days more.
All the hidden, heinous, horrid hazards of the material stor'ed
In my la-bor-a-tory, that might fill you with terrors never felt before,
Were to me only a trifle, surely not a loaded rifle
That might change my life or send me to the doctor's door
Trivial materials that I handle everyday behind my laboratory door;
This it is and nothing more.
As if that were not sufficient, to make my day much more efficient,
And with my sick days so deficient, I brought my child to work once more.
She was too sick to go to daycare - there must be something in today's air -
So I brought her with her play chair and entered though my workplace door.
I brought her to the horrors of my workplace, just beyond the laboratory door;
I should do this nevermore.
You see I work with human tissue and blood and fluids that might issue
From persons such as me or you - safe, simple specimens and nothing more.
Certainly I've heard of Hepatitis, HIV even sinusitis;
An S.T.D. surely a blight is, but not within my lab door -
You'll not find such organisms here within my lab door.
Try a lab on a different floor.
Sometimes with needles I give injections and in my lab I eat confections -
But still that spill needs disinfection with bleach solution (10% or more).
Should there be some caution taken with my lettuce, tomato and bacon?
Should my hands be washed then shaken? Are those hazards here and more?
Could that blood harbor such a menace, could danger lurk within the gore?
Is that all within my lab door?
Ah distinctly I remember, from safety training last September,
Human blood is a member of the biohazard core.
Even saliva in procedures dental, should be handled extra gentle;
Treat all blood and body fluids as if they carry something more -
Universal Precautions is the term from OSHA lore.
But that class was such a bore.
Nineteen-ten ten-thirty's the citation in 29 Code of Federal Regulation,
Bloodborne Pathogen implementation applies to all of this and more.
OSHA's concern in the 1980's, were some viruses straight from Hades;
Two vile, vexing, vicious virii straight out from the Plutonian Shore!
These might be found in any human blood or fluids and are often unlooked for -
All too often, unlooked for.
HIV is the virus that can lead to AIDS - so un-desirous,
It starts with symptoms various, that might not be diagnosed for sure,
It can progress to immune aberration which allows microbial invasion!
"These secondary contagions cause the death," doctors do concur.
No vaccine prevents this and no medicine provides a cure -
For AIDS right now there is no cure.
HBV effects the liver, first phase of infection might cause a shiver
From fever plus jaundice, joint pain, fatigue, nausea and more!
One might not know that they carry this virus of which they should be wary;
If untreated cirrhosis, liver cancer and even death might be in store.
A vaccine can halt this hepatic horror from colonizing the body's core -
3 shots with a needle - hollow bore.
And with proper selection of equipment for personal protection,
Gloves, glasses, sharps containers, and biohazard signage on the door,
Splash gear when splash is a worry, a schedule that slows my hurry,
And clean up before spills turn furry, I know safe procedures we could explore!
The grim, ungainly, ghastly task of Practicing Safe Science might not be a
chore;
I wish I realized this before.
"You may recall that I have mentioned, I dropped my sample - un-intentioned
I know it grows un-imagined, it grows and spreads over the tile floor!
All I can think of is the warning of blood and things there borne in;
I did not clean it in the morning and now it grows upon my floor!
I dropped the beaker from out my hand, and now that stuff grows on my floor!"
I should have cleaned that up before!
"Be this now our sign of parting, nasty job!" I shrieked, upstarting -
"I will quit to run and hide by some safe ocean shore!
I'm afraid now that I've spoken of that beaker I have broken!"
With much haste and no slow-poke'n, I ran out of my lab door!
Grabbed coat, check and child and in panic scurried out of my lab door
To be seen there, Nevermore.
And that Hazard, never slowing, still is growing, still is growing
On the tiles of asbestos there upon my old lab floor;
And it is so mild seeming, that the next lab worker will not be dreaming,
Of the horrors that could be streaming from that spill upon the floor.
And it is that next lab worker that will find what is on the floor -
Or will it grow for Evermore?
Alcohol and calculus don't mix. Never drink and derive.
EH&S Newsletter
Or email a message to: ehands@odrge.odr.georgetown.edu