by Dr. Ron Najafi, CEO and Founder of Emery Pharma, Founder of CP Lab Safety; and Dr. Mark L. Nelson, Vice President of Business and Science Development, CP Lab Chemicals
Toxic vapors and fumes can leak out of labs unnoticed into the atmosphere and cause health issues, safety hazards, and environmental harm. Many of these chemical vapors lack a detectable odor and are invisible to the naked eye, yet they can escape into the lab and become unnoticeably inhaled. Even some solvents that do have an odor are ignored, as lab workers acclimate to them when they are exposed daily; they tend to stop noticing the smell and become unaware of how much they are releasing into the atmosphere, contributing to the pollution of the planet. Chemical vapors can be lighter or heavier than air, causing them to rise or to sink down and sit near the floor. What’s more, flammable vapors loose in the lab can ignite if there is enough oxygen and an ignition source nearby.
Indirect solvent and chemical vapors can cause serious health issues including permanent nervous system damage, lung and respiratory illness, eye damage and even birth defects in pregnant women. Management of solvents and chemicals cannot go unchecked and must never be underestimated, as there are strict US governmental regulations set by OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, regarding the use of chemicals in laboratories with an extensive list of procedures, health standards, and definitions as part of the Federal Code Standard Number 1910.1450. Many of these Federal Codes have evolved over time, and amendments and changes are implemented to protect laboratory workers and those in the chemical industries. Now, people’s lives depend on it.
Laboratory health hazards are easily preventable with implementing the proper procedures, techniques, tools and measures, where a cradle-to-grave handling of all chemicals is tantamount to maintaining a safe laboratory environment. And with preventative techniques, managing laboratory exposures to chemicals will in the long run save people’s health with lower impact on the environment.
Keeping Waste Containers Closed
The simplest and most effective way to protect yourself and others from vapors is by keeping waste containers closed until they are needed. In the laboratory, reagents, chemicals and solvents should be properly stored and, when needed, placed in ventilated cabinets or stored in high-efficiency fume hoods inspected yearly. Waste bottles, even in fume hoods, must be capped, as per OSHA regulations. In addition, fume hoods should remain closed when not in use, as OSHA's laboratory standard (29 CFR 1910.1450) requires that fume hoods be maintained and function properly when used, so it is important to document the flow of fume hoods at installation, and to follow their efficiency every three months.
Aluminum foil has become a popular yet ineffective way of many labs to close containers. However, it is a delicate material which can be easily torn, and porous, which can allow for invisible vapors to evaporate through it. It is more advisable to use a chemical waste container with a secure lid that cannot be torn or easily broken off the container and is far more effective at keeping vapors tightly contained.
Vapors can also exhaust through the fume hood to the outside, contributing to air pollution and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This is why OSHA requires using a closed container device even inside a high-efficiency fume hood, according to 1926.152(f)(1), stating “liquids shall be kept in closed containers when not actually in use.”
When solvents are evacuated from the fume hood to the roof of the laboratory, they are going into the atmosphere and being brought right back into the building’s HVAC system, once again entering the building and causing harm to the health of the employees who breathe in that air.
Improper Storage of Lab Solvents Leads to Environmental Damage
The same solvents that pose a threat to our health can potentially have devastating effects on climate change. Dichloromethane is one of the most popular laboratory solvents and is known to have a negative impact on our ozone layer. There needs to be a mindset on potential consequences of every substance that is present in the laboratory.
Unfortunately, laboratories have long operated with no thought about the environmental side effects of the research being conducted. University laboratories are especially notorious for not implementing closed container regulations properly, as there is an obvious odor common in many of them.
Research is vital and aids in the advancement of new technologies, which further enhance all our lives, but it is possible to conduct laboratory research in a less harmful way. This is where the green chemistry movement comes in.
Improving Waste Storage Through Green Chemistry
Green chemistry, as defined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is “the design of chemical products or processes that reduce or eliminate the generation of hazardous substances. Green chemistry applies across the lifecycle of a chemical product, including its design, manufacture, use, and ultimate disposal.”
Green chemistry is no longer a dream or a goal — it is a necessity. If chemical pollutants are not put under control, the current climate emergency will continue regardless of the efforts that individuals put into living eco-friendly lives. Climate change must be addressed at the corporate level, and every industry today has a responsibility to take part, especially science.
Find Better Chemicals
One aspect of green chemistry is switching certain hazardous chemicals to safer chemicals that replace them, in a process known as substitution. For example, cadmium-based chemicals can potentially be substituted for copper in many cases as a safer and more eco-friendly chemical. To begin, identify your most hazardous substances and their function. Assess less hazardous alternatives that may provide the same function. If they are economically viable and easy to source while offering the same functionality for your research, there is no reason not to make the switch and transition to greener chemicals. Besides the advantages in reducing health and environmental hazards, it’s great for business to be able to show you are putting green chemistry in practice.
Need for Improved Labels to Prevent Mixing
In addition to proper waste containers, chemical waste must be separated by compatibility and labeled with an appropriate hazardous waste label. The containers should be kept clean and dry on the outside so that labels are always readable, and replaced if they degrade due to solvent or chemical exposure over time. Secondary containment should be used to prevent spills onto surfaces and into drainage systems, and containers should not be filled over 90% capacity.
Dangerous Conditions to Avoid
When incompatible chemicals are combined, dangerous reactions can occur and can cause serious injury. Such chemical reactions cause heat, pressure, fire, explosion and violent reactions. These incidents have happened even in highly experienced laboratories. Everyone in the workplace is at risk if a strong safety culture is not implemented and maintained. Continuous education and having resources such as compatibility charts and labeling requirements readily available can make a big difference in the frequency of such incidents. It takes time to build new habits, but doing so will result in important safety practices becoming second nature. Overall, never take safety precautions lightly when handling chemicals.
Dangerous situations have been known to occur when accidently mixing the following incompatible chemical groups:
- Acids and bases: exothermic reactions
- Combustible solvents and strong acids
- Acids and cyanide salts
- Acids and reactive sulfides
- Oxidizing agents and organic compounds
Chemical accidents occur even in the most highly experienced laboratories and by highly trained personnel, but the goals are to minimize such accidents and chemical exposures by implementing standard laboratory operating procedures for priority chemical hazards, and only allowing properly trained laboratory personnel to perform such complicated lab procedures using chemically reactive substances.
Continuous education and providing resources such as compatibility charts and labeling requirements, and making them readily available, can make a big difference in the frequency of such incidents. Weekly inspections of the laboratories themselves, practices implemented, as well as discussions on new procedures or chemicals brought in are also important. In general, it is important to have all laboratory personnel engage and discuss how their laboratory habits and behaviors can affect the entire company, the health of others, the atmosphere and therefore the world. And while it takes time to instill and build on new chemical safety habits, doing so will result in important safety practices becoming part of the success of the scientists in the laboratory, their health and the progress of science.
About the authors:
Dr. Ramin ("Ron") Najafi is the CEO and Founder of Emery Pharma, the Founder of NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, and the Founder of CP Lab Safety, a global provider and manufacturer of 200,000 environmentally conscious lab safety and chemical safety products, which are sent to research laboratories around the world. With over 25 years of work experience in the bio pharmaceutical industry, Najafi has overseen and managed multiple FDA clinical trials and has worked on medical devices from concept to FDA clearance.
Dr. Ron Najafi first discovered what a huge problem open containers can pose while working for Applied Biosciences as a synthetic organic chemist. This discovery inspired Najafi to create CP Lab Safety and to become a closed container expert, where he is driven by the mission to educate Americans and make sure that protocols for proper lab safety are being followed. The focus throughout his career has been reducing emission of toxic hazardous waste into the environment. In addition to his everyday work in the world of biochemistry and pharmaceuticals, Najafi is currently writing a book - The 10 Commandments for a Sustainable Planet (recycling, safety, laws and education in place).
Dr. Mark L. Nelson is the Vice President of Business and Science Development for CP Lab Chemicals, a subsidiary of CP Lab Safety, in Novato, California, and uses cheminformatics tools to manufacture and supply chemicals and reagents for all fields of science to their customers worldwide. More recently, CP Lab Chemicals launched a novel structure search engine, www.moleculesearch.com, to provide chemicals to their customers via modern software.
Dr. Nelson has more than 20 years of experience as a chemist, specializing in the field of antibiotics and tetracyclines. His synthesis techniques have resulted in more than 40 patents and the development of the tetracycline antibiotic omadacycline (Nuzyra), the first of the aminomethylcycline subclass of tetracyclines to ascend to medical use.