According to Richard Gullickson, "The purpose of a Material
Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) is to inform industrial purchasers
and users of hazardous chemicals of the reasonably foreseeable
physical and chemical hazards that may arise from the use of
those chemicals."
The pesticide Labels are the labels on the pesticide product
and are specific to the use of that pesticide.
The FAN Pesticide Project is making available the MSDSs and
Labels for the pesticides and inerts in our data base. We began
this project in May 2005 and could not easily locate the MSDSs
and Labels for many of these pesticides. However, we expect
to add to this section on a regular basis.
This information is being provided for
general information only - the
MSDSs and Labels we have on our site should not be relied on
as the most up-to-date information available. In particular,
the Labels may not reflect the actual information for individual
states and countries.
With all the weighty information included in the MSDSs and
Labels, there's a website for light relief called Create
your own Unsafe Material Data Sheet (UMDS) at http://www.ilpi.com/fun/msds/.
HISTORY OF THE MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET
by Richard Gullickson
In the 1940s the Manufacturing Chemists' Association, now known
as the Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA), began producing
"Chemical Safety Data Sheets" containing "Properties
and Essential Information for Safe Handling and Use" of
some of the more important hazardous chemicals used in commerce.
Ultimately about 100 of these Data Sheets were produced. They
were very detailed in their coverage of each chemical, to the
point of being almost a stand-alone book on the product. The
longest Data Sheet was 46 pages. Later, some chemical companies
began to produce data sheets for some of their high volume or
hazardous chemicals. CMA no longer produces or supports the
"Chemical Safety Data Sheets."
On November 25, 1983 OSHA* published the Hazard Communication
Standard as 29 CFR Part 1910, adding §1910.1200. This initial
standard applied only to Standard Industrial Classification
(SIC) Codes 20 through 39. The requirement
that manufacturers and distributors provide MSDSs to their customers
became effective on November 25, 1985. The standard does
not require a particular format for the MSDS, but does specify
what information must be included. Effective September 23, 1987,
the requirements of the standard were extended to include "...
all employers with employees exposed to hazardous chemicals
in their workplaces."
In 1986 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published
the "Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act
of 1986," and in 1988 "Toxic Chemical Release Reporting:
Community Right-To-Know." The use and distribution of MSDSs
is an important part of these regulations. The "Toxic Chemical
Release Reporting" regulation requires that MSDSs for chemicals
requiring reporting by these regulations contain specific language
notifying users that these chemicals are subject to these regulations.
These and other EPA regulations have been promulgated under
Title III C Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act
of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986
(EPCRA)...
* OSHA = Occupational Safety & Health Administration of
the US Department of Labor
Ref: Reference Data
Sheet on Material Safety Data Sheets
