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EcoChem - HAZMAN |
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EcoChem - HAZMAN |
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HOME PAGESANS 10265 will be of particular use to all engaged in the manufacture, export, distribution and utilisation of dangerous substances. SANS 10265: The classification and labelling of dangerous substances and preparations for sale and handling, is obviously concerned with the labelling of dangerous substances. But what is not immediately obvious is just how important this new standard will be to all those industries manufacturing chemicals for export (particularly to the European Union), and to consumers in general.
"This standard has generated considerable international interest," said Daleen Fourie, the Project Leader of the standard, "particularly in the various pictograms used on a label in conjunction with risk and safety phrases pertaining to a product."
This standard was developed at the request of the Department of Trade and Industry, for two main reasons, namely; to make it easier for South African companies exporting chemicals ("chemicals of supply") to countries in the European Union to meet the EU packaging and labelling requirements (as set out in the EU Directive 67/548/EC), and to enhance the safety of consumers using these chemical products.
"Besides being important to industry, this standard will also make dangerous substances much safer for the consumer to handle and use. Dangerous chemicals, including household chemicals such as toilet cleaners, bleach, paraffin and thinners, can now be identified more clearly through the labelling and the comprehensive instructions supplied. SANS 10265 will not only help ensure consumers’ safety, but will also help protect property and the environment," Fourie concluded.
The standard presently comes in the form of a folder containing individual loose leaf pages: for easy and rapid reference. Approximately 3 500 chemicals are classified on the basis of their toxicological, physiochemical and ecotoxological properties that might constitute a risk during normal sale, handling and use. These data are found in a series of very comprehensive and easily used lists.
For example, let us consider ammonia. This is listed in the alphabetical index of dangerous substances (C.2), which, despite its considerable length (193 pages), is surprisingly easy to use. On page C13 we discover that there are three different classifications of ammonia, namely anhydrous ammonia, ammonia solution greater than or equal to 10 percent (by mass), and ammonia solution whose concentration is less than 10 percent but greater than or equal to 5 percent.
Turning to the danger symbols (on pp 62-63), we see that while anhydrous ammonia is toxic (skull and crossbones symbol), ammonia solution of 10 percent or greater concentration is corrosive, while ammonia solution less than 10 % in concentration (but also greater than or equal to 5 percent) is merely classed as an irritant (St Andrew’s cross).
Moreover, the references to ammonia in the alphabetical index also list risk phrases (on pages A1 to A5), giving both single and combined phrases. Anhydrous ammonia, we learn, is flammable (R 10) and also toxic by inhalation (R 23). Ammonia of 10 percent or greater concentration in aqueous solution can cause burns (R 34) and irritate the respiratory system (R 37). The other ammonia referred to in the classification (greater than or equal to 5 percent but less than 10 percent in aqueous solution) has a combined risk phrase listed of R 36/37/38, which means it is irritating to the eyes, respiratory system and skin. Similarly, safety phrases referred to (on pages B1 to B3) also relate to the three concentrations of ammonia listed.
A particularly interesting feature of SANS 10265 are the pictograms on pp 64-65 that can be used to summarise the risk or safety phrases, thereby making the essentials comprehensible even to those unable to read, or to those unfamiliar with the written instructions.
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