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When I started getting sick after cleaning medical equipment at work with a powerful industrial detergent/biocide, I knew right where to go for information... The MSDS!
Required by law in all work environments where industrial/chemical formulations are used. Used to be, they were in a big yellow book, where employees could access them and read about the many chemicals they worked with during down time. Now days, there is less down time, and as I learned, no yellow book! My new corporate employer used a \"service\". You called the service and they would fax on demand the MSDS. They also billed and notified the employer as to who was asking for what!
The MSDS I got was pathetic... A one page deal with generic statements like \"wear eye protection\" and \"do not drink or contaminate food sources\". \"Use in a well ventilated area\", and \"normal room ventilation should be sufficient\". The ingredients were listed as a \"proprietary blend\" containing subtilisin enzymes and propylene glycol. I looked on line, and found the Canadian MSDS... It was 5 pages long! Lots of cautions about sensitivities, do not generate mists, do not breath vapor! What was with the dinky MSDS American workers got?
The work comp doctor I saw happened to be a toxicologist... Great (I thought). \"I want to know what's in this stuff... Where can we get an ingredient list\". \"That won't be necessary\" the doctor replied. \"Any hazardous ingredients would have been listed on the MSDS\". I called the manufacturer... \"Sorry, only a doctor can demand ingredient information sir\". I went to my family doctor... \"I'm not allowed to treat industrial illness\" he said. So I begged! Got the ingredient list and set to work.
The most likely cause of my problem I found was a phenol based biocide, and the MSDS for this was available on line. Again, a very generic MSDS with a \"when used as directed, no dangers from contact or inhalation should be expected in the final formulation\". It also stated it was intended only for use as a biocide in cosmetics. What? They were putting this stuff in a detergent I was using in a heated state, in large quantities at work!
It did list \"phenoxyethanol\" as the main ingredient, and in a separate google search, the toxilogical info on this was impressive! \"Do not inhale vapor! Initial excitement followed by central nervous depression, prominent headache! The headache and CNS depression were all too familiar symptoms to me. The \"excitement\" at the beginning felt more like I was about to have a seizure. This was it! I also learned that phenoxyethanol is used to anesthetize fish, and that some workers in a fish farm developed permanent brain damage after handling it (in a very dilute concentration) over an extended time.
I started surfing through all the info on this biocide I could find, and eventually came across on older MSDS for the exact same (brand name) cosmetic biocide from 2001. The phenoxyethanol content was the same, and so were the other ingredients. This MSDS was a radically different read than the new one!
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\"This product contains toxic chemical (s) subject to the reporting requirements of section 313 of the emergency planning and community right to know act of 1986... Any such toxic chemical (s) are shown in section 2 of this MSDS. This information must be included in all MSDS's that are copied and distributed for this material\"
\"WARNING: This product is to be used as a cosmetic ingredient only. Any other use will subject the user to penalties under the toxic substances control act and the regulations issued thereunder\".
It also listed all the toxic effects of phenoxyethanol, unlike the newer version which did not.
-----------------------------------------------------
How could the 2003 MSDS be so different from the 2001 version? I went back to the internet to learn why.
Deep in the OSHA website, under \"Standard Interpretations\", I found a lot of rule changes have occurred over the past few years regarding the content of MSDSs. It seems the age of the internet had a lot of people discovering too many interesting facts about the chemicals they are exposed to!
Now, as long as you state \"when used as directed, no problems should occur\" and \"use adequate ventilation\" no other cautions are necessary!
Unbelievable! Bottom line is... DEMAND a full ingredient list from your doctor. Pitch a fit if you have to, but get the list. Modern MSDSs contain NO USEFUL INFORMATION! What we really need is a full ingredient list for all industrial formulations we are exposed to. Perhaps EIR will start a petition or form letter we can send to our representatives!
Epilogue: I called the manufacturer of the cosmetic biocide and confirmed it was intended for use only in cosmetics... I then contacted the manufacturer of the detergent and told them of the problem, and the person at the biocide company they could confirm this with. After several attempts to learn if they had corrected the problem, I was contacted by an attorney for the detergent maker, who said \"stop contacting Mr X\". (I stopped)
Required by law in all work environments where industrial/chemical formulations are used. Used to be, they were in a big yellow book, where employees could access them and read about the many chemicals they worked with during down time. Now days, there is less down time, and as I learned, no yellow book! My new corporate employer used a \"service\". You called the service and they would fax on demand the MSDS. They also billed and notified the employer as to who was asking for what!
The MSDS I got was pathetic... A one page deal with generic statements like \"wear eye protection\" and \"do not drink or contaminate food sources\". \"Use in a well ventilated area\", and \"normal room ventilation should be sufficient\". The ingredients were listed as a \"proprietary blend\" containing subtilisin enzymes and propylene glycol. I looked on line, and found the Canadian MSDS... It was 5 pages long! Lots of cautions about sensitivities, do not generate mists, do not breath vapor! What was with the dinky MSDS American workers got?
The work comp doctor I saw happened to be a toxicologist... Great (I thought). \"I want to know what's in this stuff... Where can we get an ingredient list\". \"That won't be necessary\" the doctor replied. \"Any hazardous ingredients would have been listed on the MSDS\". I called the manufacturer... \"Sorry, only a doctor can demand ingredient information sir\". I went to my family doctor... \"I'm not allowed to treat industrial illness\" he said. So I begged! Got the ingredient list and set to work.
The most likely cause of my problem I found was a phenol based biocide, and the MSDS for this was available on line. Again, a very generic MSDS with a \"when used as directed, no dangers from contact or inhalation should be expected in the final formulation\". It also stated it was intended only for use as a biocide in cosmetics. What? They were putting this stuff in a detergent I was using in a heated state, in large quantities at work!
It did list \"phenoxyethanol\" as the main ingredient, and in a separate google search, the toxilogical info on this was impressive! \"Do not inhale vapor! Initial excitement followed by central nervous depression, prominent headache! The headache and CNS depression were all too familiar symptoms to me. The \"excitement\" at the beginning felt more like I was about to have a seizure. This was it! I also learned that phenoxyethanol is used to anesthetize fish, and that some workers in a fish farm developed permanent brain damage after handling it (in a very dilute concentration) over an extended time.
I started surfing through all the info on this biocide I could find, and eventually came across on older MSDS for the exact same (brand name) cosmetic biocide from 2001. The phenoxyethanol content was the same, and so were the other ingredients. This MSDS was a radically different read than the new one!
-------------------------------------------------
\"This product contains toxic chemical (s) subject to the reporting requirements of section 313 of the emergency planning and community right to know act of 1986... Any such toxic chemical (s) are shown in section 2 of this MSDS. This information must be included in all MSDS's that are copied and distributed for this material\"
\"WARNING: This product is to be used as a cosmetic ingredient only. Any other use will subject the user to penalties under the toxic substances control act and the regulations issued thereunder\".
It also listed all the toxic effects of phenoxyethanol, unlike the newer version which did not.
-----------------------------------------------------
How could the 2003 MSDS be so different from the 2001 version? I went back to the internet to learn why.
Deep in the OSHA website, under \"Standard Interpretations\", I found a lot of rule changes have occurred over the past few years regarding the content of MSDSs. It seems the age of the internet had a lot of people discovering too many interesting facts about the chemicals they are exposed to!
Now, as long as you state \"when used as directed, no problems should occur\" and \"use adequate ventilation\" no other cautions are necessary!
Unbelievable! Bottom line is... DEMAND a full ingredient list from your doctor. Pitch a fit if you have to, but get the list. Modern MSDSs contain NO USEFUL INFORMATION! What we really need is a full ingredient list for all industrial formulations we are exposed to. Perhaps EIR will start a petition or form letter we can send to our representatives!
Epilogue: I called the manufacturer of the cosmetic biocide and confirmed it was intended for use only in cosmetics... I then contacted the manufacturer of the detergent and told them of the problem, and the person at the biocide company they could confirm this with. After several attempts to learn if they had corrected the problem, I was contacted by an attorney for the detergent maker, who said \"stop contacting Mr X\". (I stopped)
