Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 14:43:48 -0400
Reply-To: List Moderator <ecgrants**At_Symbol_Here**UVM.EDU>
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: List Moderator <ecgrants**At_Symbol_Here**UVM.EDU>
Subject: Boston CHAS abstracts: Awards Symposium

The next several messages include the abstracts from the DCHAS  
presentations to be given at the Boston National Meeting August  
22-26. Note that the division workshop schedule is available at
https://secure.hostwizard.ws/chemical-safety.com/chas/regform.htm

Awards Symposium

CHAS 1
Laboratory chemical safety needs in India and Viet Nam
Douglas Walters, ECSEI, 6807 Breezewood Rd., Raleigh, NC 27607,
waltersdb**At_Symbol_Here**earthlink.net, Michael Labosky, EH&S, Harvard, Cambridge, MA
02139, Louis DiBerardinis, EH&S, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, and Lawrence
Keith, ECSEI, Monroe, GA 30655

This talk describes experiences from conducting a workshop on the  
Fundamentals of Laboratory Health and Safety in 2006 at the Indian  
Institute of Chemical Technology in Hyderabad India and a subsequent  
visit to the Hanoi National University of Science. The legacy of the  
1984 Union Carbide Bhopal disaster still looms large in the history  
of the Indian chemical industry. Like India, Viet Nam is experiencing  
rapid economic growth that is stimulating their chemical and  
pharmaceutical industries – and they are mindful of the destructive  
influences this has wrought in China. To compete in the current era  
of globalization and to enhance safety for laboratory students and  
workers and provide environmental protection it was felt that  
additional training in laboratory safety and environmental chemistry  
was crucial. Hence, the Environmental & Chemical Safety Educational  
Institute (www.chemistshelpingchemists.org), a non-profit  
organization to provide training in laboratory chemical safety and  
environmental chemistry, was established.

CHAS 2
Overview of ANSI Z9.2-2006: Design and operation of LEV systems
Jeff Burton, IVE, Inc, 2974 South Oakwood Drive, Bountiful, UT 84010,
jeff**At_Symbol_Here**eburton.com

The venerable standard, ANSI Z9.2 - Fundamentals Governing the Design  
and Operation of LEV [Local Exhaust Ventilation] Systems, was revised  
and reissued in 2006. The standard was written in a two-column format  
with "shalls" in the left column and "why and how" in the right  
column. The new standard covers design and operating criteria related  
to plant layout, makeup air systems, hoods, ductwork, air cleaners,  
fans, stacks, and other issues related to maintenance, testing,  
balancing, and so forth. The standard is auditable and includes an  
audit checklist. The standard also provides an appendix with  
additional useful information.

CHAS 3
Take a chemist to lunch
Salvatore DiNardi, University of Massachusetts, Shutesbury, MA 01072,
sdinardi**At_Symbol_Here**schoolph.umass.edu

Chemical health and safety (CHAS) professionals often wring their  
hands and complain about an inability to communicate with  
occupational hygiene laboratories. Occupational hygienists apply the  
age-old paradigm: anticipate, recognize evaluate and control health  
hazards in the workplace. Chemical health and safety professionals  
should always anticipate that there will be communication gaps.  
Recognize the differences between the requirements of the laboratory  
to meet limits of quantification, and CHAS professionals' need to  
quantify exposures at some fraction of an occupational exposure  
limit. CHAS professionals must learn to evaluate the ability of a  
laboratory to meet her or his specific needs. A simple mathematical  
modeling exercise can resolve this question. The ultimate control  
solution is simple; take a chemist to lunch!

CHAS 4
Community colleges and their potential to provide leadership in  
grades K-
12 chemical health and safety
John R. Agar Jr., Dean of Mathematics, Science, & Engineering, Delaware
County Community College, 901 South Media Line Road, Media, PA 19063-
1094, jagar**At_Symbol_Here**dccc.edu

Pre-college schools rarely have the expertise or resources to  
properly manage their science laboratory chemicals. In fact, most are  
under the false assumption that as academic institutions they are  
exempt from governmental rules and regulations. This often results in  
the unintentional illegal or unsafe use, storage, and/or disposal of  
their chemicals. As pathways from the primary and secondary school  
systems to higher education, community colleges are in a unique  
position to assist the schools of their service areas in identifying  
their needs and seeking solutions. This assistance can include the  
writing of a Chemical Hygiene Plan, planning for a safe laboratory  
environment for students, teachers, & staff, safely storing chemicals  
& chemical waste, and making recommendations for the legal disposal  
of chemical waste & unwanted or unsafe chemicals. Delaware County  
Community College, in cooperation with the Delaware County  
(Pennsylvania) Intermediate Unit, has recently begun such a project.

CHAS 5
Recollections on 25 years in chemical safety: The good, the bad, and the
indifferent
Eileen B. Segal, Segal Consults, 2701 Liberty St., Easton, PA 18045,  
Fax: (610)
258-9977, ebsegal**At_Symbol_Here**aol.com

In my experience, the main frustration I've encountered in dealing  
with chemical safety over the years has been the difficulty in  
changing long-held, unproven concepts and procedures in the treatment  
of chemical exposures. For example, it took years to convince people  
that the use of contact lenses in the workplace was not a hazard. It  
took years thereafter for the National Institute of Occupational  
Safety and Health to officially change its ban on contact lens usage.  
The “good' is that many organizations now recognize that scientific  
facts are necessary in the treatment and handling of chemicals,  
notably with the establishment of the National First Aid Scientific  
Advisory Board. I have encountered the good, the bad, and, too many  
times, the indifferent. Examples will be given

CHAS 6
Who me? Just how does one end up here?
Frankie K. Wood-Black, ConocoPhillips, 2277 Kirkwood #303, Houston, TX
77077, fwblack**At_Symbol_Here**cableone.net

Have you ever wondered just how you got to that specific point in  
life? Particularly, when you end up someplace you never really  
thought you would or even knew about until you were there? This is  
the case with many chemical health and safety professionals. Most of  
those in this profession have reached this point through less than  
conventional means. Just how do you get here? What types of events  
shape us? And, what types of things to we have to look forward to?  
This is a humorous look at the adventures of one researcher that has  
ended up in the field.

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