Google Translate tells me that "Ay thakya hoya buffer ay!” translates as "Oh my gosh, buffer is awesome!”
There are no global
standards, per se. Which sounds wrong until one recognizes that the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) is an international consensus system developed by the UN. The GHS (and its many constantly evolving iterations) are a
model system. Therefore, the
implementation by country varies, even with in a particular revision. For example, in the US, OSHA lacks jurisdiction over sections 12-15 of the GHS model SDS format so the relevant legislation, the US Hazard Communication Standard, 29 CR 1910.1200, requires these sections to be present to align with the GHS model, however OSHA cannot mandate that any information be entered in those sections! See
https://www.ilpi.com/msds/ref/ghs.html
That said, with respect to SDS’s and labels used in international commerce, many countries are fairly well aligned except for the difference in which version of the GHS they modeled their enabling legislation upon, and differences in application like the one I noted above with OSHA.
Regardless, nothing prevents one from adding more information to a label or SDS than the legislative minimum required information. It makes sense to add laboratory and process-specific information, particularly in research, QA/QC, and academic settings, to any label. And additional details to SDS's that an end user might find relevant even if not legally required. As safety professionals, we should encourage laboratory workers to go above and beyond the minimum in everything they do. There’s a huge difference between “I did everything legally required” and “I did everything necessary”.
Best wishes,
Rob Toreki
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On Jan 25, 2026, at 9:26 AM, Mabrouk, Patricia <000022db23f825f9-dmarc-request**At_Symbol_Here**lists.princeton.edu> wrote:
I hope it is appropriate to ask this here. I read this post (above) on my LinkedIn feed. It has a helpful message but what caught me was the image and the labeling. The poster is from Pakistan if I am correct and the poster is an industrial chemist. I am a US academic so I wasn't sure if I was wrong about what I perceived of as the inadequacy of the label. Shouldn't there be a GHS label at a minimum? Aren’t there minimal global standards for labeling?
Thanks,
Pam Mabrouk
