Brief introduction to MSDS
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MSDS is called as Material Safety Data Sheet. In European countries, MSDS is also called as SDS (Safety Data Sheet). International Standardization Organization (ISO) 11014 adopts SDS terms. However, the United State, Canada, Australia and lots of Asian countries adopt MSDS terms.
MSDS is a kind of comprehensive legal document on chemical features to customer offered by producing or selling enterprise according to legal requirement. It offers sixteen sections including physical/chemical properties, flammability, hazards identification, handling and storage, accidental release measures, first aid measures and regulatory information. Presently International Programme on Chemical Safety compiles a document similar to MSDS, namely International Chemical Safety Card (ICSC). ICSC likes MSDS introduce relative health and safety application information of chemicals. So far, 1,300 chemicals possess ICSC. Except for English, ICSC has been translated into other 13 languages. However, ICSC has no chemical management acts from governmental institutes, at the same time, some R-Phrases are not available in lots of countries. So ICSC is not a legal document, and cannot take the place of MSDS circulating internationally.
MSDS position in international trade
The laws in the Untied State and European countries have strict requirements for environment and occupational health. In chemical international trade, customers always ask for MSDS before purchasing chemicals.
Supplier shall abide legal requirement, and supply MSDS in accordance with regulatory requirement in the customer’s country in time. In the Untied State, Canada, and European countries, a great many of large and medium size enterprises set hazardous chemical management department or occupational health and environmental science management department to audit MSDS offered by chemical suppliers, which passing audit can keep the right to take next business contact with purchasing department.
Difficulty in making high-quality MSDS
Difficulty in making high quality MSDS in accordance with regulatory requirements: Firstly, except for testing physical/chemical properties of chemical, toxicity data testing charge of chemical is too expensive. If chemical is compound product, or mixes addition reagent, or contains secondary products, the compiler can hardly make accurate estimation on toxicity. If MSDS offered by supplier gets mistakes or is inconsistent with the facts, or keep hazards identification back intentionally, which result in personnel hurt or environmental , pollution of users, users always require MSDS offering unit shall bear corresponding legal responsibility. Secondly, compiled MSDS shall be in accordance with regulations on hazardous chemical in the country and area of the buyer. But different countries even different states in the same country have their own different requirement for MSDS. In addition, NTP publicize new cancerogenous substances once every two years, which makes more difficulty of compiling MSDS in accordance with requirement.
Risk of domestic enterprise making MSDS
Presently, lots of Chinese chemical manufacturer mainly adopt two methods to compile MSDS: one is to search and copy similar chemicals from the website of oversea large company. The other is to obtain MSDS from seller by buying a little identical chemical sample from foreign country, and then change it into his own MSDS (As a matter of fact, foreign company generally offer the MSDS of their product if any demand even though no purchase from seller’s product is happened). The first method may get two problems: firstly, toxicity data (LD50) of similar chemicals may be six to one, and influence on human health and environment are different, too; secondly, relative data or regulations may be upgraded if MSDS of webs is publicized at several years before. The second method might have no such problems aforesaid, but generally you hardly find the enterprise with identical products abroad if your product is compound. Even you have found it, regulatory information of such seller’s products may be not coincident to the requirement in your buyer’s country.
Influence of MSDS on exporting enterprise product
In international trade, MSDS quality is also an important symbol to measure company strengthen, image and management level, and high quality chemical getting high quality MSDS surely can increase more business chances. It is very important to ask expert at international level to compile high standard MSDS in order to promote success of international trade, for it is effective image advertisement for the enterprise, with relatively low charge.
It can promote Chinese chemical product smoothly to enter international chemical market, improve international competitiveness of product, and improve from cut throat competition of Chinese export chemical price to benign competition of enterprise brand and product standard.