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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for this report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
Support for this project was provided by the Department of Energy, American Chemical Society, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chemical Manufacturers Association, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Administration.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Prudent practices in the laboratory : handling and disposal of chemicals / Committee on Prudent Practices for Handling, Storage, and Disposal of Chemicals in Laboratories, Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology, Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications, National Research Council.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-309-05229-7
1. Hazardous substances. 2. Chemicals—Safety measures. 3. Hazardous wastes. I. National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Prudent Practices for Handling, Storage and Disposal of Chemicals in Laboratories.
T55.3.H3P78 1995
660'.2804—dc20 95-32461
Copyright 1995 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, April 1995
Second Printing, January 1999
Third Printing, January 2000
COMMITTEE ON PRUDENT PRACTICES FOR HANDLING, STORAGE, AND DISPOSAL OF CHEMICALS IN LABORATORIES
EDWARD M. ARNETT,
Duke University,
Chair
W. EMMETT BARKLEY,
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
PETER BEAK,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
EDWIN D. BECKER,
National Institutes of Health
HENRY E. BRYNDZA,
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.
IMOGENE L. CHANG,
Cheyney University
CAROL CREUTZ,
Brookhaven National Laboratory
RICK L. DANHEISER,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
ERIC M. GORDON,
Affymax Research Institute
ROBERT J. LACKMEYER,
C/VS Inc.
LEE MAGID,
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
THOMAS F. McBRIDE,
U.S. Department of Energy
ANN M. NORBERG,
3M
EDWARD W. PETRILLO,
Bristol-Myers Squibb
STANLEY H. PINE,
California State University at Los Angeles
FAY M. THOMPSON,
University of Minnesota
TAMAE MAEDA WONG, Study Director
KASANDRA GOWEN, Project Assistant
SARAH W. PLIMPTON, Editorial Assistant
JENNIFER F. BUTERA, Project Assistant
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASSESSING CHEMICAL HAZARDS
RICK L. DANHEISER,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Chair
W. EMMETT BARKLEY,
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
PETER BEAK,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
JAMES A. BOND,
Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology
WILLIAM M. HAYNES,
Monsanto Co.
CURTIS D. KLAASSEN,
University of Kansas
EDWARD W. PETRILLO,
Bristol-Myers Squibb
CHARLES F. REINHARDT,
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co.
PHILIP G. WATANABE,
Dow Chemical Co.
SUBCOMMITTEE ON LABORATORY SPACE AND EQUIPMENT
ROBERT J. LACKMEYER,
C/VS Inc.,
Chair
DALE T. HITCHINGS,
Hitchings Associates, P.C.
JOHN S. NELSON,
Affiliated Engineers Inc.
SUBCOMMITTEE ON MIXED WASTE
EDWIN D. BECKER,
National Institutes of Health,
Chair
PATRICIA A. BAISDEN,
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
THOMAS F. CECICH,
Glaxo Inc.
ERIC M. GORDON,
Affymax Research Institute
PETER A. REINHARDT,
University of Wisconsin at Madison
SUBCOMMITTEE ON POLLUTION PREVENTION
FAY M. THOMPSON,
University of Minnesota,
Chair
MARGARET-ANN ARMOUR,
University of Alberta
PETER C. ASHBROOK,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
IMOGENE L. CHANG,
Cheyney University
ANN M. NORBERG,
3M
STANLEY H. PINE,
California State University at Los Angeles
PETER A. REINHARDT,
University of Wisconsin at Madison
SUBCOMMITTEE ON REGULATORY ISSUES
THOMAS F. McBRIDE,
U.S. Department of Energy,
Chair
PETER C. ASHBROOK,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
DAVID W. DRUMMOND,
University of Wisconsin at Madison
JULIA E. EPLEY,
Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro
ANN M. NORBERG,
3M
JAMES H. STEWART,
Harvard University
WAYNE R. THOMANN,
Duke University
BOARD ON CHEMICAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY
ROYCE W. MURRAY,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
Co-chair
EDWIN P. PRZYBYLOWICZ,
Rochester Institute of Technology,
Co-chair
PAUL S. ANDERSON,
The Du Pont Merck Pharmaceutical Company
DAVID C. BONNER,
Premix Inc.
PHILIP H. BRODSKY,
Monsanto Company
MARVIN H. CARUTHERS,
University of Colorado
GREGORY R. CHOPPIN,
Florida State University
FRED P. CORSON,
Dow Chemical Company
MOSTAFA EL-SAYED,
Georgia Institute of Technology
JOANNA S. FOWLER,
Brookhaven National Laboratory
BERTRAM O. FRASER-REID,
Duke University
JUDITH C. GIORDAN,
Henkel Corporation
JOSEPH G. GORDON II,
IBM Almaden Research Center
L. LOUIS HEGEDUS,
W.R. Grace & Co.
GEORGE J. HIRASAKI,
Rice University
DOUGLAS A. LAUFFENBERGER,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MARSHA I. LESTER,
University of Pennsylvania
W. HARMON RAY,
University of Wisconsin
GABOR A. SOMORJAI,
University of California at Berkeley
JOHN J. WISE,
Mobil Research and Development Corp.
DOUGLAS J. RABER, Director
SCOTT T. WEIDMAN, Senior Program Officer
TAMAE MAEDA WONG, Senior Program Officer
SYBIL A. PAIGE, Administrative Associate
MARIA P. JONES, Senior Project Assistant
SARAH W. PLIMPTON, Editorial Assistant
JENNIFER F. BUTERA, Project Assistant
COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES, MATHEMATICS, AND APPLICATIONS
RICHARD N. ZARE,
Stanford University,
Chair
RICHARD S. NICHOLSON,
American Association for the Advancement of Science,
Vice Chair
STEPHEN L. ADLER,
Institute for Advanced Study
SYLVIA T. CEYER,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
SUSAN L. GRAHAM,
University of California at Berkeley
ROBERT J. HERMANN,
United Technologies Corporation
RHONDA J. HUGHES,
Bryn Mawr College
SHIRLEY A. JACKSON,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
KENNETH I. KELLERMANN,
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
HANS MARK,
University of Texas at Austin
THOMAS A. PRINCE,
California Institute of Technology
JEROME SACKS,
National Institute of Statistical Sciences
L.E. SCRIVEN,
University of Minnesota
LEON T. SILVER,
California Institute of Technology
CHARLES P. SLICHTER,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
ALVIN W. TRIVELPIECE,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
SHMUEL WINOGRAD,
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
CHARLES A. ZRAKET,
MITRE Corporation (ret.)
NORMAN METZGER, Executive Director
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The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Harold Liebowitz are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
Preface
In the early 1980s, the National Research Council (NRC) produced two major reports on laboratory safety and laboratory waste disposal: Prudent Practices for Handling Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories (1981) and Prudent Practices for Disposal of Chemicals from Laboratories (1983). To provide safety and waste management guidance to laboratory workers, managers, and policy-makers that would be responsive to knowledge and regulations in the 1990s, the NRC's Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology initiated an update and revision of the earlier studies.
After extensive consultation with members of the broad chemistry and laboratory communities, the full committee was appointed in September 1992. It first convened in November 1992 and held five additional meetings during the next two years. Several highly specialized areas were addressed by the appointment of several subcommittees, which met in conjunction with the full committee or independently as appropriate.
The Committee on Prudent Practices for Handling, Storage, and Disposal of Chemicals in Laboratories and its subcommittees were charged to:
-
establish the scope of changes and new material required to update Prudent Practices 1981 and Prudent Practices 1983,
-
evaluate recent developments and trends in the scientific communities and regulatory areas,
-
develop strategies for implementing safety programs, which include risk assessment methods in planning laboratory work with hazardous chemicals,
-
develop a follow-up plan for training aids by obtaining consensus on the report and reviewing suggestions, and
-
address such topics as procurement, storage, and disposal of chemicals; hazards of known chemicals; handling of chemicals; work practices; generation and classification of chemical waste; off-site transportation and landfills; and incinerators and small-scale combusters.
Prudent Practices 1981 and Prudent Practices 1983 were conceived during the late 1970s in recognition of growing public expectations for health and safety in the workplace, protection of the environment, and the responsible use of hazardous chemicals. Since their original publication in the early 1980s, these reports have been distributed widely both nationally and internationally. In 1992, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the World Health Organization published Chemical Safety Matters, a document based on Prudent Practices 1981 and Prudent Practices 1983, for wide international use.
The original motivation for drafting Prudent Practices 1981 and Prudent Practices 1983 was to provide an authoritative reference on the handling and disposal of chemicals at the laboratory level. These volumes not only served as a guide to laboratory workers, but also offered prudent guidelines for the development of regulatory policy by government agencies concerned with safety in the workplace and protection of the environment. Pertinent health-related parts of Prudent Practices 1981 are incorporated in a nonmandatory section of the OSHA Laboratory Standard (29 CFR 1910.1450; reprinted as Appendix A). OSHA's purpose was to provide guidance for developing and implementing its required Chemical Hygiene Plan.
Now, after nearly a decade and a half, the present volume (Prudent Practices 1995) responds to societal and technical developments that are driving significant change in the laboratory culture and laboratory operations relative to safety, health,
and environmental protection. The major drivers for this new culture of laboratory safety include the following:
-
The increasing regulatory compliance burden and associated time and financial penalties for noncompliance;
-
The OSHA performance-based Laboratory Standard that places responsibility on individual laboratories to develop site-specific laboratory health programs, including certain elements such as written procedures, a designated coordinator for the written procedures, employee information and training, and compliance with OSHA-specified exposure limits;
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An increasingly litigious society and the growth of tort law;
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The increase in "public interest" groups and the realization by laboratory operators that operation of a laboratory is a privilege that carries a responsibility to go beyond mere compliance to "doing what is right" in the eyes of fellow workers and society;
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The myriad technical advances in our understanding of hazards and risk evaluation, improvements in chemical analysis, improvements in miniaturization and automation of laboratory operations, and the availability of vastly improved safety equipment, atmosphere-monitoring devices, and personal protective equipment; and
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A greater understanding and acceptance of the critical elements necessary for an effective culture of safety.
After careful consideration of these technical, regulatory, and societal changes, the committee chose to rewrite, rather than simply revise, much of the material in the previous two volumes and to condense them into a single one. In this 1995 revision, the committee has sought primarily to describe this new laboratory culture, identify its key elements, and provide certain information and procedures that have been developed within that culture. To ensure prudent handling in a coordinated manner from "cradle to grave," this new volume incorporates much material from the Prudent Practices 1981 and Prudent Practices 1983 volumes.
In addition, in response to users of Prudent Practices 1981 who have emphasized the value of the information on how to handle compounds that pose special hazards, the committee has compiled Laboratory Chemical Safety Summaries (Appendix B) that provide chemical and toxicological information for 88 substances commonly found in laboratories. Although most of the information provided for these compounds will maintain its value, data on some properties, especially toxicological ones, should be updated frequently. Accordingly, the most recent Material Safety Data Sheets provided by the manufacturer or other updated sources should be consulted before work is done with hazardous compounds.
At every stage in the development of this book, the committee has maintained a close dialogue with the community of expected users through discussions with experts, participation of observers at committee meetings, and presentations to various professional organizations. In addition, subcommittees of experts were appointed to provide advice in several specialized areas. The goal in these discussions with authorities and with the general community of industrial and academic researchers and teachers has been to determine what are considered prudent practices for laboratory operations.
"Laboratory" means (following the OSHA Laboratory Standard) "a workplace where relatively small quantities of hazardous chemicals are used on a non-production basis." Through definition of the corollary terms "laboratory scale" and "laboratory use," OSHA expanded on this definition to encompass additional criteria: a laboratory is a place in which (1) "containers used for reactions, transfers,
and other handling of substances are designed to be easily and safely manipulated by one person," (2) "multiple chemicals or chemical procedures are used," and (3) "protective laboratory practices and equipment are available and in common use to minimize the potential for employee exposure to hazardous chemicals." The definition excludes operations (1) in which the procedures involved are part of or in any way simulate a production process or (2) whose function is to produce commercial quantities of materials.
Dialogue with the chemical community has shown that there are many effective ways in which institutions can organize for safety in the laboratory when there is a sincere commitment to safe practice and institutional support. Accordingly, a single organizational model of institutional safety cannot be proposed as being typical. The aim throughout has been to offer generally useful guidelines rather than specific blueprints.
Public support for the laboratory use of chemicals depends on compliance with regulatory laws as a joint responsibility of everyone who handles or makes decisions about chemicals, from shipping and receiving clerks to laboratory workers and managers, environmental health and safety staff, and institutional administrators. This shared responsibility is now a fact of laboratory work as inexorable as the properties of the chemicals that are being handled. The use of chemicals, like the use of automobiles or electricity, involves some irreducible risks. However, all three of these servants to humankind have demonstrated benefits that enormously outweigh their costs if they are handled sensibly. The passage of time has demonstrated the value of Prudent Practices 1981 and Prudent Practices 1983 not only as guides to safe laboratory practice but also through their influence on the drafting of reasonable regulations. The committee hopes that its efforts will have a comparable beneficial impact as chemistry continues its central role in society.
Acknowledgments
Many technical experts, representing a wide variety of laboratories that use chemicals, provided input to this book. Their involvement through participation at workshops and committee meetings, submission of written materials, and review of technical material prepared by the committee has enhanced the book, and their efforts are greatly appreciated. The Committee on Prudent Practices for Handling, Storage, and Disposal of Chemicals in Laboratories thanks the following people both for their participation in the workshops and for contributions to the revision of Prudent Practices 1995.
Robert Alaimo, Proctor & Gamble; Bruce Backus, University of Minnesota; David Bammerlin, BP Warrensville; John Bartmess, University of Tennessee; John Beltz, Purdue University; Charles E. Billings, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Daniel Brannegan, Pfizer; William H. Breazeale, Jr., Francis Marion University; Ronald Bresell, University of Wisconsin; Don G. Brown, University of Washington; Elise Ann B. Brown, USDA; Holmes C. Brown, Afton Associates, Inc.; Judy Brown, Edison Career Center; Rebecca Byrne, University of Illinois; Elna Clevenger, National Cathedral School; Robert G. Costello, W.R. Grace & Co.; Elizabeth Cotsworth, Environmental Protection Agency; Jeffrey L. Davidson, Environmental Protection Agency; Hugh Davis, Environmental Protection Agency; M. Sue Davis, Brookhaven National Laboratory; Gary Diamond, Syracuse Research Corporation; Howard Dobres, Drug Enforcement Administration; Laurence J. Doemeny, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Greg L. Engstrom, 3M; Sandra A. Filippi, Prince George's Community College; Edward Gershey, Rockefeller University; Renae Goldman, 3M; Judith Gordon, Environmental Protection Agency; Carl Gottschall, E.G.&G.; Frederick D. Greene, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Rolf Hahne, Dow Chemical Co.; Clayton E. Hathaway, Chesterfield, Missouri; Donna Heidel, R. W. Johnson; Jennifer Hernandez, Graham & James; Joseph Kanabrocki, University of Wisconsin; Glenn Ketcham, University of California; Robert Kohler, Monsanto; Po Yung Lu, Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Maureen Matkovich, American Chemical Society; Greg McCarney, 3M; Anne McCollister, Risk Communication International; Robert Meister, Eli Lilly; William G. Mikell, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (ret.); L. Jewel Nicholls, Sauk Rapids, Minnesota; Dan Pilipauskas, G. D. Searle; John E. Pingel, University of Illinois; Frank Priznar, Weston Inc.; Edward H. Rau, National Institutes of Health; Cynthia L. Salisbury, Compliance Solutions Inc.; David Schleicher, American Chemical Society; Eileen B. Segal, Chemical Health and Safety; William E. Shewbart, Dow Chemical Co.; Richard Shuman, Merck & Company; Reinhard Sidor, General Electric Co.; John Softy, Environmental Safety Office; Mary Ann Solstad, SOLSTAD Health and Safety Evaluations; Christine Springer, Scripps Research Institute; Ralph Stuart, University of Vermont; Martin J. Steindler, Argonne National Laboratory; Stephen A. Szabo, Conoco Inc./DuPont; Linda J. Tanner, 3M; David Vandenberg, University of California at Santa Barbara; George H. Wahl, North Carolina State University; Kenneth Williamson, Mount Holyoke College; Howard Wilson, Environmental Protection Agency; and Nola Woessner, University of Illinois.
Although the above list is extensive, it does not include all the individuals who have contributed their time, energy, and knowledge to this project. In full recognition that this report would not have been produced without the involvement of individuals not specifically mentioned here, the committee acknowledges their efforts by thanking the community at large.
Figures and Tables
FIGURES
1.1 |
Pattern of interactions through which laboratory safety can be arranged within an institution. |
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1.2 |
Protocol for planning and carrying out an experiment with chemicals in a laboratory. |
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3.1 |
National Fire Protection Association system for classification of hazards. |
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6.1 |
Standard design for a three-wire grounded outlet. |
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6.2 |
Standard wiring convention for 110-V electric power to equipment. |
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6.3 |
Schematic diagram of properly wired variable autotransformers. |
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7.1 |
Flow chart for categorizing unknown chemicals. |
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7.2 |
Multihazardous waste. |
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8.1 |
Effect of baffles on face velocity profile. |
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8.2 |
Non-Bypass fume hood. |
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8.3 |
Bypass fume hood. |
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8.4 |
Benchtop fume hood. |
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8.5 |
Distillation fume hood. |
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8.6 |
''Walk-in" fume hood. |
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8.7 |
Typical fume hood scrubber schematic. |
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8.8 |
Typical specific ventilation hoods. |
TABLES
3.1 |
Acute Toxicity Hazard Level |
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3.2 |
Probable Lethal Dose for Humans |
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3.3 |
Examples of Compounds with a High Level of Acute Toxicity |
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3.4 |
Examples of Select Carcinogens |
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3.5 |
Classes of Carcinogenic Substances |
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3.6 |
Examples of Reproductive Toxins |
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3.7 |
NFPA Fire Hazard Ratings, Flash Points, Boiling Points, Ignition Temperatures, and Flammable Limits of Some Common Laboratory Chemicals |
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3.8 |
Examples of Oxidants |
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3.9 |
Partial List of Incompatible Chemicals (Reactive Hazards) |
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3.10 |
Classes of Incompatible Chemicals |
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3.11 |
Functional Groups in Some Explosive Compounds |
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3.12 |
Types of Compounds Known to Autooxidize to Form Peroxides |
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3.13 |
Classes of Chemicals That Can Form Peroxides Upon Aging |
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3.14 |
The "Dirty Dozen" |
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4.1 |
Related and Compatible Storage Groups |
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4.2 |
Storage Limits for Flammable and Combustible Liquids for Laboratories: B Classification with Sprinkler System |
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4.3 |
Container Size for Storage of Flammable and Combustible Liquids |
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6.1 |
Summary of Magnetic Field Effects |
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7.1 |
High- and Low-Toxicity Cations and Preferred Precipitants |
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7.2 |
High- and Low-Hazard Anions and Preferred Precipitants |
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7.3 |
pH Ranges for Precipitation of Metal Hydroxides and Oxides |
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7.4 |
Precipitation of Sulfides |
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9.1 |
Federal Laws and Regulations Affecting Laboratories |