A very common question when you get into cosmetic and soap industry is: should I collect Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) or not? The best way to answer that question is with a thorough understanding of what a MSDS is designed to do.
The MSDS is a single document prepared by the manufacturer that contains all the information about the chemical make-up, use, storage, handling, emergency procedures and the potential health effects related to a hazardous material. MSDS were originally intended for hazardous materials only in order to comply with Federal regulations; however, now many materials with no hazards have a MSDS simply for product liability purposes alone.
An ingredient that has a MSDS is not necessarily a hazardous material or causes health effects. Much of the information from the MSDS sheets is misused to make an ingredient look bad in personal care items, when in fact the MSDS sheet is simply giving information about the safe handling of the ingredient at full concentration, which does not translate to normal cosmetic usage.
A perfect example of how the MSDS does not translate to the finished product is with lye. The MSDS would show that it causes eye, skin, digestive, respiratory burns however; in the finished product it causes no ill effect to the consumer. Unfortunately, those with agendas misuse the MSDS information to further their own propaganda against many ingredients that are perfectly safe in the finished product.
All MSDSs are required to contain the same uniform categories of information including: chemical identity, health hazard data, manufacturer information, precautions for safe handling and use, hazardous ingredients, exposure controls/personal protection, physical/chemical properties as well as fire and explosion hazard data. The purpose of an MSDS is to inform you of proper handling of a material, first aid treatment, accident response protocol, effect on human health, chemicals with which it can adversely react, as well as the chemical make-up and physical properties prior to usage. And when new regulatory information or health effects information becomes available the MSDS must be updated.
I often hear people complain that MSDSs are hard to interpret. That is because the original purpose of a MSDS was for industrial hygienist, chemical engineers and safety professionals who were trained to read them. MSDS have now become more widely used but the language was never changed to laymen terms. MSDS are often used by employers of all sizes, employees, emergency responders, soap makers and home crafters. Sometime you will find MSDSs that are formatted differently by some manufacturers, but they all contain the exact same information that is required by law. Once you get the hang of reading MSDS you won’t even notice the differences.
If you are manufacturing with raw materials you should get a copy of the MSDS for your knowledge and records. The most important parts to read include the name of the material, hazards, safe handling and storage requirements, know what do to in an emergency and store the MSDS in a file that will be easy to reach if emergency responders such as fire fighters, hazardous material crews, emergency medical technicians and emergency room personnel are needed.
If you have employees you are required by law to maintain readily accessible MSDS for any “known to be present” hazardous materials in the workplace. MSDS are designed for employees who will occupationally come in contact with hazardous materials. OSHA Hazard Communication Standard requires that safety training on proper handling of materials be conducted, all hazardous material is labeled appropriately and if you have contractors on the premises you must inform them of the potential hazards. The MSDS is designed to help employers and employees protect themselves from hazardous chemical exposures and to teach them to handle material safely. Not only is it important to take all those steps but it is critical that you log it or document it all.
Are you left wondering if you need to collect MSDS sheets are not? The answer is simple. Do any of the ingredients you use have a hazardous rating above zero? Do you use lye? Do you have employees? The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) believes that MSDSs and labeling of materials with the NFPA hazard diamond are relevant for anything flammable. The NFPA hazard diamond uses a standard system for identification of hazards of materials for emergency response. You don’t really want your emergency responder to have to read the whole sheet instead the NFPA hazard diamond on the material will tell them everything they need to know in a glance.