The ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety (CHAS) is a vibrant, active community of nearly 1,700 volunteers dedicated to providing authoritative technical resources and mentorship to individuals in varying stages of their education and career.

In addition to facilitating peer-led workshops, webinars, and presentations, the Division also hosts highly-interactive “CHAS Chats”. These virtual discussions provide attendees with the opportunity to connect with subject matter experts and other members of the Division to talk about safety-related issues.

CHAS’s most recent Chats are dedicated to exploring ways that the Division can position itself as a supportive chemical safety resource for two-year colleges (2YC). The next CHAS Chat is the second in the “Safety in the 2YC” Series and is scheduled for Thursday, December 14th from 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM EST. The primary focus will be the safe management and storage of chemicals, but all safety-related questions are welcome!

Please use this link to register for December’s free CHAS Chat. Visit the Division’s website to browse its portfolio of projects and activities, and contact membership@dchas.org to learn more about becoming a member!

On October 28, 2021, Dr. Rob Toreki and Dr. Dan Kuespert discussed the history and challenges of Safety Data Sheets as a chemical hazard communication tool. 50 people attended this CHAS chat and 66 contributed to the pre-survey we did for this CHAS chat.

Key references that were discussed in the CHAS chat were:

Rob’s ilpi.com SDS FAQ page at http://www.ilpi.com/msds/faq/index.html

The Laboratory Chemical Safety Summaries found at PubChem (more information about these can be found at https://pubchemblog.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2015/08/17/a-laboratory-chemical-safety-summary-lcss-now-available-in-pubchem/

Dr. Kuespert’s sides on the Utility and Limits of Safety Data Sheets are

The results of the SDS survey we reviewed are available here:

The recording of this discussion can be found at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-iAK7FVlSpGPpOGwfof5taXaBiO33LLT/view?usp=sharing