10.2 Blog about MSDS and ToxNet

I searched for lead within UCSF's Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) in an effort to continue our conversation from the last class lecture. Below are the findings: 

• What are the health risks associated with this chemical? 
• Acute Ingestion: may cause headache, nausea, abdominal pains, fatigue, muscle/joint pain, kidney disjunction, wrist drop
• Acute Inhalation: CNS damage, which may result in fatigue, tremors, hallucinations, convulsions, delirium, weight loss, sleep disturbance
• Chronic Exposure: possible anemia, CNS and kidney damage
• Skin Contact: may cause local irritation
• Skin Absorption: not pertinent
• Is the chemical a carcinogen? 
• Yes
• What personal protective equipment or special precautions should be taken when working with this chemical?
• Personal Protective Equipment: gloves (cotton or other cloth), eye protection (safety glasses, goggles, and face shield if molten), clothing (heat resistant leggings and gloves if pouring molten lead)
• Special Precautions: 
• Handling/Storing: "wash hands and arms well after handling and/or before eating or smoking. Adequate ventilation and respiratory protection should be provided when handling dross from solder bath."
• Disposal Methods: "Do not dispose of into municipal garbage. Do not dispose of into sewers or any body of water. Do not dispose of in a landfill site. Follow local or Federal guidelines for disposal. Take to a recycle or scrap dealer, or secondary smelter."
• If this is a chemical found in your workplace, what training/education were you given about any risks associated with this chemical?
• Personally, I was not given and training/education about this chemical which is at my workplace. My role does not directly work with lead, though if it is used on campus perhaps there is a slight exposure risk. I would hope UCSF manages this as we are a hospital treating already sick patients. 

While this was informative, the process to get to this information was very confusing. I think this needs to be covered in orientation and be posted in a more transparent way. I understand UCSF has over 4 million chemicals in its database so they can't share all at once. But the process of finding the website, transferring to the single sign on account, then picking which database to search within and learning how to navigate that system is tedious and discouraging. And not friendly to the average audience.