Toxic Education, Teachers Short and Long Term Goals, Chemistry

Teachers: Short Term Actions
For Reducing Chemical Hazards and Improving Chemical Management

• Learn about chemical hazards
• Learn about any requirements for handling chemicals:
  • Federal (e.g. OSHA HazCom, Chem RTK, EPA hazardous waste disposal)
  • State
  • Local (e.g. building or fire code)
  • District
• Build awareness about the issue with others in the school system
  • Administration
  • Business Officials
  • Purchasing
  • Facilities / Maintenance
• Elements to build awareness of
  • Issue is important
  • It needs attention
  • It needs funding
• Work with chemical management professionals to identify hazards in your school
• Get rid of the stockpiles of unnecessary chemicals
  • Prescreen the chemicals in your classroom and storage areas
  • Inventory all chemicals in these areas
  • Remove unnecessary chemicals from schools:
    • Hazardous
    • Outdated
    • No longer needed
• For inventory remaining
  • Obtain and Maintain Material Safety Data Sheets
    • Keep one set in lab
    • Keep one set in office

Teachers: Longer Term Actions
For Reducing Chemical Hazards and Improving Chemical Management

• Develop a chemical management system that includes the following elements:
  • Purchase
  • Storage, including labeling
  • Use, including labeling
  • Disposal
  • Emergency Planning – spills, explosions, accidents
• Use safer chemicals & in smaller quantities
  • Order minimum quantities, consistent with use
  • Try to keep only one year’s worth of stock on hand at any one time
• Prohibit certain chemicals period
  • Work with school administration to develop a list that works for your district
  • Review other state and local programs for chemicals whose hazard potential outweighs its educational value
• Order “safer” alternatives, packaging, dilutions, kits
  • Green chemistry
  • Microscale approaches (e.g. spot plates instead of test tubes)
• Centralize inventory/purchasing
  • Provides opportunity to share chemicals with other teachers and schools, where possible
  • Allows for more efficient control of chemical purchasing, use and disposal.
• Develop and maintain chemical hygiene plan for lab chemicals and other chemicals used in school that identifies:
  • Responsibilities
    • Administration
    • Teachers
    • Students
  • Basic rules and procedures
    • Safety
    • Handling of hazardous materials
    • Spill procedures
    • Waste procedures
    • Training
• Chemical hygiene plans intended for the protection of EMPLOYEES, but their effective implementation can lead to protection of all students and staff
• School-wide or district-wide chemical hygiene plans are more appropriate, so let your work in developing a laboratory chemical hygiene plan inform a school or district chemical hygiene plan
• Regularly budget for removals (Cradle to grave)
• Address chemical issues in context with other environmental concerns; encourage use of environmental management system approach, such as EPA’s Healthy School Environments Assessment Tool