You Can’t Use It: Good Reasons
Barbara Kanegsberg
We’ve all heard the refrain. You can’t use this chemical; you can’t
use that process. Your first question should be: why?
There are very few outright bans and while options can usually be found that
would allow use of most chemicals and processes. However, I can think of
a few good safety, environmental, and company policy issues that essentially
preclude use a particular chemical or process.
The chemical or process is clearly not safe
While nearly all chemicals can be managed safely with the proper controls,
your safety officer is likely to have issues with chemicals associated with
acute health effects. Many chemicals are associated with severe long-term health
effects; some are suspect carcinogens. Please check the MSDS; and, for information
in complete sentences, with an up-to-date industrial toxicology book. Consider
the appropriateness of the chemical and the process for your specific application,
your specific facility, your employees.
The chemical or process has been banned
There have been a very few Federal usage bans, notably HCFC 141b. In most cases,
a supposed ban means that a chemical or process is strongly discouraged. For
example, for most applications, in the South Coast Air Quality Management District,
an open-top degreaser can be used only with very low VOC or VOC-exempt compounds.
Unless you have the budget for capital equipment and process development use
the required well-contained systems, stringent regulatory requirements may
add up to bans.
Your boss/best customer/client becomes rabid at the mention
of a specific chemical or process
I do not recommend career suicide. You might want to investigate the “why” behind
the problem. In some companies, chlorinated solvents are discouraged due to
Superfund issues. In other cases, the hassle of changing a specification or,
worse yet, a group of diverse specifications may not be worth the time or effort.
There might even be litigation issues.
