Chemical Safety

Principal investigators planning to use nitric acid should follow safe use and storage practices, develop an SOP and provide documented training to all lab personnel. 

MyChem requires users to upload a safety data sheet (SDS) when adding a new chemical to an inventory if that chemical does not currently exist in the MyChem database. If you have chemicals in your MyChem inventory that do not have an SDS linked to them, you must either upload the missing SDS or have an easily accessible copy of the SDS in your workspace to remain in compliance.

Personnel working on UW research vessels can now add their chemical inventories into MyChem, the University’s chemical tracking system. UW personnel who use chemicals or chemical-containing products at any UW owned or leased facility are required to maintain chemical inventories in MyChem, and chemicals can include, but are not limited to, paint, compressed gas cylinders, epoxies, and fuel.

Updated May 15, 2024

Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) has taken steps to increase staffing and is working with campus partners to reduce delays with chemical waste collections. The two most common issues that delay chemical waste pickup from labs include:

Keeping your safety documents up to date and easily accessible are key for staying safe.

Chemical waste generators at the University have two ways to submit waste collection requests:

1. Directly from your MyChem inventory

2. From the Chemical Waste Disposal page