Overview
Durable containers in a laboratory must be labeled in English with:
- Proper Chemical Name or Product Identifier
- Distinguishing Chemical Formula (not empirical formula) or Chemical Structure
- Acronym or Short-hand if cross-referenced
- Concentration is recommended, but not required
Durable containers is a term coined at UNL to mean chemical containers that are not provided by the manufacturer, and which are intended for use that extends beyond a work shift or which will be shared by several UNL employees. For example, a secondary stock solution prepared from a chemical received from a manufacturer is generally stored in a “durable container.” At a minimum, the container must have some sort of indication of its contents. If the indication is not a proper chemical name or trade name as it appears on the SDS, then the naming convention must be cross-referenced in writing and in an obvious and readily accessible location in the laboratory.
Here are a couple of nuances related to this checklist item:
- The naming convention used on the container may be a proper chemical name or trade name/product identifier. The determinant here is whether the name appears on the SDS.
- Chemical formulas or structures can also be used. But, in some cases the formula must be cross-referenced while it is not necessary in others. Here’s an example. The empirical formula for both ethanol and dimethylether is C2H6O. These two compounds can only be distinguished with a structural formula, ethanol being CH3CH2OH and dimethylether being CH3OCH3. So, if the empirical formula is used in the lab to identify ethanol, it must be cross-referenced. If the structural formula is used, then it does not need to be cross-referenced.
- Shorthand names or acronyms must be cross-referenced unless the name appears on the SDS. For example, “Phosphate Buffered Saline” and “PBS” both appear on the SDS for this product. Either name is acceptable without any cross-reference. But, the acronym “EtOH” should be on the cross-reference sheet because this is not a proper chemical name and the SDS will not list this as a synonym.
- Water in containers labeled as H2O, diH2O (distilled water), or ddH2O (double distilled water), are acceptable and do not need to be cross-referenced.
Labeling of waste containers is discussed in the Hazardous Waste section.