A Product Is Classified as a Carcinogen in the United States, But Not in Another Jurisdiction... Why?

In order to expand a product line, a foreign supplier may choose to export their industrial chemical product to the United States, but they are often surprised that cancer-specific precautionary information must be added to the product’s US-compliant safety data sheets (SDSs) and workplace labels even if the corresponding non-US SDSs and labels do not report a carcinogenic health hazard. This scenario illustrates why, even though the US Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is aligned with the United Nation’s Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS), it is important to understand the specific differences between HCS guidelines regarding carcinogenicity classification and the guidelines in other jurisdictions such as the European Union (EU) and Canada.

Jeremy Long & Elizabeth Dederick, PhD (knoell USA)

Event: SCHC Spring Meeting 2018