Chemical Management System Research Articles

Development of a terrestrial chemical spill management system

Adequately preparing for and responding to terrestrial (land-based) chemical spills are critical to the protection of human health and the environment. To facilitate analysis and support decision-making for such events, the authors have developed an environmental risk management system that characterizes the ability of a spilled chemical to immediately impact human health, groundwater, surface water, and soil resources, and incorporates these four risk areas into an overall measure of terrestrial chemical risk. This system incorporates a risk index model, leverages geographic information systems (GIS) technology, and contains a comprehensive chemical and environmental database to assess and delineate the immediate threat posed by a terrestrial chemical spill. It is designed to serve a variety of stakeholders, including managers and policy-makers, who would benefit from generating screening-level environmental risk assessments without requiring a technical background or collection of detailed environmental and chemical data. Areas of potential application include transportation routing, industrial zoning, environmental regulatory compliance and enforcement, spill response, and security planning.

Gestão de resíduos químicos em universidades: Universidade de Brasília em foco

The University of Brasilia (UnB) uses a diversity of chemical products, generating residues in a significant way in its multiple activities - teaching, research and community services. The UnB Comission on Chemical Residues Management was established in November 2002, aiming at three main objectives: 1) correct destination for the accumulated residues; 2) implantation of a chemical residues management system and 3) implantation of a UnB Unit for Treatment of Chemical Residues. To fulfil these commitments, a diagnosis of chemical residues produced by the University was performed, which is here presented with an evaluation of their future use, limitations and possibilities.

Organic pest management decisions: a systems approach to technology adoption

AbstractOrganic farmers make system‐level crop protection decisions that combine complementary insect, disease, nematode, and weed management strategies. Data from a 1997 national survey of U.S. organic farmers were used in a multivariate count data model to identify the farm and regional factors influencing the adoption of practices across the linked pest management categories. The results show that weed management requires the greatest management effort by organic farmers. More intensive information‐seeking and on‐farm experimentation, higher educational attainment, and intensity of commitment to organic farming are positively related to the number of weed control strategies adopted. Predictions of adoption based on this model and customized to farm and region specifications will give information providers lead time to develop technical support for reduced chemical pest management systems.

Application of the electronegativity indices of organic molecules to tasks of chemical informatics

An efficient structure filtration method for the operation with chemical databases containing information on the structures and properties of organic molecules was proposed. The technique involves the use of electronegativity indices for generation of identification keys and for isomorphism tests of the molecular graphs corresponding to the structural formulas. The test set for the method proposed included a total of 95,000,000 molecules containing up to sixty carbon atoms. Tests revealed a high discriminating capability of the electronegativity indices and high efficiency of the method for solving both general problems (recognition of chemical structures, chemical database management systems) and specific tasks (generation of molecular graphs, etc.) in chemical informatics.

ChemTracker Consortium – The higher education collaboration for chemical inventory management and regulatory reporting

Tracking chemical inventory is necessary for safety management as well as regulatory compliance. However, this task is especially challenging for diverse and decentralized research and laboratory organizations. Safety and compliance, waste minimization, emergency preparedness, and facility planning design all benefit from knowing what chemicals exist at a facility, who has responsibility for them, and where they are located. Stanford University developed a web-based application for chemical inventory information management and compliance reporting throughout its research and service support operations. After successful implementation and use at Stanford, and significant interest, approval and use by other organizations, Stanford's chemical management solution is now accessible to other not-for-profit institutions through a consortium member arrangement. The chemical information management system is currently used by twelve colleges and universities and one hospital clinical laboratory. This system provides powerful tools for users to control their chemical inventory, access safety information, maintain inventories, review compliance and generate complex regulatory reports. Since all users operate from a hosted, centrally located application server site via their own desktop web browsers, minimal local IT support is required. This collaborative system support approach encourages rapid user acceptance, facilitates single click compliance reporting and supports best in class lab safety management in a cost-effective and efficient manner for higher education.

化学物質の自主管理における企業内システムと専門家の関与に関するインタビュー調査

Under the circumstance that autonomous risk management for chemicals is required in Japan, it is necessary to define fundamental steps for developing chemical management system that are applicable in various types of companies and to understand the effective contribution of chemical or occupational health specialists to the system. For the purposes, we conducted interviews with companies which have an advanced chemical management system in Japan. As the result, each company had a certain policy about detailedness level of collected hazard and exposure information, and also had an efficient risk management system to ensure workers' health in depending on the business type and situations. Moreover, it was commonly observed that the specialists played major roles in developing tools for risk assessment and control, and then business lines led execution of the risk management with their supports. Based on the interviews, we showed a hypothesis of basic steps in introducing autonomous chemical risk management system at the workplaces. It is necessary to verify the hypothesis and to develop a simple system that is applicable to middle or small size companies as the next step.

Construction of a Linux based chemical and biological information system

A chemical and biological information system with a Web-based easy-to-use interface and corresponding databases has been developed. The constructed system incorporates all chemical, numerical and textual data related to the chemical compounds, including numerical biological screen results. Users can search the database by traditional textual/numerical and/or substructure or similarity queries through the web interface. To build our chemical database management system, we utilized existing IT components such as ORACLE or Tripos SYBYL for database management and Zope application server for the web interface. We chose Linux as the main platform, however, almost every component can be used under various operating systems.

Exposure to Phthalate Esters

Exposure to Phthalate Esters

Managing sustainable development within the national oceanic and atmospheric administration

The definition of sustainable development is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Components of sustainable development include economic profitability, environmental quality, and community well-being. For federal agencies, sustainable development is critical to their mission. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has always embraced a linkage between economic and environmental goals. However, integration of these elements into its internal operations is a new concept. This article provides a general discussion of sustainable development principles and approaches to incorporating these principles internally, and specific sustainable development initiatives at NOAA. To meet the demands of NOAA's mission requirements—including sustainable development—and the many environmentally related Presidential Executive Orders, NOAA is developing an environmental, health, and safety management information system (MIS). One element of the MIS, the chemical inventory management system, used to track laboratory chemicals to ensure the safety of employees and protection of the environment, is described in more detail. Additional modules on elements such as Asbestos and Underground Storage Tanks are planned.

コニカにおける化学物質の安全管理

With the field of photographic chemistry, which is one of Konica's main operations, many new chemical compounds are introduced to photosensitive material in order to improve such as picture quality and storage stability and it is remarkably active in this field among other chemical industry.For such industrial character, we placed great importance on safety management of chemicals and have introduced own systems. The “Chemical Substance Safety Management Committee” is aimed to improve systems for reducing dangerous and harmful substances and to manage the safety of chemical substances. The “Chemical Safety Assessment System”, “Chemical Risk Index” and “Environmental Evaluation” helps to eliminate dangerous and harmful chemical substances and select the best during the stage of product development. We also conduct a product environmental assessment system to evaluate the environmental impact on all of our products throughout its life cycle.Recently, increasing numbers of company have publicly informing its environmental information by preparing an environmental report. Konica have issued its environmental report since 1995 and have enriched its quality by reflecting some authorized guidelines and exposing more detailed data since 1998.This is to introduce Konica's characteristics of chemical safety management systems and environmental report.

Comparison of alternative pest and soil management strategies for Maine potato production systems

AbstractPotato acreage and total production in Maine have declined steadily since the 1960s. In 1991, a University of Maine research team established a large-scale, long-term, comparative study of three factors that form the foundation of productive potato cropping systems: soil management, pest management, and variety choice. This study, the Potato Ecosystem Project, included 96 main plots (5.8 ha total) and near-by “component studies.” The project contrasted amended vs. unamended soil management strategies; conventional vs. reduced-input vs. bio-intensive pest management strategies; and disease and stress susceptible vs. tolerant potato varieties. Given recent concerns over resistance to pesticides and increasing costs of agricultural chemical inputs, the reduced-input and bio-intensive pest management systems provided encouraging results. Weed growth was similar in the conventional and reduced-input systems. Colorado potato beetle thresholds were exceeded less often and their densities were lower in the bio-intensive system than in the reduced-input and conventional systems. Lady beetles, which are major aphid predators, were more abundant in the bio-intensive pest management system compared with the reduced-input and conventional systems in 5 of the 6 years. Tuber yield and quality were maintained at a high level in the reduced-input system, although difficulties with plant disease, nutrient and weed management contributed to significantly lower yields in the bio-intensive pest management system. Economic analysis indicated that from 1993 to 1996, the reduced-input system had a greater return over variable cost (avg. $973 ha-1) than the conventional (avg. $890ha-1) and bio-intensive pest management systems (avg. $578ha-1). The amended soil management system achieved rapid improvements in soil quality: soil organic matter, water stable aggregates, potassium, and soluble inorganic phosphorus contents increased while requirements for synthetic fertilizers were reduced. These improvements in soil quality enhanced late-season crop vigor, canopy duration and tuber quality, and increased yields by 13% and 30% over the unamended system in 1994 and 1995, respectively, but not in 1996. Improved crop vigor in the amended soil management system also benefited weed control efforts by encouraging a more weed-suppressive potato crop. In the biointensive pest management system, in which weeds were controlled mechanically, the amended soil management system had less weed biomass than the unamended soil management system in 1994 and 1995. Conversely, the amended soil management system consistently increased flea beetle populations and, in one of two years, the incidence of Rhizoctonia. The choice of potato variety also affected pest dynamics. Total aphid density (all aphid species considered together) and almost all disease ratings were higher on ‘Superior’ than ‘Atlantic’ potato.

Shell Chemical unveils hazard communication system hazard communication system

Shell Chemical and American Management Systems of Fairfax, Va., formally announced commercialization of their new web-based Hazard Communication System on May 20 in Dallas at the annual meeting of the American Industrial Hygiene Association. The system, made up of four integrated modules, is a live intranet application designed to provide quicker access to job-related health and safety information and to allow a company to consistently prepare, maintain, and distribute hazard communication documents to customers and to different work sites. A major feature of the system is the ability to prepare and distribute material safety data sheets (MSDSs) and other documents, such as container labels, in the wide variety of formats required by various regulatory authorities in different countries, according to Barbara A. Stevens, director of product stewardship and hazard communication for Shell. Stevens believes the system will be useful to any chemical producer or to any company, business, or organization that di...

Scale‐Dependency of Solute Transport Modeling/GIS Applications

AbstractThe movement of water through the soil profile and the consequent displacement and transformation of chemicals dissolved in the water is a key concern in preventing water quality degradation, with its eventual impact on living systems, both human and otherwise. Predictions of the effect of a particular water and chemical management system at the soil surface will lead to more enlightened control of chemicals introduced into the environment as pesticides, fertilizers, or waste products. The use of geographic information systems (GIS) in concert with simulation modeling of soil leaching processes is becoming more widespread as a procedure applied to environmental chemical fate issues. The use of GIS has brought to the forefront the spatial scale of such databases as soil survey, elevation, climate and land use, and their use in the modeling process. An accompanying concern is the spatial scale at which any simulation model is assumed to be accurate, and the spatial scale at which both model input and field‐verification data should be generated. Such modeling presently consists of a number of approaches, some useful at several spatial scales, and others more limited by the assumptions inherent in their development. This paper discusses these issues, and presents two case studies as examples.

Economic Aspects of Chemical Information

Important chemical information is contained in a unique way in the Beilstein handbook as well as in the database with its own search engine (CrossFire). This electronic form is one important component of a chemical information management system needed in industrial R&D. The necessary investment for such a system also needs an economic justification. Effective use of any such system containing chemical information from different sources will be enhanced considerably by the use of CAS Registry Numbers.

An electric utility's challenge: Creating an integrated chemical management information system

AbstractThis article examines a research effort undertaken by a large electric utility to integrate a broad range of chemical management information in order to improve regulatory compliance, facilitate chemical management, identify opportunities for waste reduction, and support research applications. The chemical management system (CMS) integrated data from pre‐existing MSDS and procurement databases. While CMS generally proved useful for a range of research applications, using CMS highlighted numerous problems in the underlying data and brought into question the feasibility of the CMS approach. In various ways this project highlighted many issues common to many electric utilities that must be resolved in order to achieve a successful integration of chemical management functions. The problems encountered, particularly those related to procurement data, were related to corporate policy and procedures, not to technical limitations of integrating these databases. This article shows how (as with any TQEM effort) the key to the success of a chemical management system is not to design such a system as a peripheral appendage, but rather as a primary component of mainstream business functions.

An Agricultural Chemical Evaluation and Management System

An Agricultural Chemical Evaluation and Management System (AGCHEMS), has been developed to investigate the impact of various agricultural chemical management scenarios on the movement of these chemicals toward groundwater. AGCHEMS was developed by integrating a chemical transport model (CMLS), a weather simulation model (WGEN), and a geographical information system (GIS). AGCHEMS can evaluate the effect of chemical application rate and timing, the particular chemical used, and other management practices such as the amount and timing of irrigation water. These factors affect the time and amount of the chemical that will reach selected depths in the soil profile. The GIS allows site specific soil information to be used in the model. The GIS can also be used to prepare maps showing the vulnerability of areas to exceed selected standards of chemical movement. Uncertainty in the exact values of soil and chemical properties and variability in weather sequences can also be evaluated and maps generated showing the probability of exceeding various amounts of chemical passing preselected depths in the soil profile. The results obtained using possible and equally likely weather sequences show considerable variability in chemical movement due to weather alone. The implications of this variability upon monitoring programmes, the interpretation of model studies, and possible regulations on use of agricultural chemicals are discussed.

A systems approach to chemical management by manufacturing firms in an environmentally constrained world

The regional and global environmental perturbations resulting from the effects of human economic activity on fundamental biological, chemical, and physical systems can no longer be ignored. Indeed, a complex and expanding set of statutory and regulatory responses, directed in large part at industrial and manufacturing activity, demonstrates society's increasing understanding of this process. These developments have driven the evolution of industry environmental compliance and management systems. In particular, integrated chemical management systems (“ICMS”), which consist of two subsystems — a “data subsystem” and a “management subsystem,” have become both more complex and more integrated into traditional business operating and management systems. Three stages in ICMS evolution are defined and described: stage I, the presystemic stage; stage II, the static system stage; and stage III, the interactive system stage.

Effects of Soil and Agricultural Chemicals Management on Farm Returns and Ground Water Quality

Economie and physical simulation models were utilized to evaluate the effect of alternative soil and agricultural chemical management systems, implemented under the Conservation Reserve and Conservation Compliance Programs, on pesticides' leaching, and returns to fixed farm resources. Findings of the study show that the selection of appropriate soil and chemical systems may not only increase farm returns but may also result in a significant reduction in leaching and hence ground water degradation.

Waste disposal in academic institutions

SECTION I: FEDERAL REGULATIONS AND THE PROBLEMS OF ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS. How to Establish an Academic Laboratory Waste Management Program. What EPA Does Not Understand About Academic Laboratories. Unwanted Chemicals in Secondary School Laboratories. SECTION II: ACADEMIC WASTE DISPOSAL PROGRAMS. Surviving a Disposal Crisis in the Small Academic Laboratory. The School Science Laboratory Inventory and Disposal Project in Illinois-Chemical Disposal. Developing a Chemical Management System. SECTION III: IDENTIFICATION OF UNKNOWN CHEMICALS. Characterization of Unknown Laboratory Chemicals for Disposal. Waste Disposal in an Academic Laboratory: Headaches and Solutions. SECTION IV: METHODS FOR TREATING AND HANDLING WASTES. Tested Laboratory Disposal Methods for Small Quantities of Hazardous Chemicals. The Use of Reductive and Oxidative Methods to Degrade Hazardous Waste in Academic Laboratories. Chemical/Physical Methods for Treatment and Disposal of University Hazardous Wastes. SECTION V: WASTE DISPOSAL PRACTICES. Chemical Waste Reduction and Recycling in Canadian Academic Laboratories. Lab Pack Management. Regional Differences in Laboratory Waste Disposal Practices.

Flood and Seepage Water Sampling Techniques in Rice Fields Under Different Water Management Practices

AbstractSampling equipment reported herein enables collection of flood and seepage waters to determine persistence and transport of chemicals applied in flooded rice culture (Oryza sativa L.). This system gives a capability of evaluating the effects of different chemical application methods (water‐applied, soil‐incorporated) and water management systems (static, flow‐through, and recycled).