Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Reportable Quantity & The List

quicksilver - 13-9-2006 at 07:22

Reciently I received a MSDS and on a chemical that was not on list 1 or 2 was a "REPORTABLE QUANTITY" bracket with a weight level. This was a nitrate, not too common but not that unique and is in NO way usable for drug manufacture...! What the Hell is going on? Is the List 1 and 2 changing all the time?
Where can I get a NEW (and improoved) copy of list 1 and 2?
What the Hell is the "REPORTABLE QUANTITY" issue?

joeflsts - 13-9-2006 at 09:55

I don't think it means what you think it means... ;)

Any release of one or more of the roughly 800 CERCLA or 360 Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) hazardous substances that equals or exceeds a reportable quantity (RQ) must be reported to the EPA National Response Center (NRC).
RQs are adjusted to one of five levels: 1, 10, 100, 1,000, or 5,000 pounds. EPA bases adjustments to the RQs on the intrinsic characteristics of each hazardous substance, such as the aquatic toxicity, acute and chronic toxicity, ignitability, reactivity, and potential carcinogenicity. An RQ value is established for each of these characteristics of a hazardous substance, with the most stringent RQ value (i.e., the lowest quantity) becoming the final RQ or reporting trigger for that hazardous substance.

Release = spill, accident, etc...

http://www.ilpi.com/msds/ref/cercla.html

Joe

[Edited on 13-9-2006 by joeflsts]

bio2 - 13-9-2006 at 11:41

For the latest in Listed & Controlled Substances , Reportable Quantities (SARA) in the USA see the DEA website.

See! you knew they were good for something after all.

For NaCN it is 1Kg/month (IIRC) which means a newspaper
notice for 30 days along with notifying your friendly
neighborhood Police, Fire Dept. and whorever else needs to know.

All this before it's even delivered, kinda takes all the fun
out of making your Nitriles.

quicksilver - 14-9-2006 at 06:58

I think you fellows hit it right on the head...what a waste of tax dollars! As if some fiend is going to pour mercuric salts on protected species....
"Ahhh, these beautiful creatures must taste the sting of the Chemical Industry's wrath"...(rubs hands together)....

ethan_c - 14-9-2006 at 22:41

Quote:
Originally posted by quicksilver
I think you fellows hit it right on the head...what a waste of tax dollars! As if some fiend is going to pour mercuric salts on protected species....
"Ahhh, these beautiful creatures must taste the sting of the Chemical Industry's wrath"...(rubs hands together)....


You're saying you HAVEN'T done that?
…

What do you do on Saturday nights then?

YT2095 - 4-11-2006 at 09:27

I`m curious about this list thingy they`ve concocted, 2 things...

1) if you Already had these listed/watched items And in quantity Before this list thing came into being,What then?
did they provide some sort of Amnesty mechanism whereby you turn in your 50Kgs of KMnO4 and your 3 kilos of RP and I2?

2) does anyone know if the UK has something akin to this listed/watched chems document?
or even a list of Banned chems etc...
I have searched, and there seems to be Nothing you can`t really posses in way of precursors.

S.C. Wack - 4-11-2006 at 14:17

Reread joeflsts' reply.

YT2095 - 5-11-2006 at 09:08

yeah, so???

it goes no where NEAR answering either of the 2 questions I asked.
I sugest you REread MY post again!

Magpie - 5-11-2006 at 10:10

Doesn't the term "reportable quantity" or "RQ" apply only to a spill?

bio2 - 5-11-2006 at 10:28

......Doesn't the term "reportable quantity" or "RQ" apply only to a spill? .........

Not as I understand it. It's the quantity (arbitrarily?)
that means you have to tell everybody where it is IF
it is spilled. This for SARA.

The 'threshold" quantity refers to record keeping requirements.

Anything on the List 1 is easy to buy as any other chemical only you might attract a lot of attention!

S.C. Wack - 5-11-2006 at 13:45

Quote:
Originally posted by YT2095
yeah, so???

it goes no where NEAR answering either of the 2 questions I asked.
I sugest you REread MY post again!


Your post was quite clear to me: it has nothing to do with this thread and RQ, so I couldn't care less about answering your question. It is pointless to put off-topic questions and answers in threads.

Magpie - 5-11-2006 at 16:42

I have done some research on RQ and SARA and what I see is that RQ applies to a discharge to the environment. That is, a spill, a release (unintentional or intentional), or material missing.

I don't read that you have to report the mere aquisition or ownership of a hazardous material.

bio2 - 5-11-2006 at 20:52

I quess my reference to SARA was incorrect but WTF it's called
(CERCLA?)certain substances do require public notification upon mere aquisition like NaCN for example 1Kg or more.

Believe me I did find out the hard way but that was long ago.
If anything I wouild suspect more stringent enforcement than when these laws were original passed.

If living in California a sign has to be put up on the storage bldg and entrance. Of course we all know that everything is carcenogenic there, lol, at least that's what all these stickers
say. Bought a water pump not long ago that had one of those stupid California has determined blah, blah, blah Alls
I could figure is maybe if you chewed all the paint off a few.

quicksilver - 6-11-2006 at 06:34

Speaking for myself, some confusion was generated regarding "reportable quanity" and that group of environmental laws which superficially appear to overlap. However I don't believe that the environmental issues encompass reporting / record keeping of the specific item (i.e. "she bought 500 grams of PbO2 for the Christmas party from L.T. Baker") And the point about California is a good one. That type of thing is really what got "Big-Brotherism" from the law enforcment end of things to the [general public] environmental end.

YT2095 - 6-11-2006 at 09:49

DEFRA is the closest we have here in the UK/EU, there`s also not Much in the way of chems that`s "reportable".
there seems to be a lot of focus on about 5 or 6 types and that`s it.

BromicAcid - 6-11-2006 at 11:09

Simply looking into CFR 40 (Specifically 302.3) lets you look up the definition as it relates here:
Quote:
Reportable quantity (“RQ”) means that quantity, as set fourth in this part, the release of which requires notification pursuant to this part;


Most of section 302 of 40 CFR covers RQ requirements, including the quantities and what to do in case of a release (i.e., who to report to).