Comment: Safer through collaboration

Since 1950, the American Chemical Society Committee on Analytical Reagents (CAR) has published ACS Reagent Chemicals, a now-electronic reference that provides specifications and validated methods of analysis (monographs) for more than 500 ACS reagent-grade chemicals. Safety is a core value of ACS and a vital concern for researchers and practitioners who work with reagent chemicals. These chemicals, which are used primarily for analytical purposes, have specific standards of purity and quality that need to be met and verified. Ensuring safe handling, storage, and disposal of these chemicals requires that analysts have authoritative and accurate safety information and guidance.

A survey conducted by ACS Publications of those who use ACS Reagent Chemicals revealed an overwhelming desire to include additional safety content. The users expressed the need for more information on the protocols for chemical hazards, exposure precautions, personal protective equipment, and emergency procedures related to the reagent chemicals. Inspired by end-user feedback, CAR reached out to the Committee on Chemical Safety (CCS), the ACS governance body charged with providing guidance on matters of chemical safety to other units within ACS. CAR proposed that the two committees join in a collaborative effort to address the need for enhanced safety content within ACS Reagent Chemicals monographs. The overarching goal for these monographs is to promote a culture of safety for those who use reagent chemicals.

During the initial meeting between representatives from both committees, we quickly realized that this project could satisfy several specific goal strategies from both committees’ strategic plans. The 2023 McKinley Advisors Review also identified collaboration among committees as an opportunity for improvement.

A liaison from each committee was appointed to prepare an outline of the project, which was presented and unanimously approved by the members of each committee at the ACS Spring 2024 meeting in New Orleans. A joint task force was formed, consisting of members from both committees. Since the time the project was approved in New Orleans, the joint task force has met monthly and is now in the final stages of gathering the required information that will be the foundation of the new safety content to be integrated into each monograph for ACS Reagent Chemicals.

Safety content will include the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) pictograms and signal words for the reagent. Each chemical’s PubChem Laboratory Chemical Safety Summary—or LCSS—will be linked, allowing those using the monographs to explore all the safety information beyond the GHS available in the PubChem LCSS. Additional information, especially on compatibility and reactivity, will be made available by providing a link to each chemical in the Computer-Aided Management of Emergency Operations (CAMEO) Chemicals database. The other links will also include general information on risk assessment from the ACS website about Hazard Assessment Tools. These additions are designed to make important safety information readily accessible directly from the monograph while using ACS Reagent Chemicals. The task force expects the new safety content to launch on a rolling basis throughout 2025.

This project is an example of how collaboration among ACS committees can lead to innovation and safety improvement in the chemistry enterprise. The combined expertise and resources of these two committees have provided a valuable service to those who use ACS Reagent Chemicals and the chemical community at large. The project also demonstrates ACS’s commitment to advancing its goal of fostering a safer and ethical environment for chemical professionals. The members of both committees said that working with new colleagues on this project was a wonderful and rewarding experience.

Another committee CCS is working with is the Younger Chemists Committee (YCC). Together with YCC, we’re announcing a new joint ChemLuminary Award, which will be introduced during the 2025 cycle. The Outstanding Activity Promoting Research Safety ChemLuminary Award will recognize outstanding achievements for an impactful activity organized by or for younger chemists—to include young faculty, postdocs, and graduate students—that promotes chemical safety in research laboratories. Nominations for this award will open on Nov. 1 and close on Feb. 15, 2025. The award will be presented at ACS Fall 2025 in Washington, DC.

ChemLuminary Awards nominations should be submitted by local sections, divisions, or international science chapter officers in their unit’s annual report. To inquire about submitting a nomination, please contact chemluminary@acs.org.

We hope that projects like the ACS Reagent Chemicals project and collaborative awards like the new ChemLuminary Award will inspire additional collaborations and initiatives that will enhance safety in the work environment for industrial chemists, technicians, and academic educators.

Views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of C&EN or ACS.