Chemical Inventory and Tracking
All chemicals present in laboratories must be inventoried in EH&S’s centralized inventory program. This allows us to know what chemicals are present on campus at all times.
Chemical Containers that Must be Inventoried
All containers must be labeled as per University Policy 1009- Chemical Labeling Policy, but not all containers must be reported on a Laboratories Chemical Inventory. In general, any container containing a hazardous material such as toxins, carcinogens, flammables, oxidizers, reactive substances, corrosives, and others. Often excluded from inventory reporting (but not excluded from the labeling policy) are non-hazardous materials, working stock containers, and biohazardous or radioactive materials (both are handled separately).
Barcoding and Inventory Control
Most chemicals entered into the Chemical Inventory program should be identified with a unique barcode sticker, supplied by EH&S. Exceptions to this rule are materials with a high turnover such as those used in aseptic techniques (ethanol, isopropanol), chromatography or distillation (hexanes/ethyl acetate), and some cleaning supplies. In these instances, an accurate total amount must be reflected in the inventory but granularity into the specific container is not needed.
Material Description |
Subject to Labeling Policy |
Subject to Inventory Policy |
Subject to tracking/barcoding |
| Hazardous chemicals and chemical products | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Flammable/Toxic compressed and liquefied gases | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pre-packaged test kits that contain hazardous materials | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pesticides and fertilizers | Yes | Yes | In labs only |
| High Turnover solvents (container used within 4 weeks and immediately re-stocked) | Yes | Yes | No |
| Lubricants, fuels, and oils (motor oil, gasoline, diesel, vacuum pump oil) | Yes | Yes | No |
| Aerosol lubricants, Paints, Spray paints | Yes | Yes | No |
| Cleaning supplies used in a work related task (ex bleach for bioagent disposal) | Yes | Yes | No |
| Hazardous waste | Yes, Haz Waste Labels | No | No |
| Non-toxic gases and cryogenic liquids (nitrogen/helium) | Yes | No | No |
| Commercial food, drugs, and cosmetics subject to FDA standard | Yes | No | No |
| Radioactive materials | Yes | No (has other requirements) | No |
| Non-hazardous buffers, enzyme preparation solutions, biological culture media, etiological agents | Yes | No | No |
| Working Stock containers | Yes | No | No |
Reconciliation
Chemical Reconciliation can be performed by scanning the chemicals barcode with a phone, tablet, or bluetooth enabled barcode scanner.