Introducing the ChemTracker Chemical Inventory Module

ChemTracker allows NAU to meet regulatory requirements by OSHA, the NPFA, and IBC, ensuring that all labs have current chemical inventories and tracking aggregate building quantities. Knowing the types and total quantities of hazardous chemicals in each building allows us to organize more effective emergency response, enhance hazard communication and highlight higher hazard chemicals for safer storage initiatives. These are part of a proactive strategy for chemical and laboratory safety.

Having a digital inventory accessible to all occupants of a given space decreases manual manipulation of spreadsheets and reduces loss of data when members move or leave those spaces. ChemTracker includes a reconciliation tool that can and should be used to update your chemical inventory on an annual basis.

From an environmental sustainability and cost reduction standpoint, maintaining accurate inventories reduces excess ordering and helps keep track of excess chemicals in storage.

It is mandatory for every space that has hazardous chemicals to maintain an inventory of hazardous chemicals. In the past, EHS may have discussed chemical inventories with your group but if your inventory was reviewed by EHS, copies were not kept. Maintaining an accurate chemical inventory in ChemTracker will be mandatory for applicable NAU spaces beginning in January 2024.

Any chemical that poses a physical, environmental, or health hazard must be included. If the container displays one of the chemical hazard symbols/GHS pictograms, it should be listed on the inventory.

This includes any amount of the following:

• Flammable substance
• Corrosive substance
• Acute toxin, reproductive hazard
• Carcinogen, mutagen or teratogen
• Highly reactive substance (pyrophoric, water-reactive or potentially explosive)
• Compressed gas
• Controlled substances (as defined by the DEA Diversion Control Division)

Mixtures should also be evaluated using this scheme. If a mixture is identified as belonging to one or more of these categories, it should be included in the ChemTracker inventory. SciShield’s database includes many commercially available mixtures so that these can be easily added. All applicable hazard categories should be selected in the upload template.

Products with no chemical hazard (such as water, growth media, glucose, sucrose, starches, amino acids, glass beads) or biological materials (infectious substances, cell cultures, bacteria, select agents), or radioactive materials.

Although it is not mandatory to include these types of materials, you may use ChemTracker to keep track of them if you wish. If you choose to track non-hazardous chemicals, biohazards, or other non-chemical hazards in your ChemTracker inventory, it is important that you do not assign them to a hazard group (such as flammable or reactive). EHS uses aggregate data from all inventories to track quantities of hazards in each building and incorrectly assigning chemical hazard categories to non-hazardous chemicals, biohazards, or other non-chemical hazards will distort this data.

Novel compounds that are synthesized in the space should be added to the ChemTracker inventory if there are known hazards associated with them. If hazards are later identified for a chemical that was previously left out of the inventory, that compound should be added when those hazards are identified. These compounds will not be available in the SciShield chemical database but can be added to the inventory as “unlinked” containers and information can be manually added to the entries.

If lab, shop, and studio groups follow good labeling practices, occurrences of unknown chemicals should be rare. However, if a container should end up without a label or an unknown compound is unintentionally synthesized during an experiment, the best options are to identify the compound or dispose of it. EHS has a process for handling unknown chemical waste, which involves working with the group to identify the chemical and, if necessary, sending a sample to an analytical laboratory for identification.

Chemical waste being accumulated in containers for disposal should not be included in the ChemTracker inventory. These containers should be labeled appropriately and disposed of as soon as possible when they are filled or no longer needed.

For the purposes of the ChemTracker inventory, use the vendor supplied quantity for the container. For example, 100mL of a reagent was purchased but small quantities are used over several experiments. Do not measure the remaining quantity after each use, simply list the quantity as 100mL in ChemTracker until the reagent is gone and the bottle is removed from the inventory.

For chemicals/mixtures that are used up and replaced frequently, such as 70% ethanol, the ChemTracker inventory should list the typical amount and size of containers that are on-hand at a given time.

Chemical inventories should be updated as chemicals and hazards enter and exit the space. EHS recommends a full inventory reconciliation once each year. The ChemTracker module has a reconciliation tool to facilitate this process.

Use the online EHS Service Request to request a waste pickup.

Your ChemTracker inventory will be accessible only to you, your group, your compliance liaison (lab manager), EHS and the NAU Fire Marshal.

Any unwanted or unusable chemicals can be submitted for disposal through our online EHS service request.

If you are unsure if your chemical, item, or kit needs to be inventoried, please reach out to NAUEHS@nau.edu with a list of items for review.