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Environmental Health and Safety (EHS)

Chemical Safety and Hazardous Waste

The chemical safety and hazardous waste program partners with researchers to ensure that chemicals are used in ways that reduce risk and exposure as well as in compliance with the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA/TOSHA), the Department of Transportation (DOT/TDOT), the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and the Environmental Protection Agency. ​

The chemical safety and hazardous waste team:

  • Assists with initial laboratory design, set-ups, moves and closings​
  • Assists with chemical inventory management​
  • Provides chemical and physical lab safety and hazardous waste training online and in-person​
  • Provides safety guidance or policies such as the Chemical Hygiene Plan​
  • Assists with development of lab standard operating procedures​
  • Conducts safety and compliance inspections/audits​
  • Conducts injury, exposure, industrial hygiene, and indoor air quality evaluations in research areas​
  • Collects and disposes of chemical and pharmaceutical waste from research areas​
  • Responds to emergencies or spills involving chemicals in research areas​
  • Coordinates and supports the activities of the Chemical Safety Committee (CSC)

 

Dichloromethane (DCM)/Methylene Chloride (MC) Use in VU Labs  

Please visit the following page and complete the RedCap by January 10, 2025, to help the Environmental Health, Safety, and Sustainability department plan for the implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule regulating the use of DCM/MC. This information will not be provided to anyone outside the university and is solely for internal planning purposes. The new regulation does not ban the use of DCM/MC in research, nor does Vanderbilt have any intention to ban its use, but it does significantly increase the regulatory requirements for its use. At this time the least impactful course of action for VU labs is to find substitutes if at all possible and subsequently dispose of any DCM/MC currently in stock by notifying us by requesting a waste collection through EHS Assist; however, we recognize that substitution might not be possible in your lab’s processes and we will strive to support you in incorporating these new requirements into your lab’s operations in the least impactful way possible. Once we receive your information, our office will provide more specific support to the labs who will need to continue to use DCM/MC to help you come into compliance before the initial regulatory deadline of May 5, 2025. More info about this new rule is available here and here.