Best practices for handling and managing peroxide forming compounds. Details on identification, testing and safety precautions.

1. Hazards and Handling
Advanced Peroxide Forming Webinar:
Presented by:
Ted Dubiel, Quality Manager

2. Meet Your Moderator:
Sasha Laferte

3. 1. All lines are muted, use the chat panel for tech issues
and Q&A at webinar’s end.
2. Unanswered questions will be answered via email after
the webinar.
3. Webinar recording and slides will be emailed to you
tomorrow morning.
Share With the Audience

4. About Ted Dubiel
• Over 16 years
peroxide former and
high haz management
experience
• Head of New England
Technical Lab
Services Division and
company reactives
program

5. Does your organization need
help with peroxide former
management?

6. Managing Your Program
• Overview
• Regulations
• Program
Implementation
• Program Management

7. Overview
• Chemicals may form explosive
peroxides for a variety of reasons
becoming shock sensitive
• Can pose a threat to the health
and safety
• In most cases not currently
managed under a structured
program

8. Overview
• Energetic materials do
not age well
• Routine use can expose
can accelerate the
chemical breakdown
• Changes in the material’s
form, color, or state
require investigation

9. The Chemicals
• Ethyl Ether
• Tetrahydrofuran
• Isopropyl Ether
• 1,4 Dioxane
• Sodium Amide
Common Peroxide Formers:

10. • Five types of stimuli to which an
explosive will react:
 Electrostatic discharge
 Friction
 Impact
 Heat
 Shock
• Safety needs to be increased as
energetic materials age
Overview

14. Regulation/Guidelines
• OSHA- General Duty Clause
• NFPA- Peroxide former storage, Fire
Department enforcement
• State Department of Environmental Protection -
Treatment permits (if necessary)

15. Regulation/Guidelines
• Perform the work off-
hours
• Have a secure location to
move to
• Isolate areas that you will
pass through with the
material

16. Stabilization of High
Hazard Material
• Information is the key:
 Commercial products are relatively easy to stabilize
because of the availability of information.
 MSDS’s usually (but not always) have solubility information
on them.

17. How Do You Avoid
All This?

18. Management of High
Hazard Chemicals
• 95% of all remote openings
can be avoided.
• They usually result from
three things:
 Improper storage
 No preventative maintenance
 Bulk purchasing

19. Management of High
Hazard Chemicals
The Challenge: Develop a standard
operating procedure (SOP) that collects the
information you want and prevents small
bottles from becoming budget shattering
events.

20. High Hazard SOP’s
• Find easy ways to collect
information.
• Work with Researchers
• Make tracking/labeling easy
• Give staff a reason why these
things must be done (Ex. Fire
dept. requires inventory).

21. • Create management
systems that cover the
use, maintenance, and
purchasing of those
materials that could
become unstable.
• This will prevent and
prohibit activities that
create problems.
Management of High
Hazard Chemicals

22. Management of High
Hazard Chemicals
• Management systems can include:
 Who can purchase such materials
 The largest amount that can be purchased
 How and where these materials be stored
 After what time the chemicals will be disposed
 Who will enforce the system and what the
penalty will be

23. Management of Peroxide
Forming Chemicals
• Many of the goals of the system can be accomplished
with the existing staff.
• Use people at key points in the process of ordering and
receiving chemicals.
 Purchasing and Receiving - This covers who is using
the material and how much.
 Chemical Hygiene Plan - This will cover authorized
procedures.

24. Management of High
Hazard Chemicals
• Labs should be inspected
routinely by lab personnel
specifically for peroxide
forming chemicals.
• Periodic inspections by
EH&S

25. High Hazard SOP’s
• Get them to document their
high hazard materials on an
email format or web-based
form.
• Create a similar inspection
form for high hazard materials
that must be submitted on
some schedule.
• Look at the forms and give
feedback.

26. High Hazard SOP’s
• You can never provide too much
information to the lab.
 All lab staff know of peroxides in ether. Not
many know what causes this to happen
(conditions and use).
• Attempt to get into lab meetings at least
monthly with this type of information.
• Let them know the potential safety issues
to the individual.

27. • Large University in Boston Area
 Biannual lab evaluations
• Entire campus walk through
 Report created
 Material evaluated for disposal

28. • Large Biotech in Boston Area
 Entered received date upon receipt into
Chemical inventory
 Report created showing material at or over
1 year
 Annual walk through
 Material removed for disposal

29. QUESTIONS?
Ted Dubiel
tdubiel@triumvirate.com
617-839-4033

30. Thank You!
1-888-TEI-WOWS www.triumvirate.com