Finding lists of chemicals in your school
The PEOSH Hazard Communication standard (N.J.A.C. 12:100-7) requires that the RTK survey, as well as material safety data sheets (MSDSs) on each chemical on the list, be readily available to employees and their representatives in each facility, in a central file, either on paper or electronic media. If you can’t locate it, the RTK poster in your facility should have the name and address of the person in charge of the central file. The list of hazardous laboratory chemical is sometimes filed as a supplement to the RTK survey. If not, the PEOSH Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Substances in Laboratories (1910.1450) requires there be a Chemical Hygiene Officer in each workplace, who will know where to find the list.
The AHERA Asbestos Management Plan must be filed in each school’s main office.
NJEA resources
- Select topics, including PCBs, pesticides, chemicals, radon, asbestos, and pest control from the NJEA Health & Safety article index.
- NJEA Health and Safety Manual – review how to form a local health and safety committee, and how it can survey the workplace for carcinogens and other hazards.
New Jersey Department of Health Resources
- Factsheet, Cancer Concerns in my Workplace
- NJ DOH Website with interactive maps of cancer incidence by county
- The 2003 DOH summary of the Toms River Final Technical Report illustrates the enormous amount of research done, and the low degree of confidence in the results due to small population size
Other resources
- American Cancer Society – Find more information on cancer, including variation of cancer incidence and mortality by race.
- The Collaborative on Health and the Environment has a database of cancers and the chemicals associated with them