[ChBE-Grad] IMPORTANT: Response Required: Methylene Chloride Storage and Usage Intake Form from EHS

[Mountziaris, Triantafillos J]

Dear Colleagues,

Please read the entire message and respond to this request.

Graduate students and Postdocs must discuss this with their supervisor(s). The  PIs need to submit the form.

Thank you!

Lakis


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

T.J. (Lakis) Mountziaris, Ph.D.

William A. Brookshire Professor and Department Chair

William A. Brookshire Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

University of Houston

Houston, TX,  USA

Email: tjmountz at central.uh.edu

Cell: 716-812-8144

________________________________
From: Fu, Zhen <zfu3 at Central.UH.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, September 10, 2024 11:58 AM
To: ehs at uh.edu <ehs at uh.edu>
Subject: Response Required: Methylene Chloride Storage and Usage Intake Form from EHS


Dear UH PIs,



In April 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the final rule<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/risk-management-methylene-chloride__;!!LkSTlj0I!Dlp2uvS4pDl_fWla-CnMz3PIQzUoeUuHkVerFs2S3NMY28sIHuMgBpGdCdEl4yuQnzFqfxuB7DecFh5qVWRoKKIrFd8$ > regulating methylene chloride<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://cameochemicals.noaa.gov/chemical/3154__;!!LkSTlj0I!Dlp2uvS4pDl_fWla-CnMz3PIQzUoeUuHkVerFs2S3NMY28sIHuMgBpGdCdEl4yuQnzFqfxuB7DecFh5qVWRo7lkrpZ4$ > (also known as dichloromethane or DCM) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).


The new rule bans the manufacturing of methylene chloride for all consumer uses and restricts most industrial and commercial uses. This potentially affect the University of Houston community, especially those using methylene chloride as a lab solvent or in products like paint strippers, adhesives, sealants, and cleaners. Learn more here<https://www.uh.edu/ehs/about/articles/stories/2024/epa-dcm-ban-announcement.php>.



To comply, Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) requires all research and teaching PIs with a chemical inventory at UH main campus (including Sugarland and Katy) to complete the intake form below by October 11, 2024. This will help EHS accurately determine where methylene chloride is stored and used accurately, which uses can continue, and plan for exposure monitoring.



The link of the intake form: https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://forms.office.com/r/sqfwAs8nvn__;!!LkSTlj0I!Dlp2uvS4pDl_fWla-CnMz3PIQzUoeUuHkVerFs2S3NMY28sIHuMgBpGdCdEl4yuQnzFqfxuB7DecFh5qVWRoGgRuCRk$ 



Please complete the form even if you do not have methylene chloride (DCM) in your lab space at UH, as this will help us create a comprehensive database. Submitting the form by the due date (10/11/2024) will allow EHS more time to develop a further action plan.



Thank you for your cooperation in promoting safety.



Best,

Zhen



[University of Houston logo]

Zhen Fu, PhD, CSP
Safety Manager | Chemical Safety Officer
Environmental Health and Safety
University of Houston
Office: (713) 743-8723
zfu2 at uh.edu<mailto:zfu2 at uh.edu>
https://uh.edu<https://uh.edu/>



CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information in this email may be confidential and/or privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, then any review, dissemination, or copying of this email and its attachments, if any, or the information contained herein is prohibited. If you have received this email in error, then please immediately notify the sender by return email and delete this email from your devices.




-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://bug.egr.uh.edu/pipermail/chbe-grad/attachments/20240910/5a4d6543/attachment-0001.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 5278 bytes
Desc: image001.png
Url : http://bug.egr.uh.edu/pipermail/chbe-grad/attachments/20240910/5a4d6543/attachment-0001.png