Understanding chemical storage regulations is like being stuck with the French version of directions for furniture assembly from IKEA because the English part was destroyed ripping into the package. Now what do you do? Allow U.S. Hazmat Storage to be your interpreter for compliant chemical storage. Deciphering through hundreds of line of tedious jargon only leaves you more confused. Let our trusted experts to eliminate any guesswork. Recently, the EPA decided to add new regulations to the already overcrowded rule book. These new additions pertain explicitly to chemical storage for PFOS and PFOA chemicals. Until then, you didn’t need chemical storage at your factory or jobsite.
What are PFOS and PFOA?
In the lab, we call them perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). Known as “forever chemicals,” they are true to their name and stay in the landfill or even our ecosystem for thousands of years to come. But what are these chemicals and were can they be found? These chemicals are found and used in many products, but much of their production went into fire-fighting foam, cookware, repellants and some cosmetics. When you think of toxic chemicals that can be found in the household, you might think of bleach or liquid plumber, but far more dangerous chemical toxins could be lurking in every home. Factories that have products containing PFOA and PFOS compounds have suddenly found themselves out of compliance with the EPA and OSHA. How can the return to the calmer waters of chemical storage compliance?
Chemical Storage for PFOS and PFOA is Affordable and Turnkey
Just because the EPA is rolling out new regulations for hazardous materials doesn’t mean they will be looking to immediately start fining people. That would be like the highway patrol immediately pulling people over the very second they put up reduced speed limit signs. They know the general public needs to smoothly transition to the new norm, but they still want to see progress being made on law abiding citizens to get in step with the new regulations. Even if they show up at your factory to find these chemicals out of storage compliance, they will probably give you some leeway if due diligence is being done to correct the problem. Our chemical storage lockers can quickly separate dangerous PFOS and PFOA from other benign substances within your factory and quickly bring your company into compliance once again.
Chemical Storage Lockers Ideal for Waste Disposal
Just because you have a large quantity of PFOS and PFOA doesn’t mean you will be using them anytime in the near future, but you can’t just dump them out either. Many companies in possession of these chemical compounds inherited them from legacy owners or simply phased them out of the production process and didn’t bother to dispose them at the time. And it’s a good thing they didn’t considering the strain they can put on the environment. Our chemical storage lockers could also double as waste disposal lockers to contain the products until you can achieve long-term disposal – if that ever becomes a possibility. Purchasing chemical storage for PFOS and PFOA could save you more than a few dollars in fines and civil penalties down the road for improper storage.