Posted By Martin Williams One thing that frequently frustrates me when trying to complete COSHH assessmsnts on impoted substances is the apparently inadequate information supplied by the vendor. I often find that Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) supplied with substances do not contain sufficient information. I have recently come across a substance manufactured in the US, but sold by a UK distriubutor, on which the label stated that it contained a chemical that caused cancer, but this was not reflected in the MSDS. How can our assessment be adequate in such circumstances. Surely there should be an obligation on UK distributors of such substances to provide MSDSs which provide all the information (including R phrases) required for a suitable and sufficient COSHH assessment of substances. I would be grateful to hear other member's views and experiences of this.

Posted By Steve Dar Martin, Under CHIP, the UK distributor has the legal responsibility to produce an MSDS and also affix suitable and appropriate labels to the product. If like you say the MSDS & labeling do not correspond I should inform your supplyier at once, noting the discrepancies, at the same time pointing out their legal duties under CHIP. Hope this helps Steve

Posted By Martin Williams Thanks to all who replied. In particular John Crosby, I have just had a similar reply from our parent company in Los Angeles. It does appear that in order to satisfy the labelling requirements of the state of California (California Proposition 65),American imported chemicals are labelled with references to any cancer-causing agents that they may contain, even if you would have to be exposed to massive amounts before causing cancer. I would be interested to hear how bottled mineral water from California would be labelled under Proposition 65!