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Since the regulation of MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) had started from July 1996, employers were required to furnish MSDS for the chemicals in use in their workplace. However, many MSDS did not contain upright information for the chemicals, and they were not updated regularly, and were not written in the standard format required by the Industrial Safety and Health Act (ISHA). The purposes of this study were 1) to examine the reliability of MSDS for mixed solvents, 2) to provide reliable MSDS to employers or employees, 3) to find out any difficulties in implementing MSDS after the initiation, and 4) to promote regular MSDS updating and to ensure the reliability of MSDS for chemical manufacturers. To check the reliability of MSDS of mixed chemicals, 21 samples of mostly degreasing solvents were collected along with their MSDS from the work place. The samples were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass selective detector(GC-MSD). Their components were classified as saturated hydrocarbon, cyclic hydrocarbon, aromatics, and halogen containing hydrocarbon, and the amount of each class were measured. Manufacture´s MSDS were compared with the actual composition of the collected samples, and further examined the reliability by checking whether the chemicals analyzed were included in the MSDS correctly. Finally, each item of MSDS was evaluated whether the MSDS correspond to the regulation required by ISHA. The results were following: 1) most of the degreasing solvents in MSDS were incorrect in their composition and contents, 2) the information in the MSDS including hazard classification, exposure level, toxicity, regulatory information were incorrectly provided, and 3) some MSDS did not disclose carcinogens in their MSDS. Continuous monitoring of MSDS was required to ensure reliability of MSDS. The Chemicals containing hydrocarbons from C_(10)-C_(15) need to be tested to provide toxicity data. In addition, governmental support for providing correct MSDS was recommended to ensure reliability of MSDS. The MSDS regulation relating to the confidential business information may need to be revised to ensure reliability of MSDS.
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