The 2023 version of SDScribe™ (v. 9.03) is now available on the web site. This post covers some of the new features (for a quick glance at some snapshots, look here).
New GHS versions
New GHS versions (UN 9, CA22)
New options are available for Canada (CA22) and for the UN (GHS 9). You can select a GHS version for the SDS on the “2 Hazards” tab of the SDS entry form. Click on the button to the right of the “GHS version” label, and then select from its menu. This choice determines which hazard classifications are available when you click on the “Select one” button, as well as the associated pictograms, hazard (H-) statements, and precautionary (P-) statements.
(A similar menu also appears in program Preferences, “Other settings” tab, where you can select a default GHS version to use when you create a new SDS.)
Through the actions of the Canada–United States Regulatory Cooperation Council, the Canadian (CA22) GHS version is coordinated with a similar GHS version from US OSHA (US21, proposed in 2021 and also included in SDScribe™). However, the US agency has not yet finalized its regulation.
Using more than one GHS: You can include hazard classifications from a different GHS version, by using the multi-select dialog. For example, you could include an aquatic toxicity classification from a UN GHS revision on a US or Canadian SDS.
Click on the Multi-select button and select “Any GHS classifications” from its menu, to display the dialog. Then click on the “Classifications shown for GHS” button, to select an alternate GHS. Highlight the classification(s) you want to use, and then click the Paste selected button to place the classification(s) into the Hazard table.
Adding a hazard classification from another GHS revision, using the multi-select dialog.
The pasted classifications will appear in orange text, to indicate they are from a different GHS.
Appearance of the Hazard table, after pasting a classification from another GHS revision.
EU-only hazard classifications
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has added eight EU-only hazard classifications for 2023, including:
Endocrine disruption for the environment (ED ENV1 and ED ENV2)
Endocrine disruption for human health (ED HH1 and ED HH2)
Persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic (PBT)
Persistent, mobile, toxic (PMT)
Very persistent, very bioaccumulative (vPvB)
Very persistent, very mobile (vPvM)
These classifications are accessible from both the “Select one” drop-down menu and the multi-select dialog, when you have chosen EU as the GHS revision. The classifications are matched to EU-only hazard (EUH-) statements, GHS precautionary (P-) statements, and either the “Danger” or “Warning” signal words. They have no corresponding pictograms, however.
Eight new EU-only hazard classifications, with associated EU-only hazard codes. Shown in the multi-select dialog.
Omit EC identity numbers
The SDS generation options dialog now permits you to omit European Commission numbers (EC numbers) and/or Index Numbers (from the EU CLP Regulation, Appendix VI) as component identifiers on the SDS. These numbers may not be relevant if your SDS is destined for customers outside of the EU/EEA region.
Omit EC index numbers and/or EC numbers (check boxes on the SDS generation options dialog).
PFAS import / features
Because of the growing interest in per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), we’ve added an option on program start-up to import US EPA’s master list of these chemicals, consisting of about 12,000 chemicals. Both the Substance browse list and the SDS Component table now identify PFAS-containing chemicals with a green “F” designation in the “PF” column.
PFAS-containing Substances have a green letter “F” in the “PF” column, Substances browse list.
Any Substance with a listing on its “Regulatory” tab that contains the phrase “pfas” (not case-sensitive) in the regulation name will earn the green “F” designation in the Substance browse, and on the SDS Component list, if it is a component.
Appearance of a PFAS listing on the “Regulatory” tab, Substance entry form.
Appearance of the Component table after adding Trifluoroacetic acid, a PFAS. The table is scrolled to the right to display the “PF” column.
Adding Trifluoroacetic acid to the Component table also added this entry into the Regulations table (“15.1 Regulatory” tab).
You can quickly find PFAS-listed Substance records by typing “pfas” (not case-sensitive) in the Quick search box on the Substances browse list; and also by selecting “With PFAS listings”, under “Regulatory” in the Find button pop-up menu (magnifying glass icon, Substances browse list).
Finding PFAS-containing Substances, using the Find button on the Substances browse list.
Harmonised substances update
The ECHA has released its eighteenth Adaptation to Technical Progress (ATP-18), which goes into effect in December of 2023. The ATP includes a revised version of Table 3.1 in Annex VI of the EU CLP Regulation: the hazard classifications to be used with particular (“harmonised”) chemicals. SDScribe™ will offer at start-up to perform this import.
By default, the program will not update any Substance records that are checkmarked as “My” or “Validated”. If, however, you wish to update any listed Substance records (checkmarked or not), you can skip the import during start-up and later select:
File (menu) -> “Imports - exports and utilities” -> “EU harmonised substances list”.
We think it is wise to update all Substance records that appear in Annex VI. However, you may have made your own classification decisions for some Substances, classifications that you want to keep. But if circumstances change, it does not hurt to re-import ATP-18 later, should you decide that you want to override the checkmarked Substances.
Dialog for importing EU harmonised substances at a later time, when the user initiates the process with the “Imports - exports and utilities” option in the File menu. Leave the “Validated” and “My items” boxes un-checked to perform a more complete update than the program startup option. The name of the import file on disk is “ATP-18_harmonised_chems.txt”.
Identifying SDSs that may require updates
Once you have imported the ATP-18 list, you can determine which Substance records have been added or updated (re-classified) from the Search drop-down menu at bottom right on the Substance browse list:
Find (button with magnifying glass icon, Substances browse list) -> Regulatory -> “Inserted or updated in EU harmonised chems” -> ATP01, ATP02…ATP18.
With these Substance records appearing in the browse list, you can then right-click to identify any SDSs in which they appear (“List linked SDSs”; the program will open the SDS browse list). Any SDSs that you released prior to the ATP may merit re-evaluation: go to the “2 Hazards” tab of each SDS and click on the Suggestions button.
Finding SDSs that use the listed Substances, by right-clicking on the highlighted rows. The program will then open the SDS browse list, to display the relevant SDSs.
Display-only concentration ranges
The Component table on the SDS entry form now has additional columns labeled “Min% dsp” and “Max% dsp”. A positive value in either or both columns will cause them to appear in place of the “Min %” and “Max %” columns on the generated SDS. This feature may be useful if you plan to use a concentration range that encompasses the actual value or range of values for the ingredient.
New display-only concentration columns, Component table (“3 Composition” tab of the SDS entry form). In this example, the 49 “Min% dsp” and 55 “Max% dsp” values will appear for ammonium thiosulfate in Section 3 of the generated SDS, rather than the actual 50 “Min%” and 52 “Max%” values.
The “Min% dsp” column header also includes a clickable, drop-down menu containing the Canadian prescribed concentration ranges. Selecting one of these ranges places both the lower and upper values into the display-only columns. (A similar menu also appears in the “Min %” column header, but places the range into the “Min %” and “Max %” columns instead.)
Drop-down menu from the clickable “Min% dsp” column header, showing prescribed concentration ranges that the program can place in the “Min% dsp” and “Max% dsp” columns.
Molarity
The Component table has two more columns, “M min” and “M max”, for entering minimum and maximum molarity, which may be relevant if the product is a dilute aqueous solution. Once you have entered molarities, you can right-click on a row to have the program calculate the “Min %” and/or “Max %” concentrations from the respective molarity values. For the calculation to work, the specific gravity or density of the SDS product must be available (“9 Phys-chem props” tab of the SDS), as well as the molecular weight of the linked Substance record.
For convenience, there is also a “Molarity” option available in the Column view drop-down menu, above the Component table.
Right-clicking on an SDS Component table row, to calculate minimum percent concentration from molarity.