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1 Chemicals in the Food and Beverage Industry: An Introduction
The chemicals we use at home or in our work often seem familiar and innocuous,
especially in food and beverage environments. Attention and vigilance are needed!
Chemicals can be in three states: solid, liquid, or gaseous. They are often used
deliberately for everyday use but can also be emitted in the form of dust, gases,
and vapors, and their presence may be undesirable. These products are classified
according to the risks they present (Parisi 2016):
(1) Physicochemical properties: flammable, unstable products that may give rise
to fires, explosions, or reactive actions (heat release, gas emission, product
projection)
(2) Toxicological properties: harmful, corrosive, toxic, irritant, carcinogenic, etc.,
having adverse effects on human health (intoxication) and on the environment
(pollution).
These substances can cause:
(1) On the one hand, serious accidents (burns, intoxications, explosions, etc.) or
even the origin of occupational diseases (allergies, cancers, etc.)
(2) On the other hand, environmental pollution during accidental spills or diffusion, and/or chronic releases toward the natural environment, with the effect of
jeopardizing the equilibrium of the ecosystem.
Mandatory regulations have established classification and labeling rules based on
these properties (hazard class). Any chemical that meets these rules is called DCA.
1.3.2 Definition 2
A chemical agent is a chemical product, generally marketed and often subjected to
labeling, by addition of chemical elements and/or compounds and related mixtures,
without relation to natural or artificial states. This substance may be supplied, stored,
and used in the form of vapors, dust, smoke, etc. In addition, chemical sub-products
of each industrial or artisanal process include chemical waste, without relation to
the intentional or unintentional production and the final destination (United States
Department of Labor 2013).
A DCA is essentially (European Commission 2013):
(1) Any agent which is subjected to a specific regulatory marking (explosive, oxidizing, highly toxic, toxic, harmful, corrosive, irritant, sensitizing, carcinogenic,
mutagenic, and toxic to reproduction agents)
(2) Any chemical agent which could be recognized to have occupational exposure
limit values (AISS 2016)
(3) Any chemical agent which may present a risk for the health and safety of workers
because of its physicochemical, chemical, or toxicological properties, without
relation to above-mentioned classification criteria and its homogeneous or heterogeneous state. Examples in this ambit: formwork oil, epoxy resins, tars, iron
oxide, etc.
1 Chemicals in the Food and Beverage Industry: An Introduction
The chemicals we use at home or in our work often seem familiar and innocuous,
especially in food and beverage environments. Attention and vigilance are needed!
Chemicals can be in three states: solid, liquid, or gaseous. They are often used
deliberately for everyday use but can also be emitted in the form of dust, gases,
and vapors, and their presence may be undesirable. These products are classified
according to the risks they present (Parisi 2016):
(1) Physicochemical properties: flammable, unstable products that may give rise
to fires, explosions, or reactive actions (heat release, gas emission, product
projection)
(2) Toxicological properties: harmful, corrosive, toxic, irritant, carcinogenic, etc.,
having adverse effects on human health (intoxication) and on the environment
(pollution).
These substances can cause:
(1) On the one hand, serious accidents (burns, intoxications, explosions, etc.) or
even the origin of occupational diseases (allergies, cancers, etc.)
(2) On the other hand, environmental pollution during accidental spills or diffusion, and/or chronic releases toward the natural environment, with the effect of
jeopardizing the equilibrium of the ecosystem.
Mandatory regulations have established classification and labeling rules based on
these properties (hazard class). Any chemical that meets these rules is called DCA.
1.3.2 Definition 2
A chemical agent is a chemical product, generally marketed and often subjected to
labeling, by addition of chemical elements and/or compounds and related mixtures,
without relation to natural or artificial states. This substance may be supplied, stored,
and used in the form of vapors, dust, smoke, etc. In addition, chemical sub-products
of each industrial or artisanal process include chemical waste, without relation to
the intentional or unintentional production and the final destination (United States
Department of Labor 2013).
A DCA is essentially (European Commission 2013):
(1) Any agent which is subjected to a specific regulatory marking (explosive, oxidizing, highly toxic, toxic, harmful, corrosive, irritant, sensitizing, carcinogenic,
mutagenic, and toxic to reproduction agents)
(2) Any chemical agent which could be recognized to have occupational exposure
limit values (AISS 2016)
(3) Any chemical agent which may present a risk for the health and safety of workers
because of its physicochemical, chemical, or toxicological properties, without
relation to above-mentioned classification criteria and its homogeneous or heterogeneous state. Examples in this ambit: formwork oil, epoxy resins, tars, iron
oxide, etc.