What is an MSDS?

Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) is a data sheet which contains the health and safety information about products, substances or chemicals which may be hazardous. It is made for both workers and emergency personnel. An MSDS can vary from country to country depending on the nation’s necessity.

The first MSDS was found in the tombs of the Egyptians and contained pharmaceutical description of the materials used in the treatment of various diseases. The early Sumarians, the Ancient Greeks and the Romans, all maintained a data sheet about chemical hazards. In end of the 1950s, all of the elements found in the MSDS had been developed. It was made into one document in 1967, when Joseph LaRocca and his group investigated different types of chemical data sheets used by their industry. After investigating over a year or more, they produced the original governmental “Material Safety Data Sheet”.

An MSDS provides physical data (boiling point, melting point, flash point, etc.), as well as information about health effects, toxicity, storage, first aid, reactivity, disposal, protective equipment, and spill/leak handling procedures. For example, an MSDS will list the chemicals within a product, and state whether the product is flammable, explosive, or corrosive. It will also prescribe safe handling (eg. ventilation or protective clothing), storage, emergency procedures, and proper disposal .