Chemical Inventory Program
All laboratories with hazardous chemicals are required to participate in the Chemical Inventory Program. All chemicals are to be registered using the ChemTracker Software embedded in BioRAFT.
The Safety Team provide access to a web-based chemical inventory, chemical-container barcode labels, storage group labels, training materials, and ongoing technical support at no cost to laboratory. Labs can use their own inventory process, but must participate in reconciling their inventory yearly using ChemTracker.
Chemical Inventory Process
Hazardous chemicals are tracked from the point of ordering through UTD’s procurement system until they are deemed waste and sent out with our third party hazardous materials disposal team. Before materials can come onto campus, the Safety Team is responsible for reviewing certain account codes. If items are coded incorrectly the requisition will have to be withdrawn and resubmitted. All chemical materials must be coded using: 63302 Chemicals and Gases.
From there, all chemicals are shipped to UTD’s Central Receiving where they will be inspected by qualified personnel for leaking, bulging, or otherwise damaged containers that present a danger for transportation and compromise the safety of use of the chemical for the end user. When they are inspected, the chemicals will be placed in the UTD’s chemical inventory software, ChemTracker, and assigned to the responsible party, coded with a UTD Barcode, Storage Group Code, and any other sticker notifying the user of potential hazards.
After inspection, the chemical will be placed on UTD cargo trucks and delivered to the responsible party. From there, the responsible party is free to use the materials and is required to store the hazardous materials based on the SDS. Once a year, the Safety Team will contact the laboratory to perform a Chemical Rescan.
A Chemical Rescan is performed annually by the responsible party in conjunction with a Safety Team member to reconcile the University’s chemical inventory. This allows hazardous materials to be updated in location, quantities, and/or deemed waste.
Access to the ChemTracker Chemical Inventory Software
Chemtracker is available through your BioRAFT profile (UTD NetID Required). If you are looking for assistance in joining an existing group in BioRAFT, contact the Principal Investigator or Responsible Party. If further assistance is needed, contact Safety at Safety@utdallas.edu.
Training
The Safety Team provides ChemTracker training that goes over detailed instructions for most of the common chemical inventory tasks. Training is assign when new laboratory members are assigned to a space on campus. In-Lab training is available on request, but most researchers will be able to navigate the program successfully without in-person instruction.
Chemical Rescans
What is a Chemical Rescan?
A chemical rescan is a task performed annually that updates your chemical inventory. The Safety Team provides a barcode scanner and an excel sheet that can log existing containers, that when uploaded to the ChemTracker Software, will remove chemical containers that have been taken out of your inventory. This allows the Safety Team to provide updated Maximum Allowable Quantities information sheets to spaces to remain under federal code limits.
What stickers are you putting on my chemicals?
To help identify incompatible storage and handling, ChemTracker will assign Chemical Storage Group Codes to every hazardous material in it’s inventory. As your inventory grows, it can become difficult to identify if you have incompatibles stored together. These stickers help users identify quickly if a chemical needs to be rehomed to it’s correct chemical storage area.
Use the codes in the chart below to determine the proper storage group for the chemicals in your inventory.
| ChemTracker Code | Chemical Storage Group | Examples |
| A | Compatible Organic Bases | BIS TRIS, Diethylamine, Imidazole, Triethanolamine |
| B | Compatible Pyrophoric & Water Reactive Materials | Tert-Butyllithium, Sodium Borohydride |
| C | Compatible Inorganic Bases | Sodium Hydroxide, Ammonium Hydroxide |
| D | Compatible Organic Acids | Acetic Acid, Maleic Acid |
| E | Compatible Oxidizers including Peroxides | Nitrates, Periodic Acid, Perchloric Acid, Potassium Permanganate |
| F | Compatible Inorganic Acids, not including Oxidizers or Combustibles | Phosphoric Acid, Hydrochloric Acid, Sulfuric Acid (fuming), Hydrofluoric Acid |
| G | Not Intrinsically Reactive, Flammable, or Combustible | Acrylamide, Sodium Bisulfate, Coomassie Blue, Sodium Chloride |
| I | Compatible Strong, Oxidizing Agents | Nitric acid, sulfuric acid |
| K | Compatible Explosives or Other Highly Unstable Materials | Picric Acid Dry, Tetrazole, Ammonium Permanganate |
| L | Non-Reactive Flammables and Combustibles, including Solvents | 1-Butanol, 1-Propanol, Acetic Anhydride, Acrolein, Formamide, Acetone, Isopropanol |
| U/None | Storage group unknown | Unknown/Unlinked chemicals in ChemTracker, Consult SDS |
| X | Incompatible with ALL Other Storage Groups | Sodium Azide, Picric Acid Moist, Arsine |
Click this link to view/print the chemical storage group guide.
Other stickers include a UTD Barcode and, if applicable, a PFC, and/or a P–Listed sticker.
Does my inventory get updated more than once a year?
Every space on campus that has hazardous materials also has a Green Sheet located in the hazardous waste disposal area for chemical barcodes. When a chemical container is deemed waste, the UTD Barcode is required to be placed on the Green Sheet. Once a month, a Safety Specialist will replace the Green Sheet and scan out the UTD Barcodes to update your inventory. However, hazardous material users are welcomed to remove their own inventory from their profiles so that their inventory is up-to-date for ordering purposes.
What do I need to perform a Chemical Rescan?
In order to perform a rescan, first you will need to contact Safety at Safety@utdallas.edu and we will schedule a rescan date with you.
The Safety Team will provide:
- UTD Barcodes
- Chemical Storage Group Codes
- Bluetooth enabled barcode scanner
- Green bins for hazardous waste disposal
You will need to provide:
- Laptop with Bluetooth capabilities
- Supported web browser – Firefox, Safari, Google
If you are interested in purchasing your own barcode scanner, contact Safety@utdallas.edu for specs on our devices.
What if I have hazardous materials that I need to dispose of during a Chemical Rescan?
During a chemical rescan, this is the perfect time to eliminate unwanted materials from your inventory and to update your existing inventory. When you perform a Chemical Rescan, the Safety Team will provide your space with several green bins for hazardous material disposal.
If you decide to use the green bins, follow these guidelines:
- Place compatible chemicals in the same bin. For example: do not mix acids and bases, etc.
- Do not remove the UTD Barcodes. This will allow our team to remove the items from your inventory and place the barcodes in the hazardous waste inventory.
- There’s no need to rinse bottles! Place the containers in the green bins and we’ll take care of disposal.
If your space wants to remove large quantities of chemicals outside of the chemical rescan process, contact Environment@utdallas.edu to schedule a Lab Clean Out.
What if I want to find chemicals outside of my space?
If you wish to search the campus inventory records for chemicals you wish to borrow from another space, contact Safety@utdallas.edu with the chemical name and CAS #.
All chemical sharing is voluntary and requires the permission of the space that owns the chemical(s) as well as the approval of the Principal Investigator / Responsible Party of the space that wishes to borrow or adopt the chemical(s). If you adopt the chemical(s) into your space from another space, be sure that they remove the chemical(s) from their inventory and that you add the chemical(s) to yours.
If you require assistance for this process, contact Safety@utdallas.edu with the chemical name, CAS #, and UTD Barcode with all parties CC’d on the email.
Novel Chemicals on Campus
Novel, also known as newly synthesized chemicals, on campus must be labeled with their name and associated hazards. Use of abbreviations such as structures, formulas, or acronyms is acceptable. However, if you use any abbreviations, you must provide a “key” to the abbreviations in a visible location (preferably close to the chemicals and/or by the door). The “key” must contain the abbreviation and the name of the chemical. Including the hazards of the chemical on the “key” is also useful information.
In addition to labeling requirements, all synthesized hazardous materials must have a Globally Harmonized System (GHS) compliant label and Safety Data Sheet (SDS) before shipping, transporting and storing the chemical on campus. All SDS’s can be uploaded into the chemical inventory software.
Use the SDS template to make a GHS compliant SDS.
The SDS includes information such as the properties of each chemical; the physical, health, and environmental hazards; protective measures; and safety precautions for handling, storing, and transporting the chemical. The person preparing the SDS must ensure the information accurately reflects the scientific evidence used in making the hazard determination.
If you need examples of an SDS, click the following chemicals: