Hazardous Materials

Missouri State University is a comprehensive educational institution involved with a multitude of research, teaching and operational projects. Many of these projects utilize hazardous materials and therefore have the potential to generate hazardous waste. Missouri State is dedicated to achieving excellence in managing environmental hazards.

What Are Hazardous Materials?

A hazardous material (HazMat) is any item or agent (biological, chemical, radiological, and/or physical), which has the potential to cause harm to humans, animals, or the environment, either by itself or through interaction with other factors.

Hazardous materials are defined and regulated in the U.S. primarily by laws and regulations administered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Transportation (DOT), and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Each has its own definition of a “hazardous material.”

OSHA defines a hazardous material as any substance or chemical which is a “health hazard” or “physical hazard". The full definition can be found at 29 CFR 1910.120 Subpart H.

The EPA incorporates the OSHA hazardous material definition, and adds "any item or chemical which can cause harm to people, plants, or animals when released by spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injection, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the environment.

DOT defines a hazardous material as a substance or material that is capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported in commerce, and has been designated as hazardous under the federal hazardous materials transportation law. The term includes hazardous substances, hazardous wastes, marine pollutants, elevated temperature materials, materials designated as hazardous in the Hazardous Materials Table, and materials that meet the defining criteria for hazard classes and divisions. DOT regulations can be found in 49 CFR. 

The management of environmental hazards, including the transportation and use of all hazardous materials and the proper treatment and/or disposal of hazardous waste generated through University research, academic, and service and support staff operations, must comply with the applicable Federal and/or State statutes, and their associated rules and regulations. The Environmental Management Policy will be used as a guide for the management of these materials and to ensure the health and safety of all Missouri State students, employees, and the environment.

The management of hazardous materials at Missouri State includes, but is not limited to, controlling hazardous materials from the time the materials are acquired through proper disposal. This method of control is designed to provide a safe, efficient and responsible way to manage hazardous materials and hazardous wastes as required by Federal and State regulations.