Dow provides health, safety and environmental information to our direct product receivers through documents called Safety Data Sheets (SDS) and product labels. These documents are required by law in many countries in which Dow does business.
Dow has long been considered a pioneer in product stewardship and has been developing and distributing SDS and labels for its products for more than 40 years.
Dow develops and distributes SDS and labels for all products in compliance with the jurisdictional requirements and standards of all geographical areas where it produces and/or sells products. Dow’s internal standards require the development and distribution of SDS and labels for products even when there are no local requirements to do so. Local hazard communication requirements are interpreted by local Dow regulatory specialists who are familiar with those requirements. The requirements are then incorporated into global Dow standards and processes for generation and maintenance of SDS and labels.
The development of SDS and labels is supported by specialists in all important subject areas, such as toxicology, ecotoxicology, environmental chemistry, industrial hygiene, medicine, reactivity and flammability. Each person involved in the compilation of SDS for Dow products has received appropriate training (internally and/or externally), including periodic refresher training.
High-quality regulatory databases are available to Dow personnel involved in the hazard assessment of products and in the creation of hazard communication documents. These databases ensure availability of the most up-to-date regulatory information for Dow employees, as well as consistency of information conveyed to our customers.
New information and changing regulatory requirements are continuously assessed and incorporated into the Dow processes and standards, resulting in regular updating of our SDS and labels. Through dedicated systems and processes, the SDS and labels are distributed to all customers and updates are submitted when new data and knowledge has resulted in significant changes of their contents. Suggestions on improvements to our SDS documents and labels are always welcome and will be seriously considered.
Every Dow product has a Safety Data Sheet, and nearly all of them are available from our Safety Data Sheets & Product Finder page.
Safety Data Sheets include the following information:
- Physical and chemical properties of the substance
- Hazards identification
- First aid measures
- Fire fighting measures
- Accidental release measures
- Handling and storage
- Exposure controls and personal protection
- Physical and chemical properties
- Stability and reactivity
- Toxicological information
- Ecological information
- Disposal considerations
- Transport information
- Regulations
- Other information
