Poison

DEFINITION

Any substance capable of causing injury or death. When someone has been exposed to toxic substances, immediately contact a poison control center network or get medical assistance ? telephone 911 in many communities.Many manufactured art and craft materials carry a label stating "Conforms to ASTM D-4236." This indicates that the product conforms to the labeling standards of the Hazardous Art Materials Act (HAMA), which was signed into US law on November 18, 1988. If the product is non-toxic, then no warning needs to be included on the label. However, if the product is found to carry acute or chronic health hazards, the information on the label must alert the consumer to those hazards. The part of this law which is of greatest importance here is the Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act (LHAMA). The law requires art material labels to (a) carry a warning statement identifying chronic health hazards, (b) list the ingredients causing those hazards, and (c) provide directions for safe use of the product. The phrase, "Conforms to ASTM D 4236", is required as evidence that the guidelines of the standard were followed in the labeling of the product. The evaluation is to be conducted by a board-certified toxicologist, and the product must be reevaluated periodically, at least every five years. Another key piece of information to be found on the label, as directed by the standard, is a source for additional information. This can take the form of a toll free phone number that is reachable 24 hours per day, or directions to contact a poison control center network. Under the Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act, it became a requirement for chronically hazardous products to carry the phone number of a person responsible for placing the product on the market. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is the US's federal agency charged with enforcing HAMA.(pr. POY-zən)Also see Art & Creative Materials Institute (ACMI), ASTM International (American Society for Testing and Materials), caustic, ergonomics, flammable, fumigation, hazardous, Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), preparator, solvent, toxic, and volatile.