Welcome to Mighty Line Minute! Today we’re addressing a common compliance issue in academic labs: outdated Safety Data Sheets (SDSs). These documents—required by OSHA and by other globally-harmonized countries, reflect the most current hazard information. Yet many laboratories rely on old versions. Let’s take a look at how common this is, why it happens, and what you can do about it. 

SDSs deliver essential safety information across 16 standardized sections, including Hazard Identification, Chemical Composition and Information, First-Aid Measures, Fire-Fighting Measures, Handling and Storage, Exposure Controls and Personal Protection, and Physical and Chemical Properties. 

Under OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard, manufacturers must update SDSs within three months of new hazard information. Labs are required to maintain the latest version. Yet studies show roughly 10% of SDSs in unreviewed collections are outdated, with university labs averaging a 3.3-year gap between old and current versions. 

Why is this problem so widespread? Here are five big reasons: 

Decentralized management—each principal investigator runs their own inventory. 

High turnover among EHS managers and lab students who inherit old chemicals and outdated SDSs. 

Limited resources—smaller departments may still rely on paper binders. 

The 3rd-party electronic hosting service may not have received updated information. 

And, online scavenging—someone may have grabbed an old SDS from the internet. 

A 2022 American Chemical Society analysis found 20–30% of university labs non-compliant—largely due to outdated or missing SDSs. At the time of the study, many pre-2015 MSDSs were found that predated the GHS standard. 

While OSHA allows temporary use of SDSs if no update exists, current versions are nearly always available online. Relying on old data risks incorrect PPE or ventilation, mishandling of spills, inadvertent chemical reactions, and inadequate design of fire protection systems for the exposure involved.  

In one case, an outdated SDS omitted a newly identified incompatibility—resulting in a chemical release, evacuation, and costly cleanup. OSHA fines for noncompliance can start at $15,000 per instance, and liability may extend to the institution. In another case, an inadequately designed warehouse fire sprinkler system was installed because the SDS mischaracterized an aerosol product as a wrong NFPA flammability rating. In that case, the product should have been identified as a “Level 3 Aerosol” per NFPA 30B as the most flammable per the formulation's high aggregate heat of combustion. 

In another case, a combustible powder was identified by a manufacturer as a low hazard level from a stored materials standpoint, while in-fact, in dust form of use, the powder was highly explosive.  

Preventive steps are simple: 

1. Check Section 16 for the revision date. If over one-year old, request the latest version from the manufacturer using the product name and code. 

2. Use your EHS portal and trusted SDS libraries such as Chemwatch or VelocityEHS—however, “Trust, But Verify.”

3. Scan package or container QR codes—many link directly to the current SDS. 

Maintaining current Safety Data Sheets is a shared responsibility. Researchers must verify the information they use, while manufacturers are legally bound to distribute updates. Fortunately, over 80% of large U.S. universities now use automated SDS management systems. Up-to-date safety data isn’t optional—it’s foundational to lab safety. 

So here’s a quick data recap: 

10% of SDSs in unreviewed inventories are outdated. 

20–30% of labs fail broader SDS compliance checks. 

A 2022 Journal of Safety Research study found a 22% SDS failure rate across 50 U.S. institutions. 

Bottom line: One in five SDSs in college labs may have an issue. Check Section 16. Use your EHS portal. For aerosol products, producers must ensure flammability classifications are correctly calculated per NFPA 30B based on component heats of combustion. Stay current. 

Thanks for listening to Mighty Line Minute. Stay safe—and take a moment to review your Safety Data Sheets closely before relying on them.