CHEMTREC has its roots in chemical industry efforts born from a series of railway accidents involving shipments of corrosive liquids during World War I.
The seeds of CHEMTREC were sown in the very early 1900’s. The Manufacturing Chemists Association (MCA), the original organization that subsequently became the American Chemistry Council (ACC), formed a committee in 1918 whose members devoted themselves to the improvement of containers used in shipping liquid chemicals. The need for an industry-wide effort had been highlighted by a series of railway accidents involving shipments of corrosive liquids vital to the WW I war effort. Over the years, MCA's involvement in the movement of chemicals in ever-safer containers continued as a key emphasis area.
CHEMTREC grew directly from cooperation between the American Chemistry Council (then MCA) and the US Department of Transportation to address the need for a response and reporting system for chemical transportation.
The US Department of Transportation, equally safety conscious, met with MCA in 1969 to determine the best approach to a reporting and response system in emergency situations involving chemicals in transport. In 1970, the Association’s Board of Directors authorized the establishment of CHEMTREC (CHEMical TRansportation Emergency Center), a system that would provide chemical specific information to emergency responders around-the-clock. A no-charge, nationwide telephone number into CHEMTREC in MCA’s Washington, D. C., offices became the vital communications link. The number was included on shipping papers originated by MCA member companies for all forms of transportation.
For CHEMTREC's parent organization, the American Chemistry Council, safety from the plant to the consumer-- has been its most important objective since 1895.
The knowledge that a number of chemicals presented hazards to those engaged in their manufacture, handling and use worried the American chemical industry even in colonial days. For the Association, safety, from the plant to the consumer, has been its most important objective since 1895.
The Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) began to take shape due to Association efforts beginning in 1932.
Around 1932, MCA combined fragmented activities in a concerted effort that saw the beginnings of its comprehensive program of Safety Manuals and Safety Data Sheets. Each data sheet set forth the physical and chemical properties of the product, its hazards, instructions on safe handling, first-aid treatment, required labeling or identification and methods of unloading and emptying various types of containers. By 1972, the Association had prepared safety data sheets on 97 chemical products and their distribution to involved parties totaled more than 70,000 copies annually. Many other safety efforts moved forward, most of them contributing one way or another to the Association’s establishment in 1971 of the world’s most completely equipped and qualified center geared to provide prompt information on proper response to emergency situations in the transportation of chemicals.
CHEMTREC records key data, supplies vital information plus recommended control measures, and notifies appropriate organizations according to pre-established rules.
Its acronym— CHEMTREC—stands for Chemical Transportation Emergency Center. CHEMTREC was in full operation in 1971 and by 1972 was functioning as follows: On receipt of a call, CHEMTREC recorded the data on which the shipper/manufacturer could base its response: caller’s name and phone number, location of the emergency and descriptive information of the area, products and equipment involved, injuries, whether there was a fire, the carrier’s and shipper’s names and the name of the consignee. CHEMTREC then supplied the caller with prescribed information of the hazards of the chemicals involved and recommended appropriate fire-fighting and other control measures. The caller also was advised to stand by the telephone for further word from the shipper and/or manufacturer, who was contacted immediately by MCA and told of the emergency situation. The notified firm then took over and handled the problem as necessary.Where applicable, CHEMTREC contacted the nearest pre-established contact regarding such emergencies as covered by mutual aid agreements between companies. Further, concerned trade associations with emergency-handling programs for specific products also were informed.
The US Department of Transportation and the US Army have designated CHEMTREC as an approved source for supplying information and advice relating to hazmat incidents
In March 1980, the Administrator of the Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) of the United States Department of Transportation formally recognized CHEMTREC as an approved source of information and advice relating to chemical and other hazardous materials incidents. The DOT further stated that CHEMTREC, in conjunction with the DOT’s National Response Center (NRC) would provide the system and data center required by federal statute 49 U.S.C. 1808(d)(2). In February of 1989, the United States Department of Defense (DOD) CHEMTREC executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) stipulating that CHEMTREC would assist the DOD in responding as quickly as possible to an incident or accident involving DOD munitions or explosives. Again, in August of 1995, the Unites States Army Biological Defense Command (CBDCOM) and CHEMTREC executed an MOU stipulating that CHEMTREC would assist CBDCOM in responding as quickly as possible to an incident or accident involving “hazardous industrial chemicals.”
CHEMTREC Today
CHEMTREC Emergency Center Staff have over 250 years of hands-on experience dealing with hazardous materials
Today, CHEMTREC is equipped and qualified to support responders involved in hazardous materials incidents. The CHEMTREC staff brings expertise in emergency response and the safe handling of hazardous materials as well as skill in working directly with emergency responders. The CHEMTREC staff can offer information on a wide variety of hazardous substances, including radioactive materials, infectious substances, biohazards and hazardous waste.
Emergency Center staff use a number of authoritative sources to supplement their knowledge and experience. These include a state-of-the-art computer document storage and retrieval system containing over 5 million Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) obtained directly from the manufacturing organizations. These sheets are updated and maintained in cooperation with the manufacturing organizations and are indexed for rapid retrieval.
Further, CHEMTREC is linked to the largest network of chemical and hazardous material experts in the world. CHEMTREC staff can establish communications between these experts, Center personnel, and the responders at the scene of an incident.
How a call to the Center is handled:
- CHEMTREC can quickly establish communications between medical and hazmat experts and the incident site. A qualified CHEMTREC staff Technical Advisor answers all calls immediately.
- The Technical Advisor asks for critical information about the incident, conditions at the scene, the product(s) involved, the shipper and the carrier.
- The responders then receive data and helpful information on handling the substance(s) involved. This may involve such things as requirements for protective clothing, evacuation suggestions, mitigation and containment procedures and other pertinent information.
- If there are on-site injuries or exposures, medical support is available to through medical services contacted by CHEMTREC. These medical experts on chemical exposure treatment are put in direct telephone contact with the emergency responders or treating physicians.
- Details of the incident are relayed to the shipper's or manufacturer’s 24-hour emergency contact, who can be linked to the scene via the Center’s communications system. This facilitates having the shipper or manufacturer provide emergency instructions directly to those managing the incident scene.
- In certain special situations, or in medical emergencies, CHEMTREC staff can contact pre-established mutual aid networks or additional Emergency Response personnel, who can bring further expertise to the situation.
CHEMTREC staff then document the incident for subsequent reporting to the manufacturer or shipper. CHEMTREC’s computer-based tracking system, recently enhanced with Lotus Notes data recording and data extraction capability, coupled with CHEMTREC’s “911” type telephone recording and monitoring system, provides detailed “after-action” data for subsequent analysis.
CHEMTREC expanded its role to include security in the wake of the tragic events that occurred on September 11, 2001.
CHEMTREC provided critical information to the New York City Police Hazardous Materials Team as they evaluated the potential effect of chemicals contained in the collapse of the World Trade Towers. When the Chemical Sector Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) was created in April 2002 through an agreement between the FBI’s National Infrastructure Protection Center and the American Chemistry Council, CHEMTREC was the obvious choice to operate the ISAC. Using CHEMTREC’s 24/7 Operations Center, the Chemical Sector ISAC facilitates the flow of critical threat information between federal government intelligence organizations and the companies that comprise this critical sector of the U.S. economy.