LEARN MORE about commonly used spill response and spill control terms
Leaks and spills happen. The right absorbents, spill kits, and spill response products can prevent personal injury and environmental risk when they do happen. Absorbents can generally be broken down into four main categories: universal absorbents, oil-only absorbents, absorbents to pick up hazardous materials, and loose absorbents. Within the first three categories, absorbents are often sold in the form of a pad, a pillow, or a sock.
Universal absorbents are multi-purpose absorbents that can handle oils, coolants, solvents, water, and many other liquids. As the name implies, oil-only absorbents are used to pick up oil and other hydrocarbons. When caustic or unknown chemicals have spilled, use yellow hazmat absorbents to help signal that the material spilled needs to be handled with appropriate caution. Loose absorbents come in a variety of forms and can be used to handle various kinds of spills.
Below is a list of terms often used in conjunction with absorbents and spill response activities.
Abatement – reducing the degree or intensity of, or eliminating, pollution
Absorb – to take a liquid in through pores in a surface or open spaces in a network and pull them to the center, like a sponge
Absorbent Sock -- continuous fabric tube filled with absorbent material, used for containing spills in a limited area by quickly surrounding, blocking, and absorbing the spilled material. Available in various lengths, easy to handle, quick to deploy, durable, stable, bendable, and moldable
Absorbent Pillow – fabric bag filled with absorbent material, used for quick absorption of large volumes of liquid in a limited area
Absorbent Pad – sheet of absorbent material used to catch and control low-volume spills in work areas to help prevent slip and fall hazards and protect surfaces next to potentially staining or damaging liquid materials
Acid Absorbent – absorbent agent for use when acid spills need pickup that includes a chemically basic component so it is also capable of neutralizing the acid
Adsorb – to gather or store a substance on the surface in an extremely thin, condensed layer; takes advantage of mutual attraction of certain substances for each other; excellent for use on petroleum-based spills in water
Boom -- extra-long absorbent sock designed for encircling spills on water
Caustic Absorbent -- absorbent agent for use when caustic spills need pickup that includes a chemically acid component so it is also capable of neutralizing the caustic
Cradle-To-Grave or Manifest System – procedure in which hazardous materials are identified and followed as they are produced, treated, transported, and disposed of by a series of permanent, linkable, descriptive documents (e.g. manifests)
Drain Seal or Drain Cover – catchment device used in floor drains to temporarily prevent hazardous spilled materials from entering drain systems and contaminating wastewater disposal facilities and surface runoff
EPA – Environmental Protection Agency
Hazardous Waste – products that pose a substantial or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly managed. Described by at least one of the following: ignitable, corrosive, reactive, or toxic; or appears on special EPA lists
HAZWOPER – Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard, OSHA regulation that governs employers and employees involved in hazardous waste cleanup operations
Hydrophilic – attracted to water; good quality for a product used to clean up water-based spills
Hydrophobic – resists water and will not absorb water or any water-based solutions; good quality for a product used to clean up floating petroleum-based spills
NFPA – National Fire Protection Association
OSHA – Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Pathogens – microscopic life forms that can cause disease.
pH – number that tells how acid or alkaline a chemical solution is. It can range from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral, less than 7 acidic, greater than 7 alkaline. An example of a low-pH solution would be battery acid; an example of one with high pH would be lye. Small changes in pH mean big differences. A pH of 3 is ten times as acid as a pH of 4; a pH of 12 is ten times as alkaline as a pH of 11
Primary Containment – container in which a liquid is originally stored, such as a drum or a jug
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) – federal law that manages and regulates the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous waste
Secondary Containment – provision made to catch any liquid that leaks from the primary container. Example would be a basin under a drum storage rack or the pan under a machine tool
SPCC -- Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure, an Environmental Protection Agency program considered the most important part of EPA's effort to prevent oil spills from reaching surface waters. SPCC requires facilities to have a written plan to prevent oil spills, in addition to their contingency plans for handling oil spills that have already happened
UFC – Uniform Fire Code
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