Sittig's Handbook of Toxic and Hazardous Chemicals and Carcinogens, Sixth Edition

Excerpt from the Preface of Sittig's Handbook of Toxic and Hazardous Chemicals and Carcinogens, Sixth Edition
"Commercial chemical incidents occur tens of thousands of times each year, often with devastating and exorbitantly expensive consequences. They are indiscriminate in their effects. Workers, companies, the public, emergency response organizations, and all levels of government pay the figurative and literal price. Yet, until now and with few exceptions, chemical incidents have been invisible. Perhaps it is due to their pervasiveness, or to the common tendency to overlook what is taken for granted." This quote is from the highly publicized 600K Report prepared by the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), an independent, nonpartisan, quasi-legislative US government agency. The CSB described our nation's lack of definitive knowledge of the "big picture" surrounding chemical incidents as "...the industrial equivalent of two 737 airplanes 'crashing' year after year, killing all passengers (256 people) without anyone seeming to notice. Read a sample section about the exposure risks and appropriate first aid responses for chemicals from Bacitracin to Barium sulfate (PDF).