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Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Emergency Shower and Eyewash Temperatures
Date: Thursday, July 5, 2018 at 6:20:22 PM
Author: ILPI Support <info**At_Symbol_Here**ILPI.COM> 		Next by Date:
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Emergency Shower and Eyewash Temperatures
Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2018 18:44:35 -0400
Author: Samuella Sigmann

From: Alan Hall <oldeddoc**At_Symbol_Here**GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Emergency Shower and Eyewash Temperatures
Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2018 17:42:39 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: CALDugabQ=b6m7uiZRepEhaTB7w-wDb4J3jx6g1AiZmFxsQfEKQ**At_Symbol_Here**mail.gmail.com
In-Reply-To


Dear Dr. Towle,

I suggest you refer your contractors to the most current (2014) ANSI/ISEA Z358.1 American National Standard for Emergency Eyewash and Shower Equipment..

Under Section 3. Defintions, "Tepid: Flushing fluid temperature conducive to promoting a minimum 15 minute irrigation period. A suitable range is 6-38 degrees C (60-100 degrees F). See Appendix B."

The entire Standard can (and should) be obtained from:

ISEA. International Safety Equipment Safety Association, 1901 North Moore Street, Arlington, VA 22209-1762; (703) 525-1695; www..safetyequipment.org. A good contact person there is Cristine Fargo. I have copied her on this email.

I am a member of the Eyewash and Shower Product Interest Group and a member of the Revision Committee for this Standard. The next iteration is in progress (updated every 5 years) and should be released in 2019.

This Standard is widely utilized throught the US and the world. I stongly suggest your contractors obtain a copy and comply with it.

As the only Toxicologist/Physician on the Group and Revision committee, I can state that all members are commited to flushing fluid temperatures that will neither cause hypothermia nor scalding. The idea behind such potable water devices is a 15-minute flushing time.. Different manufactures can provide tempering valves for such devices with a fail-safe that shuts off the hot water if the cold water supply is somehow interupted. There is a use and selection guide also availale from the ISEA that you may find useful.

Alan H. Hall, M.D.
Medical Toxicologist
Voting Member, ISEA Eyewash and Shower Product Interest Group



On Thu, Jul 5, 2018 at 4:14 PM, Tyrell Towle <Tyrell**At_Symbol_Here**medpharmholdings.com> wrote:

Hello everyone,

This may seem like a basic question, but I am getting some pushback from our plumbing contractors on this.

We have a brand new facility and I went through to test all of the eyewash and emergency shower stations. At first everything seemed to be working fine, but then I noticed that the emergency eyewash water was getting warmer. I was horrified when the eyewash water became hot. I have never encountered hot eyewash water before. I had the contractors re-plumb the eyewash stations into cold tap water only. Now they are pushing back, wanting to hook the eyewash stations back into the hot water.

I also noticed that our emergency shower is releasing hot water.

Are there any regulations surrounding eyewash and emergency shower temperatures? My understanding has always been to have cold, potable tap water running into emergency showers and eyewashes so that chemical reactions are not accelerated upon exposure to heat. Regardless, with the temperatures that our eyewash stations were reaching, there was no way that anyone could keep their eyeballs open for 10 minutes in this water. Any information is appreciated, especially information that will put this debate to rest.

Thank you!

Tyrell R. Towle, Ph.D.
Senior Chemist
MedPharm Holdings, LLC
www.medpharmholdings.com

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