Having spent two years working in a university chemistry research lab, I was excited with the opportunity to learn what goes on behind the scenes of an R&D operation as the Chemical Safety Intern at Indium Corporation. This summer, I had the chance to educate myself on the substances in our products, the regulations we need to comply with, and the international standards we aim to reach. The obvious difference is that research is specifically hands-on, whereas chemical safety oversees the entire research process, but there are 3 key differences I did not quite notice before!
1.海外运输
这里的研发团队专注于为客户生产商业化产品，所有产品都必须符合全球标准。哪些化学品可以运往欧洲？哪些化学品受到限制？哪些化学品需要向客户披露？要找到所有这些问题的答案，都有赖于化学品安全团队。今年夏天，我的实习生项目之一就是识别被欧盟（EU）认定为 "高度关注物质"（SVHC）或有可能成为 SVHC 的物质。如果某种物质被认定为 SVHC，那么在产品中使用这些物质就必须遵守相关的规则和规定。当研发团队开展新项目或需要购买新化学品时，会通知化学品安全团队，以确保所涉及的化学品在国际上是允许的。这样做的目的是确保工人有适当的个人防护设备来处理这些化学品，同时告知客户风险，尽量减少客户接触这些风险的机会。
2.化学文件
了解了研发部门采购的物质，化学品安全团队就能更好地认识和了解公司内部使用的所有化学品。然而，研发部门只了解他们直接使用的化学品。化学安全团队负责备齐所有化学品的安全数据表 (SDS)，无论这些化学品是否在使用中，同时还要备齐研发部门生产的每种产品的安全数据表。一旦出现问题，客户可以随时查阅这些资料。化学品安全团队不仅了解研发部门目前正在使用的化学品，我们还负责对社区滚动行动计划（CoRAP）清单上的物质进行风险管理。社区滚动行动计划清单是由一个国家标记的具有某种健康或暴露风险并希望在未来几年进行评估的物质组成。化学品安全团队需要具备广泛的化学品背景知识，并关注未来计划，以降低客户购买我们产品时可能存在的任何风险。
3.
Both R&D and chemical safety are customer driven, but for opposite reasons. R&D follows given specifications on what properties a solder paste should have or what shape a preform should be in to meet customer expectations and make products accordingly. Chemical safety, on the other hand, cares less about whether the specifications are reached; we are concerned more about complying with chemical standards. This creates a need for communication between R&D and chemical safety to verify not only customer satisfaction but also product safety. The biggest restriction I have learned through my research is that the chemical cannot be present in a final product at concentrations greater than a certain percentage, with that percentage probably being less than 1%. When this happens, chemical safety needs to tell R&D that they need to modify their formula. This back and forth is most likely to occur when chemicals we could once use are newly classified as SVHC, which results in the need to develop new products.
Having spent years doing university research, I found it intriguing to compare R&D at college versus R&D here at Indium Corporation with the oversight of chemical safety. With my primary project of identifying SVHC, I realized many chemicals I used daily in university lab could become a SVHC or pose significant risks that I was not aware of. Something I can relate with the R&D team here is that I do not have complete knowledge of all the chemicals in my lab. I have my proposed synthesis route selected and know exactly where those chemicals are in my lab and where to find the SDS for them, but I do not even touch 80% of the chemicals available to me. Finding the SDS of some chemicals we have here at Indium Corporation has encouraged me to do more research on the chemicals at my university lab this fall. This internship has made me want to confirm the chemicals are stored properly, to check their expiration dates, and to read the SDS even for the chemicals I do not use to make sure the lab is safe.
了解这些化学品也有助于我的研究，因为它们可能提供更有效的合成路线。我喜欢客户驱动型研发的另一个原因是来自化学品安全和客户的反馈。在大学实验室里，唯一的反馈来自于我的实验室主管，或者是我个人意识到某些东西因产量低或杂质多而不起作用。
通过这个暑假在化学品安全方面的工作，我觉得回到大学真正分析我的研究工作的动力更足了。我的新目标是精通我在研究中直接使用的化学品，以及我的同行在研究中使用的化学品。
