The SDS and a tote's last contents

The sections that matter to a tote buyer

Using it to grade a tote

Section 1 gives the name you write on the load sheet. Section 2 tells you whether the residue is harmful to plants, water or people. Section 9 gives the density, which lets you compute the weight of a full tote. Section 13 tells you what to do with the rinse.

Getting one

The product supplier must provide an SDS. If the label is on the tote, search the supplier's website for the SDS by product name. If the label is missing, ask the previous owner. If no one knows, grade the tote as unknown.

Keeping it with the tote

Staple or tape the SDS in a sleeve to the cage, or keep a binder at the dock. When the tote moves on, copy the SDS. A tote with its sheet is easier to place and safer to handle.

In South Florida

Importers and forwarders in Doral and Medley handle products from many suppliers, and the sheets arrive in different formats and languages. Ask the supplier for the English version and the date of the sheet, because older sheets may be outdated. A forwarder who keeps a folder of sheets by product name can answer a buyer in minutes, where one who has none may need days.

Reading section 2 and section 13 in practice

Consider two examples. A tote of citrus flavor shows low hazard in section 2, the disposal section suggests rinsing to the sewer under local permit, and the tote is a candidate for resale. A tote of an alkaline degreaser shows skin and eye damage in section 2, a pH figure in section 9, and neutralization advice in section 13; the tote is a washing job, and the rinse water is a waste to be managed. Neither sheet says what the plastic absorbed, so the smell test still counts. Keep the sheet with the tote when you sell it, and write the date on it, because a supplier may revise a sheet and the old one tells the buyer what the bottle actually held.

Keeping a library

A small binder or a shared folder with every sheet you have received, filed by product name and date, pays for itself in the first inspection. Scan new sheets as they arrive, name files with the product and revision date, and add a one-line note about which totes held it. Delete nothing; archive superseded versions. Share the folder with whoever runs the dock.