A chemical is any substance made up of chemical elements. This section of OSH Answers will describe the properties as well as health and safety hazards of workplace chemicals - individual chemicals, mixtures like petroleum solvents, synthetic polymers (plastics), and so on. You will also find out how to find information about chemical products (MSDSs - material safety data sheets) and how to understand MSDSs.  How to work safely with different kinds of chemicals is covered in the section "Prevention and Control of Hazards".

• Publications,
• Fact sheets,
• Bibliographic databases on CD-ROMs and the Internet,
• Databases with ready-to-use information on CD-ROMs and the Internet,
• Full-text CD-ROM products,
• IPCS International Chemical Safety Cards (ICSCs),
• IPCS Environmental Health Criteria publications (EHCs),
• NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods,
• NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards

and many other products that have information dealing with chemicals and their hazards.