The 16 Sections of an SDS: A Section-by-Section Guide

Provide the product identifier, supplier’s name, U.S. address and phone number, an emergency contact number, and recommended use and restrictions. The 2024 HazCom update specifies that the responsible party must be located in the United States.

Inconsistent product names across the SDS, label, and order system can make it difficult for customers to identify the correct document. Supplier details and emergency numbers may become outdated following organizational changes.

Ensure the product identifier matches the label exactly. Recommended uses should align with handling advice in Section 7 and controls in Section 8.

• CASection 1 names the initial supplier, meaning the Canadian manufacturer or importer. The emergency number doesn’t have to be Canadian, but any limits on it (hours, languages) must be stated.
• EUSection 1 is split into four numbered subsections (1.1 to 1.4). Section 1.1 must say if the substance is a nanoform and list the Unique Formula Identifier (UFI) where one is required. Section 1.4 usually carries national poison centre numbers.
• UKThe supplier listed must be based in Great Britain.

The classification, the label elements (pictograms, signal word, hazard and precautionary statements), and other hazards that don’t lead to classification. In the US that includes hazards not otherwise classified (HNOC).

Errors in Section 2 affect the entire label. Frequent issues include using outdated ingredient data for classification, omitting relevant ingredients in mixture calculations, and copying precautionary statements from similar products.

Review all related sections. Section 3 should list ingredients responsible for each classification. Section 9 must support physical hazards, and Section 11 must support health hazards. Section 8 PPE should correspond to these hazards. If Section 14 differs, make sure you can explain why.

• EUClassification follows CLP, which now includes hazard classes the US doesn’t have, such as endocrine disruptors and PBT/vPvB. Section 2.3 must flag endocrine-disrupting properties.
• CAWHMIS includes classes not in HazCom, such as biohazardous infectious materials.

For substances: the chemical name, common names and synonyms, CAS number and impurities that contribute to the classification. For mixtures: each hazardous ingredient with its CAS number and concentration, as set out in Appendix D of HazCom.

Section 3 often becomes outdated first when raw materials change. Another frequent issue involves trade secrets. Under the 2024 update, withheld concentrations must be reported using OSHA’s prescribed ranges, such as 1 to 5% or 10 to 30%, rather than arbitrary ranges.

Section 2. Every ingredient that drives a classification should be here. Every ingredient here above its cut-off should show up in the classification. Exposure limits in Section 8 should line up with the ingredients listed.

• CAThe prescribed concentration ranges for confidential business information match OSHA’s. Canada and the US aligned them on purpose.
• EUList REACH registration numbers, plus specific concentration limits, M-factors and acute toxicity estimates where they exist. Nanoforms need their particle characteristics.
• MXIngredients above the NOM-018 cut-offs need a chemical identity and a concentration or range. A confidential ingredient can be withheld, but the SDS must say it is confidential.

First-aid steps by route of exposure (inhalation, skin, eyes, ingestion), the most important symptoms and effects (acute and delayed), and when immediate medical attention or special treatment is needed.

Using generic statements such as “get medical attention if symptoms persist” for corrosive products or skin sensitizers. Omitting delayed effects. Recommending induction of vomiting, which is rarely appropriate.

The health hazards in Section 2 and the symptoms in Section 11. A product classified as causing serious eye damage needs eye-flushing instructions that reflect it.

Suitable and unsuitable extinguishing media, specific hazards from the chemical (such as hazardous combustion products), and special protective equipment and precautions for firefighters.

Indicating water as suitable for water-reactive products. Omitting specific combustion products, such as hydrogen chloride or nitrogen oxides, which are critical for firefighter safety.

Flammability in Sections 2 and 9, and hazardous decomposition products in Section 10.

Personal precautions, protective equipment and emergency procedures, plus methods and materials for containment and cleanup.

Specifying spill response PPE that is less protective than routine handling PPE in Section 8. Recommending absorbents incompatible with the product, such as sawdust for oxidizers.

Section 8 PPE, Section 10 incompatible materials and Section 13 disposal.

Precautions for safe handling and conditions for safe storage, including any incompatibilities.

Using vague storage instructions, such as “store in a cool place,” for products with specific temperature limits. Omitting incompatibilities listed in Section 10.

Section 10 conditions and materials to avoid, and the physical properties in Section 9, such as flash point and self-heating.

• EUSection 7.3 covers specific end uses and points to exposure scenarios where a chemical safety report exists.

OSHA permissible exposure limits (PELs), ACGIH threshold limit values (TLVs) and any other exposure limit the preparer recommends. Also engineering controls and personal protective equipment, such as eye, skin, hand and respiratory protection.

Copied text is most prevalent in this section. Frequent issues include PPE recommendations that do not match hazards in Section 2, unspecified glove materials for “chemical-resistant gloves,” and exposure limits for ingredients not listed in Section 3.

Section 2 hazards, Section 3 ingredients and the PPE in Section 6. Our guide to SDS Section 8 exposure limits goes deeper.

• CAList limits that apply where the product is sold. Provinces set their own occupational exposure limits.
• EU · UKInclude the national limits, such as EU indicative limit values, and in the UK the Workplace Exposure Limits (WELs) in EH40. Derived no-effect levels (DNELs) and predicted no-effect concentrations (PNECs) from a REACH registration go here too.
• MXUse the occupational exposure limits set in NOM-010-STPS-2014.

The 2024 HazCom update reorganized this list to match the GHS. It now includes physical state and color (replacing “appearance”), odor (which absorbs odor threshold), melting and boiling points, flammability, explosive limits, flash point, auto-ignition and decomposition temperatures, pH, viscosity, solubility, partition coefficient, vapor pressure (which absorbs evaporation rate), density and relative vapor density. It also adds particle characteristics for solids.

Leaving fields blank without explanation. If a property does not apply or data is unavailable, state this clearly. HazCom requires the SDS to indicate when no relevant information is found. Other frequent issues include missing units and presenting properties from a single ingredient’s SDS as if they apply to the entire mixture.

Section 2. A missing flash point makes a flammable liquid classification impossible to check. pH supports, but doesn’t decide, a corrosion classification. Section 9 should also fit Sections 5, 7 and 10.

• EURegulation (EU) 2020/878 brought the same reorganization in earlier. It also added Section 9.2.1 for information on physical hazard classes and 9.2.2 for other safety characteristics.
• USAfter OSHA’s four-month extension, the manufacturer deadline for substances was May 19, 2026. Mixtures must meet the 2024 format by November 19, 2027.

Reactivity, chemical stability, the possibility of hazardous reactions, conditions to avoid (heat, static, shock), incompatible materials and hazardous decomposition products.

Providing only “stable under normal conditions” without further detail. Listing incompatible materials that do not match Section 7, and decomposition products that do not align with Section 5.

Sections 5, 7 and 9, and the physical hazards in Section 2 (self-reactive, oxidizer, water-reactive, and so on).

Likely routes of exposure, symptoms tied to the physical, chemical and toxicological characteristics, delayed, immediate and chronic effects, numerical measures of toxicity (such as LD50 and LC50 values and acute toxicity estimates), and whether the chemical is listed as a carcinogen by NTP, IARC or OSHA.

Toxicology that does not align with Section 2 health hazards, often due to sections being written at different times. Another issue is listing a carcinogen in Section 3 but omitting it from Section 11. The 2024 update adds: if you use read-across data to classify a health hazard, Section 11 must state this and identify the chemical or process used.

Section 2 health hazards, Section 3 ingredients and Section 4 symptoms.

• EUSection 11.1 covers the CLP hazard classes. Section 11.2 covers other hazards, including endocrine-disrupting properties.
• CAWHMIS asks for the same core information, in English and French.

Aquatic and terrestrial toxicity, persistence and degradability, bioaccumulative potential, mobility in soil and other adverse effects.

“No data available” on a product classified as hazardous to the aquatic environment in Section 2. Ecotoxicity data that doesn’t support the environmental classification.

Environmental hazards in Section 2, and the marine pollutant entry in Section 14.

• EUSection 12.5 covers the PBT and vPvB assessment, and Section 12.6 now covers endocrine-disrupting properties.

Safe handling of waste, disposal methods and contaminated packaging.

Providing only “Dispose of in accordance with local regulations” without further detail. While not incorrect, this is unhelpful. Specify likely waste characteristics where possible, such as whether the product may be classified as ignitable hazardous waste under RCRA.

Sections 6 and 12.

HazCom lists seven items: UN number, UN proper shipping name, transport hazard class(es), packing group, environmental hazards (such as marine pollutant: yes or no), transport in bulk, and special precautions for users.

Assuming transport classification matches the GHS classification in Section 2. Often, it does not. Transport regulations use different criteria and thresholds, so a product may be regulated for shipping but not under HazCom, or vice versa. Another error is providing information for only one mode when the product ships by road, sea, and air.

Section 9 (flash point and boiling point drive Class 3 packing groups) and Section 12 (marine pollutant). We walk through why the two classifications differ in GHS vs DOT classification.

• EUSection 14 transport information is compulsory for every relevant mode, under ADR, RID, ADN, IMDG and IATA.

Safety, health and environmental regulations specific to the product.

Including irrelevant or outdated laws. For US products, the most important lists are typically TSCA inventory status, SARA Title III (Sections 302, 311/312, and 313), California Proposition 65, and state right-to-know lists.

Section 3. Every listed ingredient should be checked against each regulatory list you cite.

• EUSection 15.1 covers EU and national rules, such as REACH authorizations and restrictions and the Seveso Directive. Section 15.2 says whether a chemical safety assessment was done.
• UKCite GB regulations (UK REACH, GB CLP), not the EU versions.
• CAMany suppliers add Domestic Substances List (DSL) status, though WHMIS doesn’t require it.

The date the SDS was prepared or last revised. Anything else the author wants to add goes here too, such as a revision log, abbreviations and data sources.

Omitting the revision date, or updating the date with each reprint even if no changes were made. A clear and accurate date allows customers, auditors, and your team to identify the current version.

• CAThe date of the latest revision is required.
• EUSection 16 should show what changed from the previous version.