Chemical Inventory Import Sheet

A simple chemical inventory import sheet is available for laboratories who are interested in getting a start to logging materials or who are interested in seeing how existing inventories match up with the information that will be logged to the new chemical inventory system.

ChemTracker Module Import Sheet

The import sheet is an excel workbook with columns that have been formatted to draw attention to the information that will be used to ensure effective logging of chemical inventory.  Below is a list of the datafields that appear in the Import Sheet. When fields are critical to the successful logging of the material (Required), the column headings in the import sheet are shown in red.

Required Fields

Fields for Identifying the Chemical

1. CAS Number (required for pure chemicals): The Chemical Abstracts Service Registry number (CAS number) is a unique numeric identifier used to systematically identify chemical compounds and avoid some of the challenges associated with variability in chemical names.

   Structure of the CAS Number:  X-YY-Z

   • X – is a simple numeric string at least two and up to seven digits long, leading zeros are not used.
   • YY- is a simple two-digit numeric string, leading zeros are allowed – ie. 01
   • Z- is a simple single numeric digit, zeros are allowed

   Example:  67-56-1 (methanol), 64-17-5 (ethanol), 7732-18-5 (water), 7647-01-0 (hydrochloric acid)

   Common limitations/problems associated with CAS numbers

   • Not all pure chemicals have CAS numbers.  Novel compounds may not have yet been registered or the chemical manufacturer has chosen not to register a new compound.
   • Mixtures (formulations with more than one chemical) typically do not have CAS numbers assigned.
   • Workbook programs (such as Excel) will often automatically re-interpret the hyphenated CAS number as a date.  Two common remedies can be used to prevent this automatic reformatting of the CAS number. For example, Sodium citrate (6132-04-3) will be reformatted to 4-3-6132 (or April 3^rd, 6132)
     • Record the CAS number without the hyphens:  6132043.  This will prevent reformatting but will make it more difficult to efficiently visually error-check.
     • Record the CAS number with a leading apostrophe (‘), which will cause Excel to treat the info after the apostrophe as a string and prevent reformatting. ‘6132-04-3 will appear in the cell as the original 6132-04-3.
   • CAS number are not easily humanly reconcilable.  The strings can only be interpreted by looking up in the CAS registry.  This makes it easier to make a mistake when transcribing the CAS number.


2. Chemical Name (required even when CAS number is provided): Often the easiest means of communicating (and remembering) a chemical material.  As chemical understanding grew and chemical complexity increased, a number of systematic naming (nomenclature) systems have been developed to help communicate chemical structure via the chemical names.  Below are some of the common challenges associated with Chemical Names.

   Multiple commonly accepted names for the same chemical:
    methylene chloride
    dichloromethane

   Systematic chemical names for complex molecules can be very complicate and long, such as in the case of rifamycin:
   ((2S,12Z,14E,16S,17S,18R,19R,20R,21S,22R,23S,24E)-21-(acetyloxy)-5,6,9,17,19-pentahydroxy-23-methoxy-2,4,12,16,18,20,22-heptamethyl-2,7-(epoxypentadeca[1,11,13]trienimino)naphtho[2,1-b]furan-1,11(2H)-dione)

   Though the chemical name can be problematic, chemical names are more likely to be humanly interpretable even when errors are present.  Where a single digit error in a CAS number might mean a completely different compound, typos in the chemical name may still allow the reader to identify the compound (or at least an isomer).

3. Physical State (required):  the physical state (solid, liquid, gas) is often used in regulatory reporting in hazardous materials.  The physical state can also help to resolve ambiguous entries, such as when mixtures are being logged as the pure material or when a chemical may be available in multiple physical states (carbon dioxide: compressed gas, liquified, or dry ice).

Fields for Identifying the Owner and the Location

1. Principal Investigator Name:  This allows us to connect the chemical inventory to the responsible person and make sure that this information gets connected to the correct SHIELD account.


2. Location:  Building:  This allows us to connect chemical inventory to the building where the materials are stored.


3. Location: Room Number:  This allows us to connect the chemical inventory to the room where the materials are stored.

Fields for Quantifying the Amount of Material

1. Amount:  The numeric amount of material in the container (connected to Units).  This should be the amount that was originally in the container, not the amount remaining in the container.


2. Units:  Commonly used units of measurement, listed below.  When possible, use the manufacturer provided amount and units rather than converting.  The physical states associated with each of the units is also indicated.

   Mass Units (solids, liquids, and gases)	Volume Units (liquids, sometimes gases)	Volume Units (gases)
   ug (microgram)	ul (microliters)	cu ft (cubic foot)
   mg (milligram)	ml (milliliter)
   g (gram)	l (liter)
   kg (kilogram)	fl oz (fluid ounce)
   oz (ounce)	pt (pint)
   lbs (pounds)	qt (quart)
   	gals (gallons)
   	cc (cubic centimeter)

3. Container Count:  By default, the container count will be assumed to be one, since containers will be associated with a unique barcode.  For laboratories that maintain a steady state of a particular chemical, it may be easier to barcode the location where the materials are stored and log the maximum number of containers that will be present.

Optional Fields

Fields for Connecting to the Shield Account(hidden in the template)

1. PI Unique ID:  A unique identifier to connect to the correct SHIELD account. This will be resolved via the provided PI Name.


2. BioRAFT Lab Name:  A unique identifier used for sorting within SHIELD. This will be resolved via the provided PI Name.

Fields for Additional Container Attributes

1. Container ID (barcode): The goal is to provide each container with a unique barcode to facilitate accessing information on the container. As these resources become available, Container ID will be elevated to a required field.


2. P.O. Number:  This field may be used to track materials that are associated with funding sources that restrict the usage of research materials.


3. Date Received:  Field for logging when a material has been received by the laboratory. Materials that may become unstable over time (such as peroxide forming chemicals) are required to have the date received recorded on the label. This date should additionally be logged to the chemical inventory to facilitate review and identification of materials due for testing or disposal regardless of whether the container has been opened.


4. Expiration Date:  Field for logging when a material is due for testing or disposal. Materials that become unstable over time (such as peroxide forming chemicals) or materials intended for in vivo usage will be provided an expiration date by the manufacturer. This date should additionally be logged to the chemical inventory to facilitate review and identification of materials due for testing or disposal regardless of whether the container has been opened. This field may also be updated in conjunction with periodic testing to promote effective inventory management.

Fields for Defining Storage Location

1. Specific Location Note:  This is the recommended field for use with providing storage sublocation. See preceding information provided on defining Laboratory Sublocations.


2. Bench:  An accessory field to help when filtering inventories by Bench number. Please use the "Specific Location Note" as the primary field for indicating storage sublocation.


3. Shelf:  An accessory field to help when filtering inventories by Shelf number. Please use the "Specific Location Note" as the primary field for indicating storage sublocation.

Fields for Providing Manufacturer Specific Information

Additional manufacturer data can help facilitate efforts to make sure the laboratory consistently reorders the same reagents. Knowledge of the specific products in the laboratories' chemical inventories will help to ensure that product specific safety information is available in the electronic SDS repository available in SHIELD.

1. Manufacturer:  This field may be used to indicate the chemical manufacturer.


2. Product Name:  This field may be used to record the manufacturer's product name.


3. Product Number:  This field may be used to record the manufacturer's product number. When a chemical is obtained through a distributor, please use the product number that appears on the container and the number provided by the distributor. See example below.

Reagents may be purchased through a distributor rather than directly through the manufacturer. Care should be taken to make sure to provide the information associated with the chemical manufacturer rather than the distributor.

Example: Ethanol manufactured by Spectrum Chemical distributed by Fisher Scientific.

Fisher Catalog Number: 18-602-021
Spectrum Product Number: E1424500ML

In this example, the Spectrum Chemical info should be logged in these accessory fields rather than the information associated with Fisher Scientific.