CHEMTREC was established in 1971 by the chemical industry as a public service hotline for fire fighters, law enforcement, and other emergency responders to obtain information and assistance for emergency incidents involving chemicals and hazardous materials.
Additionally - for a fee - CHEMTREC helps shippers of hazardous materials comply with the US Department of Transportation hazardous materials regulations 49 CFR§ 172.604. This regulation requires hazmat shippers to provide a 24-hour emergency telephone number on shipping documents that can be called in the event of an emergency involving the hazardous material that was shipped.
CHEMTREC is a 24/7 resource that coordinates and communicates a broad range of critical information that may be needed by emergency responders in mitigating a hazardous material related incident. Resources include:
Technical information that can be conveyed immediately to the scene in hard copy via fax, telephonically, or electronically;
Direct access via CHEMTREC’s telephone conferencing capabilities to thousands of shippers, manufacturing product experts and carriers;
Access to a network of chemical industry and for-hire contract emergency response teams to assist in product containment, spill mitigation and product removal; and
As appropriate, links to government agencies, both local and federal, such as the National Transportation Safety Board, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and agencies with which we have Memorandums of Agreement.
CHEMTREC's 24-hour Emergency Communications Center is located in Arlington, Virginia (Washington, DC metropolitan area) and is an integral part of the American Chemistry Council.