CloudSDS free SDS search 

This is a free tool built for individual lookups: you search, find a document and then check it against your product label. Finding a sheet isn’t the same as running a controlled workplace library with access rules and revision tracking, and the tool isn’t meant to replace one. You can try the search here. 

VelocityEHS (formerly MSDSonline) free SDS search 

VelocityEHS is the current name for the company behind MSDSonline. Its SDS search feeds a subscription eBinder system and supports searches by product name, manufacturer, product code, or CAS number. Third-party directories describe the free access as a limited trial rather than an open search site, so treat it as a management platform first. 

ChemicalSafety.com SDS search 

ChemicalSafety.com offers a searchable library of SDSs and labels, with searches by substance, manufacturer, or CAS number. Third-party directories report that searching works without registration, with paid plans for enterprise users. As with any aggregator, check the manufacturer name and revision date on the file you download. 

MilliporeSigma / Sigma-Aldrich 

Sigma-Aldrich is the product brand, and its parent company operates as MilliporeSigma in the United States and Canada and as Merck KGaA elsewhere. Choose your country, search by product name or number, and open the SDS from the product listing. It only covers the company’s own products, but for those, it’s the primary source. 

Fisher Scientific (Thermo Fisher) 

Fisher Scientific, a Thermo Fisher brand, links SDSs from its product listings. Search by catalog number, CAS number, or chemical name, then open the SDS from the product page. The catalog number on your invoice is the surest way to land on the right document. 

VWR (Avantor) 

VWR is part of Avantor, and its portal lists SDSs for the items it supplies. Searching by keyword, manufacturer, or part number should lead you to the document linked to your product. Portals get redesigned, so confirm the current workflow when you use it. 

Grainger 

Grainger matters mainly for maintenance, repair and operations supplies such as cleaners, lubricants, adhesives, and coatings. SDSs are tied to its item numbers, so search by item number, model or manufacturer. These are copies of the manufacturer’s documents, so look at the revision date.

PubChem (NIH): a chemical reference database, not an SDS repository 

PubChem is the National Institutes of Health’s chemical information resource. It’s excellent for confirming a substance’s identity: synonyms, CAS numbers, structures, physical properties, literature, and GHS classification summaries. It describes a compound in general, though, not the formulation your supplier shipped, so it can’t replace the supplier’s SDS. 

NIOSH Pocket Guide and ECHA CHEM 

The NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards gives short tabular summaries, including exposure limits, protective equipment, and first-aid notes, for a few hundred substances that have NIOSH or OSHA limits. ECHA CHEM is the European Chemicals Agency’s database of REACH registration data, which launched in 2024 as the successor to its earlier information platform. Both help you understand a substance, and neither stands in for a product-specific supplier SDS. 

Free SDS search vs. SDS management software: what's the difference? 

A free search answers one question: where is this document? Management software answers a different one: can everyone who works with this chemical get the current version, and can we prove it? The table shows where each fit. 

Free tools are great for finding individual documents. Once you need to distribute and maintain a library across sites, look at CloudSDS’s SDS management software. 

How do you know if an SDS is current and valid? 

Run four quick checks before you rely on any document, whatever its source. 

Match the product, manufacturer, and product code. 

Confirm that the product name on the SDS is the one on your container, then check out the manufacturer or supplier named in Section 1. Compare the product code and, where it’s shown, the formulation. A similar chemical name isn’t enough. Acetone-based products, for example, can carry very different additives. 

Check the revision date and the 16-section format. 

Look in Section 16 for the date of preparation or last revision. A valid SDS follows the sixteen headings in order: identification; hazard identification; composition; first aid; firefighting; accidental release; handling and storage; exposure controls and PPE; physical and chemical properties; stability and reactivity; toxicological information; ecological information; disposal; transport; regulatory information; and other information. OSHA doesn’t enforce the content of Sections 12 to 15, but the headings should still be there. A recent date doesn’t prove accuracy, since a document can be redated without a real review, and an older date isn’t automatically a problem if nothing about the hazards has changed. 

Understand HCS 2012 vs. HCS 2024 format changes 

Because OSHA let industry follow either version of the Hazard Communication Standard during the transition, you’ll see SDSs written under both for some time. The 2024 update aligns the rule with GHS Revision 7 and parts of Revision 8. Among other things, it expands the aerosols class to cover non-flammable aerosols and adds a class for chemicals under pressure. Our guide to OSHA HCS 2024 changes walks through them in detail. 

Check regional versions: OSHA, WHMIS, and EU REACH. 

In the United States, OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard requires English-language SDSs in the format of Appendix D. Canada’s WHMIS operates under the Hazardous Products Regulations. There, information must be in English and French, either as one bilingual document or as two, and suppliers must update an SDS within 90 days of learning of significant new data. In the EU, SDS requirements sit in Annex II of REACH, and the document must be in the official language of each member’s state where the product is sold. The sixteen headings look alike across all three, but the rules around them differ, so use the version that matches your workplace. 

What if you can't find an SDS online? 

Work through this sequence and document each step: 

• Search the manufacturer's website using the exact product name and product code. 

• Check the distributor or supplier portal where you bought it. 

• Email the supplier and ask for the product-specific SDS. 

• Keep the request and follow up. 

• Don't substitute the SDS of a similar product. 

If the supplier stalls, take it to your EHS or chemical safety lead. Federal rules put an obligation on the employer to get a missing SDS as soon as possible, and on the supplier to provide one when asked (29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(6)(iii) and (iv)). A sensible internal rule is that nothing goes into use until its SDS is on file. Ask your EHS lead to review OSHA's current inspection directive, CPL 02-02-079, before you set policy on how missing SDSs should be documented. 

Does online SDS access meet OSHA requirements? 

It can. Paragraph (g)(8) of 29 CFR 1910. 1200 allows electronic access in place of paper copies, as long as nothing stands between employees and immediate access. OSHA has said employees shouldn't have to ask a supervisor for a sheet, and the questions to ask yourself are practical ones: 

• Can employees open an SDS whenever they need to, at their work area? 

• Are there working devices and a dependable connection or offline copy? 

• Have employees been trained to find a sheet themselves? 

• Is there a backup for power and network outages? State OSHA guidance, such as Oregon OSHA's interpretation, says the backup may itself be electronic. 

Workers who move between sites during a shift are covered by paragraphs (g)(9) and (g)(10), which let the SDSs be kept at the primary workplace if the information is still readily accessible. None of this is met by simply locating a document online. The duty is the employers, and it's about whether your workforce can reach the right sheet now that they need it. 

Does online SDS access meet OSHA requirements? 

It can. Paragraph (g)(8) of 29 CFR 1910. 1200 allows electronic access in place of paper copies, as long as nothing stands between employees and immediate access. OSHA has said employees shouldn't have to ask a supervisor for a sheet, and the questions to ask yourself are practical ones: 

• Can employees open an SDS whenever they need to, at their work area? 

• Are there working devices and a dependable connection or offline copy? 

• Have employees been trained to find a sheet themselves? 

• Is there a backup for power and network outages? State OSHA guidance, such as Oregon OSHA's interpretation, says the backup may itself be electronic. 

Workers who move between sites during a shift are covered by paragraphs (g)(9) and (g)(10), which let the SDSs be kept at the primary workplace if the information is still readily accessible. None of this is met by simply locating a document online. The duty is on the employers, and it's about whether your workforce can reach the right sheet now that they need it. 

How does CloudSDS help you find and manage SDSs? 

CloudSDS covers two separate needs. The Free SDS Search handles individual lookups when you need a document now, and the Free SDS Sheet Hub is there for browsing free resources. If your organization needs a controlled, centralized library with managed access to current documents, that's what CloudSDS's SDS management software is for. The free tool finds documents. The managed library is for organizations that must control and distribute them. 

Frequently asked questions 

• Where can I find an SDS for free? 

Manufacturers and suppliers don't usually charge the SDS of their own products, and free search databases cover many others. Start with whoever made or sold the product. Whatever you find, check the product name, code, manufacturer, and revision date against what's in front of you before using it. 

• Can I search for an SDS by CAS number? 

Yes, on tools that support it. A CAS Registry Number identifies one chemical substance, whatever it's called, which makes it a clean way to narrow results. It says nothing about a product's formulation, though. Mixtures list several CAS numbers, so confirm that the SDS matches your specific product. 

• Is an SDS from a third-party database acceptable for OSHA? 

OSHA cares that employees can reach accurate, applicable hazard information for every hazardous chemical in the workplace. A third-party copy can be met if it's the correct document for your exact product and stays accessible. A mismatched or outdated copy won't. Judge each document on its own merits. 

• How often are SDSs updated? 

There's no universal interval. Under the HCS, preparers must add significant new hazard information within three months of becoming aware of it, and Canadian suppliers have 90 days. Suppliers also reissue SDSs when they reformulate or when rules change, so check the date whenever you receive a new shipment. 

• Is an MSDS the same as an SDS? 

They serve the same purpose, but MSDS is the older term and format. OSHA's 2012 update aligned the HCS with GHS, renamed the document, and required sixteen sections in a fixed order. Older MSDSs varied in layout, so a document still titled MSDS is probably pre-2012 and should be replaced. 

• What do I do if a manufacturer won't provide an SDS? 

Request it in writing with the product name, code, and purchase details, follow up, and keep the correspondence. Escalate through your EHS lead if the supplier stalls. OSHA requires suppliers to provide an SDS on request and employers to obtain missing ones (29 CFR 1910.1200(g)(6)(iii) and (iv)). Don't use a similar product's SDS in the meantime. 

• Can employees access SDSs on a phone or tablet? 

Yes, if they can retrieve sheets without barriers to immediate access. That means reliable devices in the work area, connections or offline copies, training on how to find a sheet, and a backup for outages. A tablet that's locked in an office or dies mid-shift doesn't meet that standard. 

• Does PubChem provide safety data sheets? 

No. PubChem is a chemical information resource covering structures, properties, hazards, and literature. It doesn't hold supplier SDSs for commercial products, and the GHS summary on a compound page describes the substance, not your product. Use it to identify and cross-check a chemical, then rely on the supplier's SDS.