From a regulatory point of view, chemicals are materials that do not retain their shape

during use. These include gases, liquids, dusts and powders. Things that rely on their
shape to be used are articles. For example, under most regulations, a quart of acetone is a
chemical, while a chair is an article. The reason for this distinction is that materials which
change shape easily can participate in unexpected chemical reactions or create a toxic
exposure, while materials that are "articles" are not likely to.

Hazardous materials are chemicals which present either physical or health hazards to
life or property. In general, nearly any chemical will present at least one of these hazards
under specific circumstances. For example, ingestion of too much water can be fatal, and
so water is considered a toxic chemical by some regulations. The best strategy is to
assume that all chemicals are potentially hazardous according to some regulatory
definition. Government agencies take differing approaches to defining which hazardous
chemicals are of interest for their purposes. OSHA tends to rely on a definition of a
hazard (for example "a flammable chemical has a flashpoint less than 100 degrees
Farenheit"), whereas EPA and Department of Transportation tend to compile lists of
chemicals which they consider hazardous when released to the environment.
For our purposes, we will consider four basic types of chemical hazards: three physical
hazards, flammability, corrosivity and reactivity, and one health hazard category of
toxicity.

The hazard associated with a chemical depends on what chemical it is, what chemicals it
is mixed with, and the relative proportions they are mixed in. For example, "acetic acid"
without a further description can refer to both "glacial acetic acid" (99.99+%) in water as
well as household vinegar (3-5% acetic acid in water). The hazards associated with
glacial acetic acid are much more significant than those associated with vinegar.
Similarly, "phenol" is also known as carbolic acid. As a commercial product, at 1%, it is
used as a remedy for sore throats by spraying the solution directly on the sore throat.
However, at a concentration of 5%, ingestion of this material may result in oral burns.
Thus, in evaluating the hazard associated with a chemical you are working with, consider
not only what it is, but what concentration you are using it at. This is particularly
important when reviewing chemical safety reference information. For example, Material
Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) are often written for the worst case scenario, which would
be a concentrated form of the chemical being described. Whenever possible, find a
MSDS for the same concentration of the chemical you're using in order to evaluate the
risk associated with that chemical.

According to the EPA's definition, corrosivity is the ability of a liquid to corrode steel.
Fortunately,there is a familiar chemical property that measures this characteristic: pH.
The pH scale runs from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral. pH less than 7 are acidic and more
than 7 are basic. The EPA considers liquids with pH less than 2 or greater than 12.5 to
be corrosive wastes. In Vermont, the Department of Environmental Conservation has
extended this definition to include solids that, when mixed with equal amount of distilled
water, produce a solution with the same pH characteristics.
At UVM, we use the limits of pH < 4 on the acid end and pH > 10 on the basic end to
determine which chemicals should be stored in corrosive cabinets.

Reactivity is the characteristic of a material to react violently or explode, either under

ambient conditions or when in contact with air, water or other chemicals. Unfortunately,
no single measure determines if a material is reactive. Information about such reactions is
usually found in the compatibility section of a Material Safety Data Sheet.
Classes of chemicals that are considered reactive in a regulatory sense include:
(1) oxidizers - materials that react stongly with organic materials; sometimes strongly
enough to start fires
Examples: hydrogen peroxide (more concentrated than the 3% household
solution), nitric acid, perchloric solutions, nitrates and nitrate solutions
(2) organic peroxides - form friction- and shock-sensitive explosives
Examples: ethers, benzoyl peroxide
(3) water reactive chemicals - react violently with water
Examples: sodium metal
(4) air reactive (pyrophoric) - react violently with air
Example: silane and arsine gas (used in semi-conductor facilities)
(5) explosive - designed to explode violently
Example: TNT
To determine whether a particular chemical is likely to be reactive in a laboratory setting
you need to consult appropriate literature to determine its chemical incompatibilities. The
primary source of this information is Bretherick's Handbook of Reactive Chemical
Hazards. General information about classes of incompatible chemicals is available in the
second appendix of Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories, downloadable from the
American Chemical Society web site as a pdf file. A sample of this table is given below.

To assess the fire hazard of chemicals and manage them properly, several properties of
flammable and combustible liquids need to be considered. In general, information on
the properties of a specific material can be found in the Material Safety Data Sheet
(MSDS) for that chemical.
The fire triangle requires that three elements be present for a fire to
start or continue:
enough flammable vapor (fuel) to support combustion;
the vapor is mixed with air (oxygen) in the correct proportion;
and
an ignition source (heat).
The primary strategy to prevent or extinguish fires is through
removing any one of these elements (usually the fuel source before a
fire; the oxygen after a fire starts).

The evaporation rate of a liquid is related to temperature, therefore flashpoint is the most
useful guide to a determining how likely a material is to catch fire. The flashpoint is the
minimum temperature at which the vapor concentration near the surface of the liquid is
high enough to form an ignitable mixture. According to OSHA and most fire codes,
liquids with a flashpoint less than 100 degrees F (i.e. ignitable at room temperature) are
considered to be flammable. A liquid with a flashpoint between 100 and 200 degrees F
(i.e. it requires heating before ignition will take place) is combustible.
Vapor density is another important chemical property to understand in managing
laboratory fire hazards. The vapor density of air is assigned a value of 1. Heavier vapors,
with vapor density greater than 1, sink, while lighter chemicals (vapor density less than 1)
rise.
Vapor density must be taken into account when working with flammable or combustible
liquids because a vapor cloud may find ignition sources as it travels. For example, most
flammable liquid vapors used in laboratories are heavier than air and can travel a distance
to encounter ignition sources remote from the workstation. This has resulted in lab fires
that flash back from the spark (a refrigerator motor which cycles on is a common
example) to the worker.

Toxicity is an inherent property of a chemical, similar to its physical constants - toxicity

is the ability of a chemical substance to cause an undesirable effect in a biological
system. On the other hand, hazard is the likelihood that a material will exert its toxic
effects under specific conditions of use. Thus, with proper handling, highly toxic
chemicals can be used safely. Conversely, less toxic chemicals can be extremely
hazardous if exposure to that chemical is high.
RISK = TOXICITY * EXPOSURE