Our goal within this section is to include safe-handling information for all major classes of hazardous chemicals. You may find such information broken-down in the following topics:
- Hazard Class Criteria
A brief summary of the ways in which one may identify chemical hazards in the laboratory.
- Carcinogens
A carcinogen is any substance that may cause, or is suspect of causing, cancer in living tissue.
- Corrosives
A corrosive material is a highly reactive substance that causes obvious damage to living tissue. Corrosives act either directly, by chemically destroying the part (oxidation), or indirectly by causing inflammation.
- Explosives & Shock Sensitive Materials
Shock sensitive materials, also known as peroixde formers, include the peroxides and hydroperoxides and are highly reactive materials and may be extremely shock-sensitive explosives. Peroxides can form readily in certain organic materials, especially ethers.
- Flammables and Combustibles
A flammable material can be a solid, liquid, or gas. The most common flammable materials in the laboratory are liquids, which are defined as those liquids with a flash point below 100°F. A combustible liquid, in contrast, has a flash point higher than 100°F.
- Oxidizers
In general use, the term is generally applied to a chemical reaction of a substance with oxygen (O2) or an oxygen-containing material which adds oxygen atom(s) to the compound being oxidized.
- Toxics & Health Hazards
Chemicals in these categories, generally speaking, pose particular hazard to one's health, and include possibe lethality at high doses.