Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content
ORF Home > Environmental Protection > Waste Disposal > Examples of Common Laboratory Chemicals and their Hazard Class

Examples of Common Laboratory Chemicals and their Hazard Class

Oxidizers: 
Inorganic Nitrates, Nitrites, Permanganates, Chlorates, Perchlorates, Iodates, Periodates, Persulfates,  Chromates, Hypochlorites, Peroxides, Perborates   (ex: Potassium Perchlorate, Calcium hypochlorite, Sodium nitrate, Sodium iodate, Ammonium persulfate, Sodium peroxide) 

Oxidizing acids:
Nitric acid, Perchloric acid, Hydrogen peroxide, Periodic acid, Chromic acid 

Flammable liquids:
Methanol, Ethanol, Acetone, Xylene, Toluene, Ethyl acetate, Tetrahydrofuran, Ethyl ether, Benzene, Dimethylformamide, Acetonitrile, Hexane, Pyridine, etc. 

Basic flammable liquids:
Flammable amines such as: Triethylamine, Diethylamine, TEMED, Ethylaminediamine,
Trimethylamine solution, Pyrrolidine, Morpholine, Cyclohexylamine, Sodium methylate (in methanol solution), etc. 

Inorganic bases:
Metal hydroxides such as Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Nickel hydroxide Ammonium hydroxide,  

Organic bases:
Amines such as  Ethanolamine, Tributylamine, etc. 

Acidic Flammable Liquids:
Glacial acetic acid (100%), Acetic acid (>80%), Acetic anhydride, Formic acid (>85%), Propanoic acid (100%) (also called Propionic acid)
Mixtures of acids and flammable liquids

Organic Acids:
Butyric acid, Pentanoic acid, etc. 

Inorganic acids:
Hydrochloric acid, Sulfuric acid, Phosphoric acid, Hydrofluoric Acid, etc 

Poisons (Toxic chemicals)
Many are in aqueous solution, but they are also available as mixtures or pure compounds, such  as  Acrylamide, Formaldehyde, Glutaraldehyde, Chloroform, Phenol, Methylene chloride
Toxic metal salts such as Silver chloride, Cadmium sulfate, Mercury acetate, Barium carbonate, Lead acetate, etc.
Biological stains

Cyanides

Sodium cyanide, Potassium cyanide, Calcium cyanide

 Sulfides
Lead sulfide, Iron sulfide  [some metal sulfides, when they have low water content, such as Sodium and Potassium sulfides, are pyrophoric]

 Pyrophorics (air-reactive):
Metal alkyls and aryls, such as Methyllithium, Trimethylaluminum, Diethylzinc, phenyllithium
Nonmetal alkyls, such as Triethylborane, Trimethylphosphine
Phosphorus (white)

Note:  Careful when packaged under water, don’t store in an area where water reactives are present 

Metal alkyl hydrides and halides such as Diisobutylaluminum hydride, Dimethylaluminum chloride,
Titanium trichloride, tert-Butyl hypochlorite, Lithium diethylamide, Lithium   diisopropylamide, Sodium methoxide (Sodium methylate), Sodium sulfide [anhydrous or <30% water], Raney Nickel Catalyst

 Water-reactives 
Alkali metals such as Sodium,Lithium, Potassium
Metal powders such as Alumium, Cobalt, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Palladium, Platnium, Tin, Titanium, Zinc, Zirconium
Borane complexes such as Borane-dimethylamine complex, Borane-methyl sulfide complex
Carbides such as Calcium carbide
Grignard reagents such as Phenylmagnesium bromide, Ethylmagnesium chloride
Metal hydrides and Borohydrides such as Sodium hydride, Potassium borohydride, Lithium aluminum hydride
Metal phosphides such as Aluminum phosphide, Calcium phosphide, Sodium phosphide
Others:  Trichlorosilane, Phosphorous pentasulfide 

Water-Reactive acids 
Chlorosilanes such as Dimethyldichlorosilane, Ethyltrichlorosilane
Acid halides such as Acetyl chloride,Benzenesulfonyl bromide, Propanoyl chloride
Phosphorous pentoxide (also called Phosphoric anhydride, when mixed with water, may boil from the heat generated) 

Non-Hazardous or non-regulated chemicals
Buffers, Surfactants, Ion exchange resins, Alumina, Silica, Culture media, Agarose, Albumin, Pump oil,
Non-hazardous salts such as Sodium chloride, Magnesium sulfate, Potassium phosphate, Calcium acetate, etc. 

Note: Always look for the presence of toxic preservative compounds in “non-hazardous products” such as. Mercury or Azide salts in buffers]

 

 




 
This page was last updated on Nov 27, 2012