CRA

Explosive Properties

Little Pro on 2016-01-13

An explosive substance is a solid or liquid substance (or mixture of substances) which is in itself capable by chemical reaction of producing gas at such a temperature and pressure and at such a speed as to cause damage to the surroundings. Pyrotechnic substances are included even when they do not evolve gases. You can often find it in the section 9 of a safety data sheet (SDS).

Regulatory Implications of Explosive Properties

Shippers need to determine if a material belong to Class 1 dangerous goods (explosives) or not prior to shipment. This needs to be documented in the section 14 of safety data sheets. Class 1 dangerous goods shall be handled, stored and transported in compliance with dangerous goods regulations.

In many cases, specific tests are not necessary to determine whether or not a substance is an explosive; examination of its structural formula may provide predictive information.

Under REACH, this study does not need to be conducted if:

  • there are no chemical groups associated with explosive properties present in the molecule (see common explosive functional groups below), or
  • the substance contains chemical groups associated with explosive properties which include oxygen and the calculated oxygen balance is less than -200, or;
  • the organic substance or a homogenous mixture of organic substances contains chemical groups associated with explosive properties, but the exothermic decomposition energy is less than 500 J/g and the onset of exothermic decomposition is below 500 °C, or
  • for mixtures of inorganic oxidising substances (UN Division 5.1) with organic materials, the concentration of the inorganic oxidising substance is less than 15 %, by mass, if assigned to UN Packaging Group I (high hazard) or II (medium hazard), less than 30 %, by mass, if assigned to UN Packaging Group III (low hazard).

explosive functional group

More Physicochemical Properties

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 Tags: Topics - CRAPhysiochemical Property