Physical State, Appearance & Odour

CRA

Physical State, Appearance & Odour

Little Pro on 2016-01-13

Physical state, appearance and odour are the most basic physio-chemical properties available for almost every chemical (including both substance and mixture). Usually, the state (solid, liquid, gas) for a chemical under normal conditions (at room temperature and under 1 atompshere) shall be provided. The form (powder, flake, etc) color & ordour of the chemical shall also be described. You can often find them in the section 9 of a safety data sheet (SDS).

Regulatory Implications of Physical State, Appearance, Odour

The state of a chemical has a big impact on its exposure route and distribution behavior in various environmental compartments. For example, inhalation route will be the primary route for gases and some dusty powders.

When classifying the physical hazards of a chemical according to GHS, you must know its phsyical state. For example, if a chemical is flammable, you must know whether it is a flammable gas, flammable solid or flammable liquid.

Those 3 properties can be directly observed or felt by workers without measuring devices and must be included in the section 9 of SDSs without exceptions. It is very important for workers to know what kind of chemical they are handling.

Other Physicochemical Properties

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