Page 5 - Handbook of Hazardous Chemical Properties

PREFACE

This volume has been prepared as a reference source on the hazardous properties of industrial and
consumer chemicals. It is designed to assist chemical handling specialists, emergency responders, and
health and safety engineers and technicians in the safe handling and shipping practices of chemicals.

To use the volume effectively, the reader should first review the Glossary of Terms section immediately
preceding the first chemical entry. This section contains precise definitions used for certain parameters
where data have been obtained for each chemical. A review of these terms will help the reader interpret
certain information. In addition, a list of abbreviations used throughout the volume is also provided in
the front section of the handbook.

Chemical information is compiled in this volume in accordance with an alphabetical listing based on
the most commonly used chemical name. The most common chemical name designation is based either
on (1) that designation specified in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Titles 46 and 49, or (2) a
common name for those chemicals known to be hazardous during shipment. As such, for most common
names, the shipping name recommended by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is used as
it appears in Title 49 of the CFRs. For each chemical entry, there are five data or information fields
that are provided. These information fields are as follows:

0 Chemical Designation - A list of common synonyms is given. Synonym names are alternative
systematic chemical names and commonly used trivial names for chemicals. An index of
synonyms is provided at the end of the handbook to assist the reader in identifying a
particular chemical and researching chemical hazards information in the event that the
common name of the chemical is not known. The data field also contains the chemical
formula. The chemical formula is limited to a commonly used one-line formula. In the case
of some organic chemical compounds it has not been possible to represent the chemical
structure within such limitation.

Observable Characteristics - This includes the physical state of the chemical under normal
0
conditions of handling and shipping, its characteristic color and odor. Typical designations
for the physical state of a chemical include liquefied gas, liquefied compressed gas, liquid,
and solid. Where a compound may be shipped or handled as either a liquid or solid, both
designations are given. The color description provided is that for pure liquid. The reader
should recognize that occasionally the color of a chemical changes when it dissolves in water
or becomes a gas. Similarly, the odor description is that for pure material. The term
"characteristic" is used in those cases when no other reasonable description of the chemical's
odor could be found.
Physical and Chemical Properties - Information provided for each chemical include the
0
material's physical state, its molecular weight, boiling point, freezing point, critical
properties (temperature and pressure), specific gravity, vapor (gas) density, the ratio of
specific heats of vapor, and various thermodynamic properties. The following are more
detailed explanations of the information field entries. The Physical State at 15 "C and I atm
is provided, which indicates whether the chemical is a solid, liquid, or gas after it has
reached equilibrium with its surroundings at "ordinary" conditions of temperature and
pressure. The Molecular Weight is the weight of a molecule of the chemical relative to a
value of 12 for one atom of carbon. The molecular weight is useful in converting from
molecular units to weight units, and in calculating the pressure, volume and temperature
relationships of gaseous substances. The Boiling Point at I ahn, the Freezing Point, and the
Critical Temperature data are each given in three sets of units as follows: OF, "C, "K. As an

V