Dangerous goods are substances capable of causing harm to people and property because of their hazardous properties. They may be corrosive, flammable, combustible, explosive, oxidising, water-reactive or have other hazardous properties. There are nine general classes of dangerous goods and various sub-classes that need special treatment when being transported:
1. Explosives
2. Gases
3. Flammable Liquids
4. Flammable Solids
5. Oxidising Substances
6. Toxic & Infectious Substances
7. Radioactive Material
8. Corrosives
9. Miscellaneous Dangerous Goods
The shipping of hazardous or dangerous goods is controlled by numerous regulatory bodies both nationally and internationally. The most prominent of these regulations that govern the transportation of dangerous goods are:
- IATA’s Dangerous Goods Regulations
- United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods
- IMO’s International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code
- ICAO’s Technical Instructions
Together these regulations control the packing, labelling, handling and transport of dangerous goods – worldwide.
The regulations and compliance requirements when shipping dangerous goods are complex and constantly being updated, Marair partner you to find the best solution and make the process easy and transparent.
Dangerous Goods Classifications
REASON FOR REGULATION
Explosives are capable by chemical reaction of producing gases at temperatures, pressures and speeds as to cause catastrophic damage through force and/or of producing otherwise hazardous amounts of heat, light, sound, gas or smoke.
COMMONLY TRANSPORTED EXPLOSIVES
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8. Detonating cord 9. Air bag inflators 10. Igniters 11. Rockets 12. TNT / TNT compositions 13.RDX / RDX compositions 14. PETN / PETN compositions |
SUB-DIVISIONS
Division 1.1: Substances and articles which have a mass explosion hazard
Division 1.2: Substances and articles which have a projection hazard but not a mass explosion hazard
Division 1.3: Substances and articles which have a fire hazard and either a minor blast hazard or a minor projection hazard or both
Division 1.4: Substances and articles which present no significant hazard; only a small hazard in the event of ignition or initiation during transport with any effects largely confined to the package
Division 1.5: Very insensitive substances which have a mass explosion hazard
Division 1.6: Extremely insensitive articles which do not have a mass explosion hazard
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Gases are defined by dangerous goods regulations as substances which have a vapour pressure of 300 kPa or greater at 50°c or which are completely gaseous at 20°c at standard atmospheric pressure, and items containing these substances. The class encompasses compressed gases, liquefied gases, dissolved gases, refrigerated liquefied gases, mixtures of one or more gases with one or more vapours of substances of other classes, articles charged with a gas and aerosols.
REASON FOR REGULATION
Gases are capable of posing serious hazards due to their flammability, potential as asphyxiants, ability to oxidize and/or their toxicity or corrosiveness to humans.
COMMONLY TRANSPORTED GASES
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14. Oxygen / oxygen compounds 15. Nitrogen / nitrogen compounds 16. Natural gas 17. Oil gas 18. Petroleum gases 19. Butane 20. Propane 21. Ethane 22. Methane 23. Dimethyl ether 24. Propene / propylene 25. Ethylene |
SUB-DIVISIONS
Division 2.1: Flammable gases
Division 2.2: Non-flammable, non-toxic gases
Division 2.3: Toxic gases
Flammable liquids are defined by dangerous goods regulations as liquids, mixtures of liquids or liquids containing solids in solution or suspension which give off a flammable vapour (have a flash point) at temperatures of not more than 60-65°C, liquids offered for transport at temperatures at or above their flash point or substances transported at elevated temperatures in a liquid state and which give off a flammable vapour at a temperature at or below the maximum transport temperature.
REASON FOR REGULATION
Flammable liquids are capable of posing serious hazards due to their volatility, combustibility and potential in causing or propagating severe conflagrations.
COMMONLY TRANSPORTED FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS
Flammable liquids are defined by dangerous goods regulations as liquids, mixtures of liquids or liquids containing solids in solution or suspension which give off a flammable vapour (have a flash point) at temperatures of not more than 60-65°C, liquids offered for transport at temperatures at or above their flash point or substances transported at elevated temperatures in a liquid state and which give off a flammable vapour at a temperature at or below the maximum transport temperature.
REASON FOR REGULATION
Flammable liquids are capable of posing serious hazards due to their volatility, combustibility and potential in causing or propagating severe conflagrations.
COMMONLY TRANSPORTED FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS
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18. Tars 19. TurpentineCarbamate insecticides 20. Organochlorine pesticide 21. Organophosphorus pesticides 22. Copper based pesticides 23. Esters 24. Ethers 25. Ethanol 26. Benzene 27. Butanols 28. Dichloropropenes 29. Diethyl ether 30. Isobutanols 31. Isopropyls 32. Methanol 33. Octanes |
Flammable solids are materials which, under conditions encountered in transport, are readily combustible or may cause or contribute to fire through friction, self-reactive substances which are liable to undergo a strongly exothermic reaction or solid desensitized explosives. Also included are substances which are liable to spontaneous heating under normal transport conditions, or to heating up in contact with air, and are consequently liable to catch fire and substances which emit flammable gases or become spontaneously flammable when in contact with water.
REASON FOR REGULATION
Flammable solids are capable of posing serious hazards due to their volatility, combustibility and potential in causing or propagating severe conflagrations.
COMMONLY TRANSPORTED FLAMMABLE SOLIDS; SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTIBLES; ‘DANGEROUS WHEN WET’ MATERIALS
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15. Seed cake 16. Oily cotton waste 17. Desensitized explosives 18. Oily fabrics 19. Oily fibres 20. Ferrocerium 21. Iron oxide (spent) 22. Iron sponge/direct-reduced iron (spent) 23. Metaldehyde 24. Naphthalene 25. Nitrocellulose 26. Phosphorus 27. Sulphur |
SUB-DIVISIONS
Division 4.1: Flammable solids
Division 4.2: Substances liable to spontaneous combustion
Division 4.3: Substances which, in contact with water, emit flammable gases
Oxidizers are defined by dangerous goods regulations as substances which may cause or contribute to combustion, generally by yielding oxygen as a result of a redox chemical reaction. Organic peroxides are substances which may be considered derivatives of hydrogen peroxide where one or both hydrogen atoms of the chemical structure have been replaced by organic radicals.
REASON FOR REGULATION
Oxidizers, although not necessarily combustible in themselves, can yield oxygen and in so doing cause or contribute to the combustion of other materials. Organic peroxides are thermally unstable and may exude heat whilst undergoing exothermic autocatalytic decomposition. Additionally, organic peroxides may be liable to explosive decomposition, burn rapidly, be sensitive to impact or friction, react dangerously with other substances or cause damage to eyes.
COMMONLY TRANSPORTED OXIDIZERS; ORGANIC PEROXIDES
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14. Calcium nitrate 15. Calcium peroxide 16. Hydrogen peroxide !7. Magnesium peroxide 18. Lead nitrate 19. Lithium hypochlorite 20. Potassium chlorate 21. Potassium nitrate 22. Potassium chlorate 23. Potassium perchlorate 24. Potassium permanganate 25. Sodium nitrate 26. Sodium persulphate |
SUB-DIVISIONS
Division 5.1: Oxidizing substances
Division 5.2: Organic peroxides
Toxic substances are those which are liable either to cause death or serious injury or to harm human health if swallowed, inhaled or by skin contact. Infectious substances are those which are known or can be reasonably expected to contain pathogens. Hazardous goods regulations define pathogens as microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, rickettsiae, parasites and fungi, or other agents which can cause disease in humans or animals.
REASON FOR REGULATION
Toxic and infectious substances can pose significant risks to human and animal health upon contact.
COMMONLY TRANSPORTED TOXIC SUBSTANCES; INFECTIOUS SUBSTANCES
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16. Cresols 17. Barium compounds 18. Arsenics / arsenic compounds 19. Beryllium/ beryllium compounds 20. Lead compounds 21. Mercury compounds 22. Nicotine / nicotine compounds 23. Selenium compounds 24. Antimony 25. Ammonium metavanadate 26. Adiponitrile 27. Chloroform 28. Dichloromethane 29. Hexachlorophene 30. Phenol 31. Resorcinol |
SUB-DIVISIONS
Division 6.1: Toxic substances
Division 6.2: Infectious substances
Hazardous goods regulations define radioactive material as any material containing radionuclides where both the activity concentration and the total activity exceeds certain pre-defined values. A radionuclide is an atom with an unstable nucleus and which consequently is subject to radioactive decay.
REASON FOR REGULATION
Whilst undergoing radioactive decay radionuclides emit ionizing radiation, which presents potentially severe risks to human health.
COMMONLY TRANSPORTED RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL
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10. Plutonium radionuclides / isotopes 11. Radium radionuclides / isotopes 12. Thorium radionuclides / isotopes 13. Uranium radionuclides / isotopes 14. Depleted uranium / depleted uranium products 15. Uranium hexafluoride 16. Enriched Uranium |
Corrosives are substances which by chemical action degrade or disintegrate other materials upon contact.
REASON FOR REGULATION
Corrosives cause severe damage when in contact with living tissue or, in the case of leakage, damage or destroy surrounding materials.
COMMONLY TRANSPORTED CORROSIVES
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15. Chlorides 16. Chlorosilanes 17. Bromine 18. Cyclohexylamine 19. Phenol / carbolic acid 20. Hydrofluoric acid 21. Hydrochloric acid 22. Sulfuric acid 23. Nitric acid 24. Sludge acid 25. Hydrogen fluoride 26. Iodine 27. Morpholine |
Miscellaneous dangerous goods are substances and articles which during transport present a danger or hazard not covered by other classes. This class encompasses, but is not limited to, environmentally hazardous substances, substances that are transported at elevated temperatures, miscellaneous articles and substances, genetically modified organisms and micro-organisms and (depending on the method of transport) magnetized materials and aviation regulated substances.
REASON FOR REGULATION
Miscellaneous dangerous goods present a wide array of potential hazards to human health and safety, infrastructure and/ or their means of transport.
COMMONLY TRANSPORTED MISCELLANEOUS DANGEROUS GOODS
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14. Dry ice / cardice / solid carbon dioxide 15. Expandable polymeric beads / polystyrene beads 16. Ammonium nitrate fertilizers 17. Blue asbestos / crocidolite 18. Lithium ion batteries 19. Lithium metal batteries 20. Battery powered equipment 21. Battery powered vehicles 22. Fuel cell engines 23. Internal combustion engines 24. Vehicles 25. Magnetized material 26. Dangerous goods in apparatus |
SUB-DIVISIONS
Division 6.1: Toxic substances
Division 6.2: Infectious substances