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Summary:
- Chemical properties are observable when a material undergoes a chemical reaction.
- Flammability is a chemical property that describes how easily a material can burn.
- Hazmat placards and declaration forms are essential when shipping flammable goods.
- Safety cabinets allow you to securely store flammable materials before shipping.
Whether you’re preparing to ship goods by land, air or sea, it is critical to know if they’re hazardous. Hazardous materials require special packaging for shipment and must comply with specific labeling regulations set out by OSHA, the DOT and the EPA.
Flammable materials are hazardous, but what does flammability mean — and is it a physical or chemical property? Knowing this information helps you select the correct hazmat placards and fill out the proper forms to protect shipping personnel and your goods.
What Does Flammability Mean?
When a material combusts or burns, it undergoes an exothermic chemical reaction, emitting heat, light and various combustion products. Flammability describes four properties of a given material:
- How easily it ignites or burns
- How intensely it burns when ignited
- The rate at which it emits solid and gaseous combustion products when burning
- How easily it causes fire to spread
To determine the flammability of a material or product, organizations like Underwriters Laboratories (UL) conduct flammability testing. This allows companies to determine whether their products meet established safety standards their industry or regulatory authorities set.
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Is Flammability a Chemical or Physical Property?
Flammability is a chemical property, like corrosion resistance. The physical properties of a material, such as its hardness, density, melting point and thermal conductivity, don’t require the use of force or chemical alteration to measure or observe. If a material melts, its phase changes, but not its identity.
The chemical properties of a material describe how one material changes into another. To measure a material’s chemical properties, it’s necessary to chemically alter the material. Combustion is a chemical change, while melting is a physical change. An example of this is that wax is still wax before and after melting. However, if wax burns, its state is permanently altered to water and carbon dioxide.
How Does Something Catch Fire?
For a flammable material to catch fire, there must be a source of heat that meets or exceeds its ignition temperature and sufficient oxygen to cause a chemical reaction. When the material’s atoms rise in temperature, they begin to vibrate, breaking free from their bonds.
The free atoms are released as volatile gases, which react with the oxygen in the atmosphere to generate heat.
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How Does Flammability Affect Shipping?
The flammability of the goods you intend to ship directly affects packaging, labeling and form requirements. For example, you’ll need to fill out a shipper’s declaration for dangerous goods form.
At Air Sea Containers, we provide several types of packaging, such as hazmat boxes and UN-rated poly drums, depending on the shipping method you’re using. If you need advice regarding the proper shipping forms, contact us for more information.
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Flammable Materials Placards
When shipping hazardous materials, including flammable materials, you must select the correct labels to indicate the potential danger your goods pose to shipping and customs personnel. We offer a wide variety of hazmat placards for this purpose to prevent mishandling.
Our hazmat warning placards comply with all U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations regarding transporting hazardous materials domestically and internationally.
These placards are designed for use with highway, rail and sea containers.
These placards are made from water- and UV-resistant vinyl. They’re designed to endure inclement weather without chipping, peeling or fading in direct sunlight. They’ll remain visible under various weather and lighting conditions.
Safe Storage of Flammable Materials
To safely store flammable or combustible materials, consider installing a flammable cabinet. At Air Sea Containers, we design our safety cabinets to meet OSHA and NFPA standards and use 18-gauge welded steel and double-wall construction for increased fire resistance.
The manual-close, self-latching doors protect the contents from fire and open up a full 180 degrees for easy access. The self-close doors are connected to a fusible link. When this link melts at 165 F°, the doors automatically close and latch. The three-point stainless steel bullet latching system acts as a fail-safe. Our safety cabinets contain SpillSlope® galvanized steel shelves that direct liquids into a leak-proof sump. The self-closing doors comply with NFPA 1 and the International Fire Code.
Find the Best Safety Equipment and Packaging at Air Sea Containers
At Air Sea Containers, we specialize in providing the packaging and safety products necessary to transport dangerous goods and hazardous materials safely. Whether you need secure storage for flammable materials, compliant packaging for toxic chemicals or hazmat placards, we have everything you need.
