Lists of Lists for “Highly Toxic” and “Toxic” hazardous materials (IFC, IMC, IBC)

I have always wanted to do this for my own use and over the pandemic, I took the time to compile a breakdown of some of the hazardous materials my clients have into Highly Toxic and Toxic so as to be clear which design requirements apply to which hazardous materials (HAZMATs). For some of these HAZMATs, I knew which level they belonged to as I work with them monthly, but there were a few surprises. Bear in mind that I worked for some world-class organizations early in my career and with some of these HAZMATs the business chose to manage them as “Highly Toxic” when in fact they were really only “toxic” or maybe not even “toxic”.

I used the median Lethal Concentration (LC50) to compile my lists and I ONLY broke down the thirty-two (32) hazardous materials that I have been asked about or worked with first hand during my career in industry (Chemical/Semi-Conductor) and as a consultant to a client.

In compiling this list I was shocked at the varying levels of conflicting “scientific data” – seems one could do a lot of shopping to find a more “favorable” exposure limit in order to reduce their compliance burdens. This applies to using the same metric such as LC50; when we throw LD50 into the mix things get even more blurry; hence I chose to be consistent and used ONLY the LC50 metric and used NIOSH/AIHA/ACGIH as my base sources. But as allowed, the user can use any of these metrics to decide which category the HAZMAT falls into…

PLEASE NOTE: the IFC definitions of Highly Toxic and Toxic do NOT align with OSHA’s GHS definitions. I write these articles to help other safety professionals with “safe design” considerations to fill in the gaps between outdated OSHA Standards and full-blown RAGAGEPs. We should also keep in mind, the IFC uses Maximum Allowable Quantities to establish its requirements.

Highly Toxic

Toxic

LD50 of ≤ 50 mg/kg body weight oral albino rat 200 – 300 g

LD50 of ≤ 200 mg/kg body weight continuous 24 h contact (or less if death occurs before 24 h) albino rabbits 2 – 3 kg

LC50 ≤ 200 ppm by volume of gas or vapor, or > 2 mg/L dust/fume/mist continuous inhalation for 1 h (or less if death occurs in less than 1 h) to albino rats 200 – 300 g.

50 mg/kg < LD50 ≤ 500 mg/kg ( body weight) oral albino rat 200 – 300 g

200 mg/kg < LD50 ≤ 1000 mg/kg (body weight) continuous 24 h contact (or less if death occurs before 24 h) albino rabbits 2 – 3 kg

200 ppm < LC50 ≤ 2000 ppm (by volume of gas or vapor), or 2 mg/L < LC50 ≤ 20 mg/L (dust, fume, mist) continuous inhalation for 1 h (or less if death occurs in less than 1 h) to albino rats 200 – 300 g

NOTE: this list was compiled using the LC50 for these materials.

Highly toxic*

Toxic*

Arsine (AsH3)

Cyanogen (CN2)

Diazomethane (CH2N2)

Diborane (B2H6)

Fluorine (F)

Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN)

Hydrogen Selenide (H2Se)

Nitric Oxide (NO)

Oxygen difluoride (OF2)

Phosgene (COCl2)

Phosphine (PH3)

Perfluoroisobutylene (C4F8)

Selenium Hexafluoride (SeF6)

Stibine (SbH3)

Sulfur Tetrafluoride (SF4)

Tellurium Hexafluoride (TeF6)

Boron Tribromide (BBr3)

Bromine Chloride (BrCl)

Bromomethane (CH3Br)

Chlorine (Cl2)

Chlorine trifluoride (CIF3)

Cyanogen (C2N2)

Dichlorosilane (H2Cl2Si)

Germane (GeH4)

Hydrogen Fluoride (HF)

Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S)

Perchloryl Fluoride (ClFO3)

Phosphorus Pentafluoride (PF5)

Silicon Tetrafluoride (SiF4)

Silicon Tetrachloride (SiCl4)

Trifluoroacetyl Chloride (C2ClF3O)

Tungsten Hexafluoride (WF6)

*Highly Toxic gases would also be a Category 1 (Acute Toxicity) per OSHA; Category 2’s would be Toxic Gases

Related Posts