April 10, 1997
Revised: October 11, 2006

Subject: Shipping of Chemicals

The purpose of this memo is to explain the information requirements needed for shipping of chemicals. Recently, several samples were attempted to be shipped without the necessary information.

Radiological:
All material that has been in a neutron beam has to be cleared through Health Physics without exception. Health Physics will handle all the paperwork necessary for this aspect. Material having < 2 nCi/g is considered by DOT as being non-hazardous, but other regulations may still apply.

Non-Irradiated (or exempt quantity) Samples and Chemicals:
Before shipping of any chemicals, which includes all samples, information has to be supplied with the package to identify whether material is hazardous as determined by DOT regulations (49CFR). http://www.myregs.com/dotRSPA/
Safety hazards must be identified, and categorized as one or more of the following types:

• Explosives
• Gases
• Flammable Liquids
• Flammable Solids
• Oxidizing Substance
• Poisonous and Infectious Substance
• Radioactive Material
• Corrosives

A material safety data sheet (MSDS), if available, for example at http://hazard.com/msds, will suffice for this purpose.

Biological, Flammability, Poisonous:
There are very specific requirements for determining whether a sample is deemed hazardous for shipping purposes. Examples: 1) For flammability, any chemical having a flashpoint less than 60.5 C is deemed hazardous. 2) Any solid chemicals having LD50's less than 200 mg/Kg are deemed poisonous. (LD50 corresponds to mass of chemical fed orally to animal, which will kill 50% of animals, normalized by mass of animal). There are several more criterion involved. Most chemicals deemed hazardous can still be shipped if properly packaged, check with shipping/receiving.

Information to be supplied:

• The contents of the package must be identified, by full chemical names (not formulas), along with the mass of each component.
• The contents of the package must be identified for mass of each component.
• Safety hazards must be identified. Typically, this is done by supplying material safety data sheets (MSDS) obtained from original vendor.
• Your signature or initials on a shipping order verifying that a package is not hazardous is needed for all packages not supplied with MSDS.

Note, without MSDS or pertinent safety information for chemicals, the shipper has the authority to refuse shipment, otherwise they may lose their certification if found to be shipping hazardous packages.

If the information you supply is incorrect or fraudulent, you maybe held accountable to civil or criminal prosecution. Fines range from $250.00 to $27,500.00 for individuals.

Last modified 17-October-2006