We have tried to make these safety web pages as
accurate and useful as possible; however
First check the appropriate directory below. If you can't find the chemical you want,
try clicking
here.
Updated December 5, 2007.
The information on the PTCL Safety web site, where this page
is hosted, has been
copied onto many other sites, often without permission. If you have any
doubts about the veracity of the information that you are viewing, or have any queries,
please check the URL that your web browser displays for this page.
If the URL begins "http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/" or "http://physchem.ox.ac.uk/" the page
is maintained by the Safety Officer in Physical Chemistry at Oxford University.
If not, this page is a copy made by some other person and we have no responsibility
for it.
Please treat this site as a source of general information
about safety and the potential hazards of chemicals, not
as a definitive statement of the hazards associated with
any particular chemical or a reliable interpretation of
safety law. If you buy a chemical to use in
the laboratory, ask the manufacturer for a complete MSDS
sheet.
Acids & Bases - Strengths of Solutions
A table showing the
strength of concentrated solutions of a few common
acids and bases.
Buffers
A short list of the chemicals used in some of the most
common buffer solutions.
Carcinogens
CAS Numbers - Selected Chemicals
A list of CAS numbers for
selected chemicals with links to safety data for many entries.
Chemical abbreviations
A list of
common abbreviations for chemicals
with links to safety (MSDS) data.
Safety Data for Common Chemicals
This section
provides links to data in student-friendly format from the
HSci project
The data provided cover a number of chemicals commonly
found in school science labs, some listed by their
non-systematic (but frequently-used) names. [A much more extensive list of links to
MSDS safety information follows
here.]
Consumer and Industrial Products
Links to MSDS and other safety data for a number of
consumer and
industrial products
such as food additives, non-prescription medicines, fuels, cleaners, etc.
COSHH
An
abbreviated guide to COSHH
from the HSE.
Emergency
TREMCARDS
(Transport Emergency Cards for compressed gases) from
Air Products UK.
Flash Point (Low) Chemicals
A list of some
common organic liquids with low flash points,
(below 32 C, as measured by the Closed Cup method).
Foreign-language databases
Links to chemical safety data in languages other than English.
Gases: Safety Information on
Industrial and Scientific Gases
Gas Cylinder Colour Codes
Glossary
Gloves, Chemically-resistant
A
list of chemically resistant glove material suitable
for working with a variety of inorganic and organic
chemicals. Information is organized by
glove material and by
chemical.
Hazard codes (UN)
Common Highly Toxic Chemicals
Incompatible Chemicals
Interpreting MSDS Sheets
A brief guide to MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) and
how
to interpret them. Here is a link to the new EU
REACH Regulations
on chemical safety.
Laser Classification
An outline of the scheme used to
classify lasers
by their potential to cause harm.
Maximum Exposure Limits
MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet)
Information
Peroxides
Risk and Safety Phrases
Shock-sensitive Materials
A list of
materials which, either on their own or in combination with
reducing agents, may be shock or friction-sensitive.
Synonyms (chemical)
A short list of
synonyms
for some chemical fragments.
Templates
Teratogens
A list of
known and suspected teratogens.
Toxicity Abbreviations
A key to the
abbreviations
used in the toxicity data given in the MSDS files for
chemicals on this site.
Workplace Exposure Limits
A list of Workplace Exposure Limits
drawn from the HSE publication EH40/2005.
(--Additional links--)
Further links to data sources containing information outside the scope of
this site are shown below.
MSDS data on micro-organisms (Health Canada)
Pesticide profiles (Extoxnet)
Food defect action levels
(Levels of food contaminants believed to present no risk to health, from the FDA)
The Fire Protection Association (Guidance on matters related to fires and safety)
Swedish National Testing and Research Institute (Data on fire resistance and protection)
"Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories, 7th edition Volume 1 Accident Prevention for College and University Students"
(ACS)
"Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories, 7th edition Volume 2 Accident Prevention for Faculty and
Administrators" (ACS)
Go to Oxford Chemistry home page
Go to PTCL Safety Officer home page