The Chemical Reactivity Worksheet (CRW) is a free software program you can use to find out about the chemical reactivity of thousands of common hazardous chemicals. (Reactivity is the tendency of substances to undergo chemical change, which can result in hazards—such as heat generation or toxic gas byproducts.)

The chemical datasheets in the CRW database contain information about the intrinsic hazards of each chemical and about whether a chemical reacts with air, water, or other materials. It also includes case histories on specific chemical incidents, with references.

You can also create your own custom chemical datasheets (for instance, if your facility produces a proprietary chemical that is not in the standard database).

Additionally, this chemical reactivity tool includes a reactivity prediction worksheet that allows you to virtually "mix" chemicals—like the ones in the photo of the derailed tank cars—to find out what dangers could arise from accidental mixing. (For instance, if the reaction is predicted to generate gases, the CRW will list the potential gaseous products, along with literature citations related to the prediction.)

Click the "Add Custom Chemicals" button to add custom or proprietary chemicals to the CRW. Click the "Mixture Documentation" tab to view literature citations for the reactive group pairs in the mixture. Click the "Add Water" button to add water to a mixture and see general predictions about how the chemicals in the mixture would react with water.

All versions of the Chemical Reactivity Worksheet (CRW) were developed by NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration, in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Center for Chemical Process Safety.

Hazard Codes: The reactivity worksheet uses codes to describe intrinsic hazards (such as 108 for "Air-Reactive") and for the hazards that may result from mixing chemicals together (such as A9 for "Heat generated from chemical reaction may initiate explosion"). Information about these codes is provided within the CRW, but it may be helpful to have the full list to use as a legend in documents that you prepare. Download the list of intrinsic hazard codes [Excel, 19 KB] and the list of hazard codes for chemical combinations [Excel, 21.5 KB].

Chemical Reactivity Worksheet Fact Sheet [PDF, 782 KB]: Learn more about basic features of the CRW in this short fact sheet.

CAMEO Software Suite: Find out more about the several other programs in the CAMEO software suite related to the Chemical Reactivity Worksheet.
 

Questions: Contact us with questions, comments, or suggestions about the Chemical Reactivity Worksheet.