PHMSA Response Letter

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September 12, 2011

Mr. Zac Childers
Dangerous Goods Classification Specialist
Customer Channels Group
Thermo Fisher Scientific
300 Industry Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15275

Reference No. 11-0133

Dear Mr. Childers:

This responds to your June 1, 2011 letter and subsequent email correspondence with a member of my staff requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). Specifically, you ask whether Gieson¿s solution, consisting of 1.23% picric acid (trinitrophenol), less than 1% acid fuchsine, less than 0.1% diazolidinyl urea and approximately 98% water, is regulated under the HMR.

Under § 173.22, it is the shipper's responsibility to classify a hazardous material. This Office does not normally perform this function. However, as the proper shipping name ¿Trinitrophenol, wetted¿ applies to trinitrophenol mixed with not less than 30 percent water by mass and no other materials, we agree with your conclusion that Gieson¿s solution should not be described as such.

Our research has provided conflicting information regarding the corrosivity of Gieson¿s solution. For example, some data indicates that a 1.23% concentration of picric acid is sufficiently diluted so that the solution is not regulated as a Division 4.1 material. Further, we do not have the capability to determine the corrosivity of an unlisted material, such as a mixture, without the results of tests conducted on the material as specified in §§ 173.136 and 173.137. If you are not able to perform corrosivity testing on your material, we recommend that you contact a laboratory capable of performing such testing. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) maintains a website that offers a directory of laboratories that can satisfy this requirement. The ASTM website can be found at: www.astm.org.

I trust this satisfies your inquiry. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Ben Supko
Chief, Standards Development Branch
Standards and Rulemaking Division

173.22, 173.136, 173.137