Safety Rules for Strike Anywhere Matches With Phosphorus

Matches are sticks of flammable material---usually wood or cardboard---which have a small amount of ignitable material on one tip. When friction is applied to the ignitable material, the match lights on fire. Most matches used today are known as safety matches, meaning that they will only ignite if friction is applied with a special sandpaper-like, or prepared, surface. However, some matches are known as "strike anywhere" matches; these matches are designed to ignite when friction is applied by a variety of hard surfaces, ranging from rocks, concrete and sandpaper to zippers, teeth, thumbnails and the matches themselves. Therefore, extra precaution must be used when dealing with these matches.

General Safety Rules

• Some safety rules apply to all matches. Do not store matches near heat or open flames, or light matches around gas sources, flammable materials or liquids. Keep matches away from children, and never use matches to amuse children, as they might imitate your actions. Do not throw burning matches. Store matches in a locked cabinet. Do not place used matches around flammable materials or in trash cans without ensuring that they are no longer smoldering.

Strike Anywhere Matches

• Strike anywhere matches require greater care. This is because they could conceivably ignite with the friction against other matches; they do not require friction with a striking surface to ignite. Thus, with strike anywhere matches, you must avoid jostling or shaking the container in which these matches are held, avoid dropping these matches on the floor, and generally avoid any situation in which these matches may inadvertently come into contact with any surface on which they could ignite.

Special Rules

• The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has prescribed special rules for matches. Passengers on airplanes may carry one book of safety matches, but they are not allowed to have strike anywhere matches. In addition, strike anywhere matches have special packaging rules stating that they must be in "chipboard, fiberboard, wooden or metal inner packagings to prevent accidental ignition under conditions normally incident to transportation." There are no similar packaging rules for safety matches.