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OSHA List of Hazardous Chemicals

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, has compiled a list of toxic chemicals found in work environments that are hazardous to people. Employers are expected to make a list of every hazardous chemical that is present in the workplace. The OSHA list of hazardous chemicals is broken down into 10 different classifications or categories.

  1. Biohazard

    • Biohazards pose a serious risk to human life. Pathogens such as bacteria, plasmids, fungi, viruses and parasites, and the toxins that they make are all biohazards. Toxins are made by plants, animals, microbes and hazardous allergens such as black mold.

    Compressed Gas

    • Gases expand when they are exposed to heat. When compressed gases such as helium and oxygen are exposed to heat higher than 70 degrees Fahrenheit and they are stored at a pressure that exceeds 40 pounds per square inch, they expand and can blow out of their containers, causing massive collateral damage and fatal accidents.

    Corrosive

    • Corrosive chemicals, such as hydrochloric acid and very strong basic chemicals like lye, burn or eat away at both organic materials like human flesh and inorganic materials like steel. Corrosive substances cause irreversible harm and physical damage to the surface they come into contact with.

    Flammable

    • Liquids or solids that ignite at 100 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, and those that ignite or catch on fire easily and can sustain the fire, or keep burning once they do combust, are considered flammable materials. There are flammable materials that emit toxic gases and smoke into the air when they catch fire that can be detrimental to human health. Flammable liquids include aerosols, nitromethane, acetone, isopropanol, ethanol, gasoline, natural gas, propane and butane.

    Moderate Poison

    • Chemical substances that are harmful and can make people sick when they are exposed to them are considered moderate poisons. Small amounts of exposure can make people sick, but generally contact with them is not fatal. Moderate poisons include lead, vinyl chloride and heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury and cadmium.

    Radioactive

    • Radioactive materials such as radon, radium, uranium, plutonium and thorium are metals that emit radiation. Radiation kills off living cells in the human body. Too much exposure to radiation can make people ill, or give them radiation poisoning. Overexposure to radiation can be fatal. If the person who is overexposed does not die right away, they can develop cancer or other health complications that can kill them.

    Severe Poison

    • Severe poisons are chemical substances that cause critical or grave reactions in the human body. Generally, exposure to a small amount of the severe poison is required for it to be deadly. Severe poisonous materials include hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen dioxide and hydrogen cyanide, bromine, chlorine, fluorine, cyanide and nitriles.

    Water Reactive and Oxidizers

    • Some chemicals react with water and release a flammable or toxic gas. An oxidizer is a chemical substance that releases oxygen and is used to ignite combustible or flammable organic material. Examples include peroxide, nitrates and hypochlorites.

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