May 21, 2015. From the CONTACT ME page of MY WEBSITE:
Would a 10 cc syringe filled with 65% Oxygen/35% Carbon Dioxide at Atmospheric pressure be categorized as a hazardous material from a DOT perspective?
I was out of the office conducting Onsite Training in Ohio on May 21st, so my Wife fielded the call:
Hi, Dan is conducting training then traveling back to the office. He will answer your question as soon as he can.
Next day – May 22, 2015 – there I was back in the office:
Based on the information provided, what you describe would not be a hazardous material subject to the regulations of the PHMSA/USDOT when in transportation or offered for transportation. To be a hazardous material it would have to match the definition of one at 49 CFR 171.8:
Hazardous material means a substance or material that the Secretary of Transportation has determined is capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported in commerce, and has designated as hazardous under section 5103 of Federal hazardous materials transportation law (49 U.S.C. 5103). The term includes hazardous substances, hazardous wastes, marine pollutants, elevated temperature materials, materials designated as hazardous in the Hazardous Materials Table (see 49 CFR 172.101), and materials that meet the defining criteria for hazard classes and divisions in part 173 of this subchapter.
So, does your syringe meet the definition of a hazardous material?
What you describe is not any of the following:
- Hazardous substance
- Hazardous waste
- Marine pollutant
- Elevated temperature material
While there is an entry for Oxygen, compressed in the Hazardous Materials Table at 49 CFR 172.101 (see below), what you describe does not meet the definition of a Division 2.2 Non-Flammable Gas at 49 CFR 173.115.
My satisfied customer (not really a customer, just someone with a question) wanted a little more that same day:
Whereas questions are always answered free of charge – just like this one – sometimes a more “definitive judgement” is require and that’s where I require payment. So go ahead, ask me a question about the transportation of hazardous materials or the management of waste (hazardous, universal, used oil, non-hazardous, special, &etc.) for no charge. If you require a researched and documented response, we can make arrangements for my consulting services.