Unstable Materials, Monomers, and Organic Peroxides, (Part 2 of 2)

Energy is always dangerous at a hazardous materials emergency. After explosives, unstable materials are some of the most reactive and unpredictable situations responders can face. Unstable materials may decompose, condense, polymerize or self-react. Temperature, shock, light, contaminants, incompatibles, or inhibitor loss may trigger an uncontrolled exothermic reaction. Monomers may undergo runaway polymerization reactions. Organic peroxides inherently possess two or even three sides of the fire triangle and as a result may rapidly, exothermically, and sometimes explosively, disintegrate. Peroxidizable chemicals can react with oxygen in the air to form potentially explosive peroxides. There is no single hazard class for unstable materials because they often present multiple hazards. The first half of this class will focus on understanding unstable materials, the risks associated with them in an emergency, and transportation and storage. The second half of the class will review the chemistry of unstable materials and tactics for handling unstable materials during an incident.