Hazardous Materials: Forbidden Materials

3 questions in the bank cover this topic. Everything below is drawn from the sources those questions cite.

Sources: 49 CFR 173.21

What you need to know

173.21(a) points at Column 3 of the Hazardous Materials Table.

Forbidden there means forbidden outright, not merely restricted, and no packaging or placard makes it shippable.

Materials that are designated “Forbidden” in Column 3 of the § 172.101 table.

49 CFR 173.21

173.21(e) is about what the mixture would do.

The same reasoning drives the 177.848 segregation table and the specific cyanide and acid prohibition in 177.848(c). The gases in question are flammable or poisonous.

A material in the same packaging, freight container, or overpack with another material, the mixing of which is likely to cause a dangerous evolution of heat, or flammable or poisonous gases or vapors, or to produce corrosive materials.

49 CFR 173.21

173.21(c) forbids them unless the packaging precludes sparking or dangerous heat.

The hazard is a short circuit between terminals, which is why terminals are taped or individually bagged. The packaging has to prevent both.

Electrical devices, such as batteries and battery-powered devices, which are likely to create sparks or generate a dangerous evolution of heat, unless packaged in a manner which precludes such an occurrence.

49 CFR 173.21

Check yourself

• How do you know a material may not be transported at all?

• What combination is forbidden in the same packaging or freight container?

• When may batteries and battery-powered devices be transported?

Answers are in the practice test for this topic.