Janice,

Categorizing a material as "flammable" requires adherence to a set of very strict set of definitions found in 29CFR1910.106, Flammable liquids. Assuming that the manufacturer performed the tests they will categorize the material in accordance with the requirements.

Chemistry-wise, flammability drops significantly once you start including halogenated solvents in a mixture, so I am not surprised a bit that the mixture, which may be 90+% flammable liquids will be not classified as flammable.

Harry

On Mon, Jul 30, 2018 at 10:41 AM, Janice Umbaugh <janiceu**At_Symbol_Here**labchem.com> wrote:

Hi, everyone,

I received an SDS and label today for a new mixture for chemicals that I don't have experience with, and I am questioning the SDS information. Here are the components:

1,1,1,3,3-pentafluorobutane- 50-70%

1,2-trans-dichloroethylene- 25-50%

1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethyl-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl ether- 1-8%.

According to the SDS, the manufacturer has tested this mixture according to ASTM D56 and found that it does not flash, but the two main components are flammable (PGII) (and the third may be as well). There is also a statement on the SDS that the mixture "may flash if there is a vapor to air concentration in the range of 5.4% to 9.4% exposed to a high energy ignition source, such as a welding torch." Normally I would suspect that a mixture of 92% flammable components would also be flammable, but I don't have experience with these kind of solvents. I don't have a sample of this material to test it myself either.

Does anyone have experience with these sorts of solvent mixtures that could provide some insight as to why or why not this mixture might be flammable? My customer really wants to switch to this material, since it is billed as safer than the n-propyl bromide he is currently using. I'd like to be able to give him accurate information before he switches his SOP. So any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Janice

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Harry J. Elston, Ph.D., CIH
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