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Definition

CHIP- The Chemical (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) Regulations (now obsolete; see below) provided information on hazardous chemicals in Great Britain. These regulations were designed to comply with various European Union (EU) directives relating to the supply of dangerous chemicals.

Additional Info

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CHIP was amended on a regular basis since it was first adopted as the Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) Regulations in 1994. Therefore, one may see references to CHIP 96, 98, 99 etc. in older literature. Each new version revoked the previous version. The last version of CHIP was issued in 2009 and was also known as CHIP4.

CHIP4 (2009) broke with previous versions by dropping (Material) Safety Data Sheets (SDS's) compliance which was then addressed through the European REACH regulation.

The remainder of the CHIP regulations were phased out by the European Regulation on Classification, Labelling and Packaging of Substances and Mixtures (known as the CLP Regulation, (EC) No 1272/2008) which is the EU's implementation of the Globally Harmonised System on the Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS). CLP regulations superseded CHIP on June 1, 2015 and all items in the EU have been required to be packaged and labelled in compliance with CLP effective June 1, 2017.

CHIP4 regulations required the supplier of a dangerous chemical to:

1. Identify the hazards (dangers) of the chemical. This process is called "classification".
2. Provide information about the hazards to their customers. This information is usually provided on the package/label.
3. Package the material safely.

CHIP also defined classes of danger for "substances and preparations dangerous for supply" and used a letter coding system for these classes. You may encounter these symbols on outdated European MSDS's. In addition, labels and sheets in the EU carry required risk phrase and safety phrase codes. In our opinion, these coding systems are not only useless, but confusing - why write a crytic code such as "Xn" instead of simply stating "Harmful"? Regardless, here is a summary of the major classification codes that were used:

Physico-Chemical Properties1
Code Letter(s) & Meaning	Danger Symbol	Description
E Explosive		Solid, liquid, pasty or gelatinous substances and preparations which may react exothermically without atmospheric oxygen thereby quickly evolving gases, and which under defined test conditions detonate, quickly deflagrate or upon heating explode when partially confined.
F+ Extremely Flammable		Liquid substances and preparations having an extremely low flash point and a low boiling point and gaseous substances and preparations which are flammable in contact with air at ambient temperature and pressure.
F Highly Flammable		Substances and preparations which may become hot and finally catch fire in contact with air at ambient temperature without any application of energy, Solid substances and preparations which may readily catch fire after brief contact with a source of ignition and which continue to burn or to be consumed after removal of the source of ignition, Liquid substances and preparations having a very low flash point, or Substances and preparations which, in contact with water or damp air, evolve extremely flammable gases in dangerous quantities.1
(none) Flammable	(no symbol)	Liquid substances and preparations having a low flash point.
O Oxidizing		Substances and preparations which give rise to a highly exothermic reaction in contact with other substances, particularly flammable substances.

Health Effects1 Note: Some symbols appear more than once in the following table. Please study the first column carefully.
Code Letter(s) & Meaning	Danger Symbol	Description
C Corrosive		Substances and preparations which may, on contact with living tissues, destroy them.
N Dangerous For The Environment		Substances and preparations which, were they to enter into the environment, would present or might present an immediate or delayed danger for one or more components of the environment. Does not apply to preparations. In certain cases, some substances do not need to be labelled with the danger symbol for this category.
T+ Very toxic		Substances and preparations which in very low quantities cause death or acute or chronic damage to health when inhaled, swallowed or absorbed via the skin.
T Toxic		Substances and preparations which in low quantities cause death or acute or chronic damage to health when inhaled, swallowed or absorbed via the skin.
Xi Irritant		Non-corrosive substances and preparations which, through immediate, prolonged or repeated contact with the skin or mucous membrane, may cause inflammation.
Xn Harmful		Substances and preparations which may cause death or acute or chronic damage to health when inhaled, swallowed or absorbed via the skin.
Sensitizing Xn Sensitizing by inhalation Xi Sensitizing by skin contact	(i.e. Xn or Xi)	Substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or if they penetrate the skin, are capable of eliciting a reaction by hypersensitization such that on further exposure to the substance or preparation, characteristic adverse effects are produced.
Carcinogenic T - Category 1 1 T - Category 2 Xn - Category 3	(depends on category)	Substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may induce cancer or increase its incidence
Mutagenic T - Category 1 1 T - Category 2 Xn - Category 3	(depends on category)	Substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may induce inheritable genetic defects or increase their incidence.
Toxic for reproduction T - Category 1 1 T - Category 2 Xn - Category 3	(depends on category)	Substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may produce or increase the incidence of non-inheritable adverse effects in the progeny and/or of male or female reproductive functions or capacity.

¹ See CHIP4 Schedule 1 for the formal classification/categorization system.

Books Available

NOTE: We may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links in the following list:

• "The European Union REACH Regulation for Chemicals: Law and Practice 1st Edition", Hardcover, 320 pages, 2013. Estimated price $371.00. Info and/or order.
• "Chemical Risk Assessment: A Manual for REACH 1st Edition", Hardcover, 418 pages, 2014. Estimated price $76.81. Info and/or order.
• "REACH Beyond Borders: Europeanization Towards Global Regulation 1st ed", Hardcover, 137 pages, 2017. Estimated price $109.91. Info and/or order.
• "EU Chemicals Regulation: New Governance, Hybridity and REACH", Hardcover, 272 pages, 2015. Estimated price $122.87. Info and/or order.

SDS Relevance

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The now-obsolete CHIP4 (2009) regulations delegated Safety Data Sheet (SDS) compliance to the European REACH regulation. REACH regulations still require an SDS to be provided the first time the chemical is supplied or if the composition of the material changes so that new information has to be included.

If your current SDS is referencing CHIP regulations the sheet is most likely obsolete. Check the date to see if it is most recent version and be sure the content is GHS-compliant.

The now-obsolete CHIP3 (2002) specifically addressed safety data sheets in the following areas:

1. The supplier of a hazardous substance must supply the recipient with a safety data sheet containing certain specific information (see link below for a full explanation)
2. The supplier must keep the safety data sheet up to date and revise it when any significant new information becomes available regarding safety, health or the environment.
3. Safety data sheets must be provided free of charge with shipments.
4. If the sheet is revised, anyone who received the substance in the previous 12 months should be notified.
5. Safety data sheets are not intended for consumer use as long as sufficient safety/use data is available with the product.
6. Sheets must be in English. If used in an EU member state, the sheet may be in an official language of that state.

Further Reading

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• The full text of The Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) Regulations 2009 (CHIP4) for England, Wales and Scotland as well as Northern Ireland.
• The full texts of the obsolete CHIP3 (2002) and CHIP2 (1994) are also available.
• An introduction to CHIP 4 from the U.K.'s HSE, courtesy of the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
• Chemical classification as handled under CLP at the U.K. HSE.
• Export and import of dangerous chemicals (PIC) at HSE gives an excellent summary of the regulations for the import/export of hazardous chemicals in the EU.

See also: COSHH, HMIS, NFPA, REACH, TSCA, The SDS FAQ entry on European SDS requirements.

Additional definitions from Google and OneLook.

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