Key Points

Fire

• Non flammable but enhances combustion of other substances
• Reacts with agricultural materials such as peat, powdered sulphur and sawdust, rubber, leather, ammonium salts, grease, powdered metals, non-metals, sulphides, cyanides, nitrobenzene, paint, polyethylene, phosphorus and sodium phosphonate
• Reacts violently with heat, aluminium, antimony sulphide, arsenic, arsenic, carbon, charcoal, manganese oxide, paper, sulphuric acid, thiocyanates, triethylene glycol, wood, zinc, dibasic organic acids and organic matter
• Emits toxic fumes of chlorides and sodium oxides when heated to decomposition

Health

• Toxic by ingestion. Irritating by inhalation, dermal and ocular exposure
• CHIP classification: harmful
• Ingestion causes stomach upset, dizziness, breathlessness, blue discolouration of the skin, heart problems, fitting and coma. Symptoms of poisoning may take up to 12 hours to develop 

Environment

• Dangerous for the environment
• Inform the Environment Agency of substantial releases

 

All sections of the compendia are available to download:

• Sodium Chlorate - General Information (PDF, 56 KB)
• Incident Management (PDF, 60 KB)