Sulphuric acid
Key Points
Fire
- Non flammable under normal conditions
- Highly reactive
- Releases toxic and irritating fumes when heated to decomposition
- Do not use water on fuming acid
- Use fine water spray and liquid-tight chemical protective suits with breathing apparatus
- Gas-tight protective suits with breathing apparatus required for fuming acid
Health
- Exposure may occur following ingestion, inhalation, skin or eye exposure
- Corrosive
- Short-term inhalation may result in irritation of eyes and nose with sore throat, cough, chest tightness, headache and confusion
- Short-term ingestion results in burns to the mouth and throat
- Short-term skin exposure can result in irritation, swelling or burns
- Short-term eye exposure may cause swelling, watering and sensitivity to light
- Long-term inhalation leads to inflammation of the lungs and dental decay
- Sulphuric acid mists are carcinogenic to humans. Sulphuric acid or sulphuric acid solutions are not considered to be carcinogenic
- Sulphuric acid is not considered to be a developmental toxin
Environment
- Avoid release into the environment
- Inform Environment Agency of substantial release incidents
All sections are available to download in PDF format below:
Sulphuric acid - Full Document (PDF, 159 KB)- General Information (PDF, 55 KB)
- Incident Management (PDF, 98 KB)
- Toxicological Overview (PDF, 38 KB)
Last reviewed: 22 October 2008