Key Points

Fire

• Flammable
• Mixtures of kerosene vapour and air are explosive
• In the event of a fire involving kerosene, use normal foam and normal fire kit with breathing apparatus

Health

• Serious lung injury may occur if droplets of kerosene are inhaled e.g. if vomiting occurs after ingestion
• Acute and chronic exposure to kerosene may cause irritability, restlessness, drowsiness, convulsions, coma and death
• Irritating to eyes and skin
• The most common health effect associated with prolonged kerosene exposure is dermatitis
• Kerosene does not affect human reproduction or development
• Kerosene is not considered to be carcinogenic to humans

Environment

• Avoid release into the environment
• Inform Environment Agency of substantial incidents

 

All sections are available to download in PDF format below:

• Kerosene - Full Document (PDF, 132 KB)
• General Information - Kerosene (PDF, 48 KB)
• Incident Management - Kerosene (PDF, 52 KB)
• Toxicological Overview - Kerosene (PDF, 57 KB)

 

• Kerosene - Full Document (PDF, 132 KB)
  HPA Compendium of Chemical Hazards Kerosene, version 3, 2011. This document will be reviewed not later than 3 years or sooner if substantive evidence becomes available.
  Added/updated: 13 January 2012
  
• General Information - Kerosene (PDF, 48 KB)
  Kerosene General information
  Added/updated: 24 March 2011
  
• Incident Management - Kerosene (PDF, 52 KB)
  Kerosene - Incident management, version 3, 2011.
  Added/updated: 13 January 2012
  
• Toxicological Overview - Kerosene (PDF, 57 KB)
  Kerosene Toxicological overview
  Added/updated: 24 March 2011