Storing chemicals can be a pretty big challenge. As long as you’ve only got a couple of different ones it’s fairly simple but as soon as you grow the list, you need to make sure that chemicals that are stored in the same cabinet aren’t going to react with one another in case of leakage.
This is where the chemical incompatibility table (Taken from the Manufacturing Chemist’s Association “Guide for Chemical Laboratory”) comes in handy:
CHEMICAL |
KEEP OUT OF CONTACT WITH |
Acetic acid |
Chromic acid, nitric acid, perchloric acid, peroxides, permanganates and other oxidizers |
Acetone |
Concentrated nitric and sulfuric acid mixtures, and strong bases |
Acetylene |
Chlorine, bromine, copper, fluorine, silver, mercury |
Alkali metals |
Water, carbon tetrachloride or other chlorinated hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, halogens |
Ammonia, anhydrous |
Mercury, chlorine, calcium hypochlorite, iodine, bromine, hydrofluoric acid |
Ammonium nitrate |
Acids, metal powders, flammable liquids, chlorates, nitrites, sulfur, finely divided organic or combustible materials |
Aniline |
Nitric acid, hydrogen peroxide |
Arsenic materials |
Any reducing agent |
Azides |
Acids |
Bromine |
Same as chlorine |
Calcium oxide |
Water |
Carbon (activated) |
Calcium hypochlorite, all oxidizing agents |
Carbon tetrachloride |
Sodium |
Chlorates |
Ammonium salts, acids, metal powders, sulfur, finely divided organic or combustible materials |
Chromic acid and chromium trioxide |
Acetic acid, naphthalene, camphor, glycerol, glycerin, turpentine, alcohol, flammable liquids in general |
Chlorine |
Ammonia, acetylene, butadiene, butane, methane, propane (or other petroleum gases), hydrogen, sodium carbide, turpentine, benzene, finely divided metals |
Chlorine dioxide |
Ammonia, methane, phosphine, hydrogen sulfide |
Copper |
Acetylene, hydrogen peroxide |
Cumene hydroperoxide |
Acids, organic or inorganic |
Cyanides |
Acids |
Flammable liquids |
Ammonium nitrate, chromic acid, hydrogen peroxide, nitric acid, sodium peroxide, halogens |
Hydrocarbons |
Fluorine, chlorine, bromine, chromic acid, sodium peroxide |
Hydrocyanic acid |
Acids |
Hydrofluoric acid |
Ammonia, aqueous or anhydrous, bases and silica |
Hydrogen peroxide |
Copper, chromium, iron, most metals or their salts, alcohols, acetone, organic materials, aniline, nitromethane, flammable liquids |
Hydrogen sulfide |
Fuming nitric acid, other acids, oxidizing gases, acetylene, ammonia (aqueous or anhydrous), hydrogen |
Hypochlorites |
Acids, activated carbon |
Iodine |
Acetylene, ammonia (aqueous or anhydrous), hydrogen |
Mercury |
Acetylene, fulminic acid, ammonia |
Nitrates |
Sulfuric acid |
Nitric acid (concentrated) |
Acetic acid, aniline, chromic acid, hydrocyanic acid, hydrogen sulfide, flammable liquids, flammable gases, copper, brass, any heavy metals |
Nitrites |
Acids |
Nitroparaffins |
Inorganic bases, amines |
Oxalic acid |
Silver, mercury |
Oxygen |
Oils, grease, hydrogen; flammable liquids, solids, or gases |
Perchloric acid |
Acetic anhydride, bismuth and its alloys, alcohol, paper, wood, grease, and oils |
Peroxides, organic |
Acids (organic or mineral), avoid friction, store cold |
Phosphorus (white) |
Air, oxygen, alkalis, reducing agents |
Potassium |
Carbon tetrachloride, carbon dioxide, water |
Potassium chlorate and perchlorate |
Sulfuric and other acids, alkali metals, magnesium and calcium. |
Potassium permanganate |
Glycerin, ethylene glycol, benzaldehyde, sulfuric acid |
Selenides |
Reducing agents |
Silver |
Acetylene, oxalic acid, tartaric acid, ammonium compounds, fulminic acid |
Sodium |
Carbon tetrachloride, carbon dioxide, water |
Sodium nitrite |
Ammonium nitrate and other ammonium salts |
Sodium peroxide |
Ethyl or methyl alcohol, glacial acetic acid, acetic anhydride, benzaldehyde, carbon disulfide, glycerin, ethylene glycol, ethyl acetate, methyl acetate, furfural |
Sulfides |
Acids |
Sulfuric Acid |
Potassium chlorate, potassium perchlorate, potassium permanganate (or compounds with similar light metals, such as sodium, lithium, etc.) |
Tellurides |
Reducing agents |
Maybe it’s time to go through that cabinet and make sure you don’t have an accident in the making!