What are the fire and explosion hazards of dangerously reactive chemicals?
Highly reactive chemicals may undergo vigorous, uncontrolled reactions that can cause an explosion or a fire, or rupture sealed reaction vessels or storage containers. Even slow reactions can be hazardous if they involve large amounts of material or if the heat and gases are confined, such as in a sealed storage drum. Drums that are swollen and distorted from over-pressurization are potentially very dangerous. They may rupture at any time without warning and release their contents. Some dangerously reactive liquids such as methyl acrylate and acrylonitrile, are also flammable liquids. They give off enough vapour at normal workplace temperatures to form flammable mixtures with air. They can be serious fire hazards at temperatures lower than those at which they would begin to polymerize or decompose. Fires involving dangerously reactive materials can be more hazardous than normal. The heat from the fire can lead to violent, uncontrolled chemical reactions and potentially explosive ruptur
