Hazardous Materials for First Responders
Chapter 8 Terms
Incident Control Strategies & Tactics
NOTICE: Be sure to review Chapter 3 terms when studying Chapter 8 as many relate to both chapters.

Beta Radiation
Type of radiation that can cause skin burns.

Biochemical
Involving chemical reactions in living organisms.

Bulk Packaging
Packaging, other than a vessel or a barge, including transport vehicle or freight container, in which hazardous materials are loaded with no intermediate form of containment and which:

  • For a liquid, the container has a minimum capacity of 119 gallons (450 L).
  • For a solid, the containers have a minimum mass of 882 pounds (400 kg).
  • For a gas, the container has a minimum water capacity of 1,000 pounds (454 kg). (This information is taken from 49 CFR 171.8.)

Carboy
A cylindrical container of about 5 to 15 gallons capacity for corrosive or pure liquids; made of glass, plastic, or metal with a neck and sometimes a pouring tip and cushioned in a wooden box, wicker basket, or special drum.

Class A Fire
Fires involving ordinary combustibles such as wood, paper, cloth, and so on.

Class B Fire
Fires of flammable and combustible liquids and gases such as gasoline, kerosene, and propane.

Combustible Liquids
Liquid having a flash point at or above 100oF and below 200oF.

Corrosive Materials
Liquids or solids that can destroy human skin, or liquids that can severely corrode steel.

Etiological Agents
Living microorganisms, like germs, that can cause human disease; a biologically hazardous material.

Explosives
Materials capable of burning or bursting suddenly and violently.

Flammable Gas
Any material (except aerosols) that is a gas at 68oF or less and that:
Is ignitable at 14.7 psi when in a mixture of 13 percent or less by volume with air OR Has a flammable range at 14.7 psi by volume with air at least 12 percent regardless of the lower limit

Flammable Liquids
Any liquid having a flash point below 100oF and having a vapor pressure not exceeding 40 psi absolute.

Flammable Materials
Substances that ignite easily and burn rapidly.

Flammable Solid
Solid materials (other than explosives) that are liable to cause fires through friction or retained heat from manufacturing or processing or that ignite readily and then burn vigorously and persistently, creating a serious transportation hazard.

Gamma Radiation
Electromagnetic wave with no electrical charge. This type of radiation is extremely penetrating; very high energy X rays.

Gas
Compressible substance, with no specific volume, that tends to assume the shape of a container. Molecules move about most rapidly in this state.

Hazard Class
Group of materials designated by the Department of Transportation (DOT) that share a major hazardous property such as radioactivity or flammability.

Liquefied Compressed Gas
Gas that under the charging pressure is partially liquid at 70oF. Also called Liquefied Gas.

Nonflammable Gas
Compressed gas not classified as flammable.

Nonliquefied Gases
Gas, other than a gas in a solution, that under the charging pressure is entirely gaseous at 70oF.

Organic Peroxide
Organic derivative of the inorganic compound hydrogen peroxide.

ORM-D
Material, such as a consumer commodity, that presents limited hazard during transportation because of its form, quantity, and packaging.

Oxidizer
Substance that yields oxygen readily and may stimulate the combustion of organic and inorganic matter.

Packaging
(1) Broad term the Department of Transportation uses to describe shipping containers and their markings, labels, and/or placards. (2) Readying a victim for transport.

Poison
Any material that when taken into the body is injurious to health.

Radioactive Material
Material whose atomic nucleus spontaneously decays or disintegrates, emitting radiation.

Radiography
Process of making a picture on a sensitive surface by a form of radiation other than light.

Radiopharmaceutical
A radioactive drug used for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.

Toxic Gas
(1) Product of combustion that is poisonous; a gas given off from toxic materials by exposure to an intense heat environment. (2) Any gas that contains poisons or toxins that are hazardous to life.

Volatile
(1) Changing into vapor quite readily at a fairly low temperature. (2) Tending to erupt into violence; explosive.

Water Reactive Materials
Substances, generally flammable solids, that react in varying degrees when mixed with water or exposed to humid air.