United States Prevention, Pesticides EPA712-C-96-023
Environmental Protection and Toxic Substances August 1996
Agency (7101)
&EPA Product Properties
Test Guidelines
OPPTS 830.6314
Oxidation/Reduction:
Chemical Incompatibility
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INTRODUCTION
This guideline is one of a series of test guidelines that have been
developed by the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances,
United States Environmental Protection Agency for use in the testing of
pesticides and toxic substances, and the development of test data that must
be submitted to the Agency for review under Federal regulations.
The Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPPTS)
has developed this guideline through a process of harmonization that
blended the testing guidance and requirements that existed in the Office
of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) and appeared in Title 40,
Chapter I, Subchapter R of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), the
Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) which appeared in publications of the
National Technical Information Service (NTIS) and the guidelines pub-
lished by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD).
The purpose of harmonizing these guidelines into a single set of
OPPTS guidelines is to minimize variations among the testing procedures
that must be performed to meet the data requirements of the U. S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency under the Toxic Substances Control Act (15
U.S.C. 2601) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act
(7U.S.C. I36,etseq.).
Final Guideline Release: This document is available from the U.S.
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 on The Federal Bul-
letin Board. By modem dial 202-512-1387, telnet and ftp:
fedbbs.access.gpo.gov (IP 162.140.64.19), internet: http://
fedbbs.access.gpo.gov, or call 202-512-0132 for disks or paper copies.
This guideline is available in ASCII and PDF (portable document format)
from the EPA Public Access Gopher (gopher.epa.gov) under the heading
"Environmental Test Methods and Guidelines."
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OPPTS 830.6314 Oxidation/reduction: Chemical incompatibility.
(a) Scope—(1) Applicability. This guideline is intended to meet test-
ing requirements of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide
Act (FIFRA) (7 U.S.C. 136, et seq.).
(2) Background. The source material used in developing this har-
monized OPPTS test guideline is OPP guideline 63-14 Oxidizing or reduc-
ing action (Pesticide Assessment Guidelines, Subdivision D: Product
Chemistry, EPA Report 540/9-82-018, October 1982) and 40 CFR
158.190 Physical and chemical characteristics.
(b) Test method—(1) Objectives, (i) Chemical incompatibility deter-
mines the likelihood of violent reactions occurring when the new chemical
is mixed or comes into contact with other substances. Thus, dangerous
contact during its chemical life (manufacturing, processing, distribution,
storage, use, and disposal) can be avoided. Significant temperature in-
creases, evolution of gases, noxious fumes, splattering, and evolution of
flame are possible dangers. As used here, "significant temperature in-
creases" is defined as an increase of 5 °C or more.
(ii) These tests will indicate hazardous reactions which can occur re-
sulting from contact of the chemical with common oxidizing and reducing
agents, common fire extinguishing agents, and common solvents.
(2) Test details, (i) Information on the oxidation or reduction poten-
tial of a product may be obtained through a knowledge of the chemistry
of the product and/or by application of the method described in 44 FR
16267 (1979) (see paragraph (d)(l) of this guideline) which is presented,
with minor changes, in paragraph (b)(2)(ii) of this guideline.
(ii) This qualitative assessment will vary from chemical to chemical
depending on physical state and intended uses. Subjective judgements by
a chemist familiar with the chemical and its intended uses are needed to
select appropriate protocols. The following is only an example of an appro-
priate set of tests for a hypothetical chemical. All temperature increases
of greater than 5 °C should be noted. Tests should be conducted at tem-
peratures expected during the normal use of the chemical. Generally, the
ratio of the mass of the new chemical to the mass of the chosen reactant
should be high, simulating maximum exposure situations.
(A) The chemical should be placed in contact with water for 24 hours
and visual observations recorded.
(B) The chemical should be placed in contact with carbon dioxide
and/or monoammonium phosphate for 24 hours and visual observations
recorded. Both of these compounds are widely used fire extinguishing
agents.
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(C) For reducing agents, the chemical should be placed in contact
with powdered zinc or iron for 24 hours and observations recorded. Ele-
mental zinc and iron are both moderately strong reducing agents. Data
from corrosion tests or stability to metals may be suitable in lieu of this
test.
(D) For oxidizing agents, the chemical should be placed in contact
with a moderately strong oxidizing agent, one which the chemical may
contact in its intended use. The electrochemical series may be used as
a guide (the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, for example, provides
information on suitable agents, see paragraph (d)(2) of this guideline).
(E) If the chemical is intended for use in households it should be
placed in contact with a household organic solvent, such as kerosene, tur-
pentine, or gasoline, for 24 hours and observations recorded.
(iii) If an alternative method is used, it is recommended that the reg-
istrant consult with the agency prior to adopting the test method.
(c) Reporting. (1) Descriptions and results of all tests should be pro-
vided.
(2) Any methods used to characterize the physical properties of a
pesticide shall be referenced or described in the application for registration.
If the methods used are listed in paragraph (d) of this guideline, reference
to the method will suffice. If other methods are used, copies of such meth-
ods must be submitted with the application.
(3) The applicant shall submit his own statistical evaluation of the
precision and accuracy of these measurements (e.g., standard deviations
or confidence intervals) when appropriate.
(d) References. The following references should be consulted for ad-
ditional background material on this test guideline.
(1) EPA, "Chemical Incompatibility," FEDERAL REGISTER, 44 FR
16267 (1979).
(2) Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, CRC Publishing Co., Boca
Raton, FL, latest edition.
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