TY - JOUR A1 - Wilrich, Cordula A1 - Brandes, Elisabeth A1 - Michael-Schulz, Heike A1 - Schröder, Volkmar A1 - Schwarz, Silke A1 - Wehrstedt, Klaus-Dieter T1 - UN GHS ‒ Physical hazard classifications of chemicals: A critical review of combinations of hazard classes N2 - One of the fundamental principles of the UN-GHS (Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals) is that all hazards of a chemical should be assigned and communicated. There is no general prioritization of hazards in the sense that certain hazard classes are not applicable if another one has been assigned. In contrast to health and environmental hazards, there are physical or chemical factors which preclude certain combinations of physical hazard classes. So far, there is no common understanding as to which combinations are relevant and which not. For example, should a pyrophoric liquid be classified as flammable liquid in addition, or is this redundant and unnecessary? In the course of the implementation of the GHS by countries or sectors and the actual application by industry all over the world, such questions become more and more important. This publication systematically discusses all combinations of the UN-GHS physical hazard classes and assesses them with regard to the relevance of possible simultaneous assignment to a chemical. For many of the combinations an unambiguous decision based on theGHS alone is not possible, thus confirming that the question which physical hazard classes might be assigned simultaneously to a chemical is not trivial. As one more milestone on the path to a globally harmonized system for the classification of hazardous chemicals, this should be discussed and ultimately solved on a global basis. It is the hope that this publication might serve as an impetus for such discussions. KW - UN-GHS KW - Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals KW - Hazardous chemicals KW - Chemicals classification KW - Physical hazards PY - 2017 UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871553217300336 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchas.2017.03.005 SN - 1871-5532 VL - 24 IS - 6 SP - 15 EP - 28 PB - Elsevier Inc. AN - OPUS4-42704 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -