Skip to content

Chemical collection and stock control for UK schools, universities and hospitals

Chemical database

Storage class, hazards, signs of deterioration and how each chemical is collected, for the stock UK schools, universities and hospitals actually hold.

Filter results

Storage class

Sector

Hazard pictogram

Physical form

Hazardous waste

160 chemicals

This database covers the chemicals UK schools, colleges, university departments, hospital laboratories, pharmacies and clinics actually keep on their shelves. Each entry is written for the person standing in the store: how the chemical should be kept, what it looks like when it has aged, what it must not sit beside and how it leaves the building as waste.

Reference sites tend to stop at a chemical's identity. A name and a CAS number will not tell a technician which cabinet a bottle belongs in, or tell a histology manager which waste code to put on the note. Those are the questions we built this for.

How to find a chemical

Search by common name, systematic name or CAS number. Chemicals in a working lab rarely go by one name. Old stock may read "ether" where the current label says "diethyl ether", and a stain bottle may use a name that left the catalogues decades ago. Synonyms are included for that reason.

If you are planning and not looking for one bottle, use the filters:

  • Storage class groups chemicals by their main storage hazard, which is a useful starting point when laying out a store, though chemicals in one class are not always compatible.
  • Sector shows what is typically held in a school, a pathology lab or a dental practice.
  • Hazard pictogram picks out everything carrying one of the nine GHS symbols.
  • Physical form separates solids, liquids, solutions and gases.
  • Hazardous waste shows whether the normal waste code is a hazardous entry.

What each chemical entry tells you

Every entry follows the same order, so you can read a page quickly once you know the first one.

Identity and hazard summary. The name, CAS number, form, storage class, signal word and pictograms. Hazard statements use the standard wording from the classification regulations.

Safe storage in a school or lab. Where the chemical belongs in a real store, including what to do about space, ventilation and the shelf itself.

How to tell it has deteriorated. The visible signs of age and damage. For some chemicals the answer is that they barely change and the container fails first. For others, the signs are a warning to stop and leave the container alone.

How it must be disposed of. The usual waste code, the variants for other settings, whether the code is hazardous, the UN number and the route. We publish two routes only: specialist collection, or not accepted for routine collection and needing an assessment first. You will find no sewer route anywhere in this database.

Do not store with. A list of incompatible chemicals, each linked to its own entry, with the reason.

Quantities and sector notes. The containers usually met in the field, and how the chemical shows up in different settings.

Storage classes used in the database

We group stock into seven classes: flammable, oxidiser, acid, alkali, toxic, corrosive and general. A chemical often has more than one hazard, and the class reflects the main storage concern, so check the incompatibles as well. Formalin, for example, sits with toxic stock because its toxic and carcinogenic hazards govern, and picric acid has its own warning because of what happens to it with age.

Colour coding on the site is always paired with the written class, so nothing depends on your colour vision or on a printout in black and white.

Peroxide formers and chemicals unstable with age

Two flags deserve your attention above all others. An entry marked as a peroxide former, such as diethyl ether or isopropanol, carries a review interval from the date of opening. An entry marked unstable when old, such as sodium metal or chloroform, explains what changes over time.

These flags exist to prompt a check, and they do not give you a method to carry one out. We give no instructions for testing, treating or moving these materials. If you find an old or undated container showing crystals, a crust or any other change, leave it where it is, keep people away and get a specialist assessment. If there is immediate danger, call 999.

Some chemicals are also marked as excluded from routine collection. These include dried picric acid and similar unstable materials, along with controlled drugs, radioactive sources, compressed gas cylinders, asbestos and unknown substances.

Where the data comes from

Identity and hazard data come from PubChem, including the GHS classifications it publishes from the European Chemicals Agency and regulation sources. Each entry shows its source and the date it was retrieved. Storage classes, incompatibilities and waste code mappings are our own, applied by consistent rules, using the technical guidance on waste classification for the codes. Written notes are in our own words.

We do not copy safety data sheets or advisory cards, and we do not claim a named chemist has reviewed an entry unless the entry says so. Your supplier's data sheet describes the product you bought, and COSHH requires your employer's own assessment of how you use it.

Twelve chemicals to start with

The pages below are a good way to see how an entry works.

Common solvents: acetone, isopropanol, ethanol, xylene and chloroform. Pathology and research stock: formalin, phenol and ethidium bromide. Legacy items where age in storage matters: mercury, picric acid, sodium metal and diethyl ether.

When several of these need to leave the building together, that is a laboratory chemical disposal job, arranged through registered waste carriers.

Guidance only. Check your own risk assessment and your supplier's safety data sheet.

Official sources

Browse by sector