“It is prudent to store containers of incompatible chemicals separately. Separation of incompatibles will reduce the risk of mixing in case of accidental breakage, fire, earthquake, or response to a laboratory emergency. Even when containers are tightly closed, fugitive vapors can cause deleterious incompatibility reactions that degrade labels, shelves, cabinets, and containers themselves.” (taken from Prudent Practices in the Laboratory: Handling and Management of Chemical Hazards)
The following links will help you with segregating chemical containers within your laboratory:
- Stanford University/Prudent Practices in the Laboratory
- Examples of Compatible Chemicals for Storage Purpose (Short List)
- Examples of Compatible Chemicals for Storage Purposes (Long List)
- Compatible Storage Group Classification System (i.e., how to arrange chemicals on shelves)
- Flinn Scientific
- Flinn Chemical Storage Guide (a slightly different organization system than above; it is useful for those labs that do not have a variety of chemicals)