“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)
- NOAA’s Chemical Reactivity Worksheet (CRW) and CAMEO Chemicals are free software programs that you can use to find out about the chemical reactivity of thousands of common hazardous chemicals (Reactivity is the tendency of substances to undergo chemical change, which can result in hazards—such as heat generation or toxic gas byproducts.).
- Both programs predict possible hazards from mixing chemicals and were initially designed to be used by emergency responders and planners, as well as the chemical industry, to help prevent dangerous chemical incidents.