GHS Pictograms

Responders should be aware of the pictograms on the labels and their meanings.

  • Flame Over Circle—Indicates oxidizing gases, oxidizing liquids, and oxidizing solids. These pose chemical/physical risks
  • Flame—Indicates flammables, pyrophoric, self-heating, emits flammable gas, self-reactive, organic peroxides. These pose chemical/physical risks
  • Exploding Bomb—Indicates explosives, self-reactive materials, and organic peroxides. These pose chemical/physical risks 
  • Skull and Crossbones—Indicates Acute toxicity (fatal or toxic). These pose health risks
  • Corrosives—Indicates skin corrosion/burns, eye damage, and corrosive to metals. These pose health and chemical/physical risks
  • Gas Cylinder—Indicates gases under pressure. These pose chemical/physical risks
  • Health Hazard—Indicates carcinogen, mutagenicity, reproductive toxicity, respiratory sensitizer, target organ toxicity, aspiration toxicity. These pose health risks 
  • Environment—Indicates aquatic toxicity. These pose environmental risks. The label is not mandated in the U.S  
  • Exclamation Mark—Indicates irritant (eye and skin), skin sensitizer, acute toxicity, narcotic effects, respiratory tract irritant, hazardous to ozone layer. These pose health risks  

 

Image of a G H S purple book cover with the text GHS Globally Harmonized System of Classification and labeling of Chemicals (GHS) Sixth revised edition. United Nations. Next to the cover are nine red outlined diamonds in two rows, each with a black symbol inside. The top row is a flaming O, an underlined flame, an explosion, and a skull and crossbones second row is a test tube and hand, a cylinder, a man's head and shoulders, dead fish, and an exclamation mark.