Calcium Chloride

Calcium Chloride

Safety data sheet in the 16-section GHS format · CAS 10043-52-4

1Identification of the substance and of the supplier

2Hazards identification

3Composition / information on ingredients

4First-aid measures

5Fire-fighting measures

6Accidental release measures

Data not verified — see producer SDS for the lot supplied. Brine spills damage reinforced concrete — chloride drives corrosion of embedded steel and calcium chloride forms expansive calcium oxychloride in the hardened paste — so bund and wash down brine handling areas.

7Handling and storage

•  The exotherm is the thing to get right. Dissolving calcium chloride releases heat, and the drier the grade the more of it: the heat of solution of the anhydrous salt is about −737 J/g (−176 cal/g, ≈ −82 kJ/mol), against about −305 J/g for the dihydrate. The producer’s own figure for making a 30% solution from 83–87% flake is a temperature rise of nearly 47 °C — from Indian ambient water that lands the batch near 75–80 °C. The grade Velora actually supplies as the high-concentration solid, 94–97% anhydrous, releases materially more heat again per kilogram — scaling the producer’s figure puts the rise near 70 °C, which from 30 °C ambient water brings the batch close to boiling. Violent boiling on contact with water has been recorded. (The 47 °C is the producer’s measured figure for 83–87% flake, a grade not in our catalogue; the 70 °C is scaled from it and from the heats of solution above, not measured.) Add solid slowly, to cool water, with continuous agitation. Never add it to hot or warm water. If solid is allowed to sit motionless in contact with water it cakes hard, and the cake then dissolves unevenly and spatters hot brine.

•  It is deliquescent, and that changes the assay you receive. At 25 °C and 70% relative humidity, 94% anhydrous product can take up roughly two and a half times its own mass of water and will eventually run to brine. In most Indian ambient conditions, exposed material picks up water. Keep bags sealed, palletised off the floor and under cover, and treat the assay on the COA as the assay at despatch in intact packaging. Caking and assay drift, not chemical instability, are what limit shelf life.

•  Do not store calcium chloride brine in ordinary stainless steel. This is the expensive mistake. Austenitic grades — 304, 304L, 316, 316L — are susceptible to chloride stress corrosion cracking, and the producer’s guidance is explicit that common stainless steels should not be used for liquid calcium chloride storage, cracking at temperatures as low as 38 °C. Full-immersion cracking of austenitics is rare below about 60 °C, but wet-and-dry service drops that threshold a long way, because evaporation concentrates chloride locally: failures have been reported with as little as 10 ppm chloride in the bulk solution. The places it cracks are the places brine dries out — splash zones, tank roofs, flange faces, and under insulation. For bulk liquid storage the producer’s preference is carbon steel with an epoxy-based interior lining. FRP or plastic works for smaller tanks at near-ambient temperature — that size-and-temperature caveat is part of the recommendation, not decoration. Aluminium 5454 for shells and 6061 for piping is the producer’s spec for road tankers, not for static storage; 6061 pits in chloride in a strongly pH-dependent way and commercial liquor runs alkaline, so do not read it across to a storage tank. Where an austenitic really is required, that means a high-molybdenum grade (904L, alloy 20, a 6-Mo super-austenitic), not 316.

•  On concrete. Brine spills damage a reinforced slab two ways: chloride drives corrosion of the embedded steel, and calcium chloride reacts with the hardened paste to form calcium oxychloride, an expansive phase that causes spalling and scaling, particularly around joints. Bund and wash down brine handling areas.

•  Hazard classification, stated as it actually stands. There is no EU harmonised classification for calcium chloride; what exists is supplier self-classification, and it is close to unanimous — Eye Irrit. 2, H319, “causes serious eye irritation”, signal word Warning, on 99.7% of the notified reports in ECHA’s inventory (3,493 of 3,505). Expect one addition on some producers’ labels: several major suppliers also classify Acute Tox. 4 oral, H302, “harmful if swallowed”, so an H302 + H319 label is normal and is not an error — and the ingestion note below is the reason for it. Work to the classification on the SDS that comes with your lot. No Indian statutory occupational exposure limit is assigned to it: the instrument that sets Indian OELs is the Second Schedule to the Factories Act 1948, made under section 41F, and calcium chloride is not in it (the only calcium entry is calcium oxide). Separately — and these are different statutes, not part of the same chain — it is not a listed hazardous chemical under the MSIHC Rules 1989 and not on the Gujarat poisons schedule. Manage dust against the general particulate limits (OSHA PNOR 15 mg/m³ total and 5 mg/m³ respirable; ACGIH PNOC 10 and 3 mg/m³), or against the REACH worker DNELs of 5 mg/m³ (long-term inhalation, local effects) and 10 mg/m³ (acute inhalation, local effects). ECHA derives no systemic DNEL — it records no systemic hazard identified for inhalation or dermal exposure. Incompatible with acids, oxidisers and hot water. And with zinc and galvanised steel: calcium chloride attacks metals in the presence of moisture and can release hydrogen. Prolonged storage of calcium chloride solution in zinc-coated galvanised iron vessels has caused slow hydrogen evolution that eventually ignited and exploded. Do not store or pipe brine in galvanised or zinc-coated equipment — which matters in India, where galvanised drums and pipework are everywhere. Over-hazarding this product is as much an error as under-hazarding it — but “non-hazardous” is wrong too, and it contradicts the H319 label on the bag.

•  First aid. Eyes: flush immediately with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes, holding the eyelids open; remove contact lenses if present and easy to do; keep rinsing. Get medical attention — see an ophthalmologist — after any eye exposure to the anhydrous solid. A grain in the eye pulls water out of the cornea and heats as it hydrates, and transient corneal injury is a documented effect, so this is not an ordinary dust in the eye. Goggles, not spectacles, when handling anhydrous. Skin: remove contaminated clothing, gloves and footwear immediately, then flush the skin with plenty of cool water for at least 15 to 20 minutes and wash with soap and water. Get medical attention. Taking the clothing off is the load-bearing step — solid held against skin inside a glove or cuff keeps hydrating and keeps heating. Calcium chloride is not a caustic — there is no free alkali, and it is not classified for skin corrosion or irritation — but dry solid trapped in a glove, boot or cuff hydrates, heats and abrades, and the wearer will describe it as a burn. Cool water carries the heat away. Ingestion: rinse the mouth, do not induce vomiting, drink plenty of water to dilute, and call a physician or poison control centre immediately. Never give anything by mouth to someone who is unconscious. Swallowing large amounts of undissolved solid has been reported to cause burns and, rarely, gastric necrosis — the same desiccation-and-exotherm mechanism. Inhalation: move to fresh air; medical attention if symptoms persist.

•  Transport. Calcium chloride is not a dangerous good — no UN number, no class, no packing group — as the anhydrous solid, as hydrated flake, or as solution, under the UN Model Regulations, ADR/RID, IMDG, ICAO/IATA and DOT alike. That is a transport status only: the GHS label still goes on the package. Two cautions for freight paperwork. First, if you ship in bulk rather than bagged, check whether the IMSBC Code assigns a schedule — we have not confirmed one either way and will not claim it. Second, calcium chloride is constantly confused with calcium chlorate, which is a Class 5.1 oxidiser (UN 1452 solid, UN 2429 solution, PG II). They are different products. Calcium chloride is not an oxidiser.

Storage: Deliquescent: keep bags sealed, palletised off the floor and under cover. At 25 °C and 70% RH, 94% anhydrous product can take up roughly two and a half times its own mass of water and will eventually run to brine; the assay on the COA is the assay at despatch in intact packaging. Caking and assay drift, not chemical instability, limit shelf life. Brine: do not store in ordinary austenitic stainless steel (304/316 — chloride stress corrosion cracking from as low as 38 °C). For bulk liquid storage the producer's preference is carbon steel with an epoxy-based interior lining; FRP or plastic for smaller tanks at near-ambient temperature. Aluminium 5454 shells and 6061 piping are the producer's road-tanker specification, not a storage specification. Never galvanised or zinc-coated vessels or pipework (hydrogen evolution). Bund and wash down brine handling areas.

8Exposure controls / personal protection

Occupational exposure limits. No Indian statutory occupational exposure limit: the instrument that sets Indian OELs is the Second Schedule to the Factories Act 1948, made under section 41F, and calcium chloride is not in it (the only calcium entry is calcium oxide). Manage dust against the general particulate limits — OSHA PNOR 15 mg/m³ total and 5 mg/m³ respirable; ACGIH PNOC 10 and 3 mg/m³ — or against the REACH worker DNELs of 5 mg/m³ (long-term inhalation, local effects) and 10 mg/m³ (acute inhalation, local effects). ECHA derives no systemic DNEL: no systemic hazard identified for inhalation or dermal exposure.

Personal protection. Goggles, not spectacles, when handling the anhydrous grade — a grain in the eye pulls water out of the cornea and heats as it hydrates. Remove any glove, boot or cuff that has taken in solid. Other PPE: Data not verified — see producer SDS for the lot supplied

Engineering controls. Enclose every transfer, tipping, bag-slitting and sampling point and fit local exhaust extraction at each, and keep airborne concentrations below the limit in force at the place of use. Provide an eyewash within reach of the working position, and a safety shower wherever the material is classified corrosive or irritant or is handled in quantity. Do not eat, drink or smoke in the handling area; wash before breaks. Where no limit is stated above, occupational exposure limits vary by jurisdiction: check the limit in force at the place of use and the producer’s sheet for the grade supplied, and record which value your assessment adopted. Select eye, skin and respiratory protection on the strength of a measured or modelled exposure assessment, not on this sheet alone.

9Physical and chemical properties

10Stability and reactivity

11Toxicological information

Eye: Eye Irrit. 2, H319; transient corneal injury from the anhydrous solid is a documented effect. Oral: several major suppliers classify Acute Tox. 4, H302; swallowing large amounts of undissolved solid has been reported to cause burns and, rarely, gastric necrosis (desiccation and exotherm). Skin: not classified for skin corrosion or irritation, but dry solid trapped against skin hydrates, heats and abrades. Systemic: ECHA records no systemic hazard identified for inhalation or dermal exposure and derives no systemic DNEL. Numerical endpoints: Data not verified — see producer SDS for the lot supplied.

12Ecological information

Data not verified — see producer SDS for the lot supplied

13Disposal considerations

Dispose of the substance and its container through an authorised facility under the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 where the waste is scheduled under those Rules, and otherwise as non-hazardous industrial waste, in each case under the conditions of the State Pollution Control Board consent in force at the site. Whether a particular waste stream is scheduled depends on the substance and on what it has been mixed with, so classify the waste before consigning it. Do not reuse empty containers for any other purpose.

14Transport information

15Regulatory information

Supply in India is subject to the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules, 1989 where the substance is scheduled, and to any product-specific licensing named on the product page. Classification and labelling follow the GHS as adopted in the jurisdiction of use.

Note: Grades: 94–97% anhydrous prill/granule, 74–77% flake, 32–35% solution, technical grade. The grade figures are CaCl2 assay, not purity: in the hydrated grades most of the balance is water of crystallisation (pure dihydrate is 75.5% CaCl2). IS 1314 is written around Type A hydrated, Type B anhydrous (drying agent) and Type C fused; the 1984 edition required 96.0% CaCl2 minimum for Type B, so a 94–95% anhydrous commercial grade sits below the Type B floor. IS 1314:2024 (published 21 September 2024) superseded IS 1314:1984; its requirement tables have not been read. Not a listed hazardous chemical under the MSIHC Rules 1989; not in the Second Schedule to the Factories Act 1948. Not a specified fertiliser under the Fertiliser (Control) Order 1985 and may not be sold or labelled as one. Transport: not a dangerous good in packaged form; IMSBC Code position for bulk solid sea shipment not confirmed. CALCIUM CHLORIDE IS CONSTANTLY CONFUSED WITH CALCIUM CHLORATE, a Class 5.1 oxidiser (UN 1452 solid, UN 2429 solution, PG II) — a different product. Calcium chloride is not an oxidiser.

16Other information

Sources consulted: ECHA C&L inventory (notified classifications for calcium chloride); producer safety data sheets and handling guides; IS 1314 (1984 edition; IS 1314:2024); IS 456:2000; FSSAI Food Products Standards and Food Additives Regulations, Appendix A; ITC(HS) chapter files published by DGCIS; WCO HS Chapter 28 legal notes; OSHA and ACGIH particulate limits; ILO.