I presented two samples for mailing. Clerk asked me if it was anything "liquid", "hazardous", or "flammable". Never been asked that before. I answered that it was liquid, but not hazardous or flammable. She inquired. I said "motor oil for analysis at this lab [pointing to mailing label]". She looks concerned. "Hmmm, not sure we can take that," says she. I tried to interject that these were standard mailing containers and that this lab receives ten or hundreds per day. She wanders off, intending to research, with a look that suggests that it doesn't matter a whit what I've just said.
She returned from the main section with a reference volume. She began by asking, again, what it was that I was presenting. "Motor oil". She tried the index. No listing. She tried fuel. Asked me if it was fuel oil. "No, Ma'am, motor oil." She turned to the "Explosives" section. Several pages, reading each. Then, "Gases". I showed her the little bottle, inside its plastic baggie, inside the outer jar. "No, not compressed gas," she said. She tried the index again.
I suggested, that since there was no reference to "motor oil", that perhaps it wasn't a hazard or a concern after all. She read on. Other substances. Long lists of chemicals, reagents, solvents. Then, a breakthrough. She asked, "What is the flashpoint?" "Oh, man," I thought, now here's a bridge across this divide. "Over 400 degrees," say I. "Ooooh, OK," she says. She's looking at a list of rather volatile combustibles, with FPs around 100 and high vapour pressures. Her face relaxed. The worm had turned.
She weighed one, put the postage sticker on, and, as she does the next, she "strongly recommends" that I contact my lab and see if I can get these mailers properly labeled. "I will," said I, asking for guidance as to what constitutes acceptable labeling. "ORHM", replied she. "It's a little square figure with the letters in it," she added. "It indicates special handling for hazardous materials."
"But it's not haz...", I didn't say it. My samples got mailed. Best not to push it, I thought.
She returned from the main section with a reference volume. She began by asking, again, what it was that I was presenting. "Motor oil". She tried the index. No listing. She tried fuel. Asked me if it was fuel oil. "No, Ma'am, motor oil." She turned to the "Explosives" section. Several pages, reading each. Then, "Gases". I showed her the little bottle, inside its plastic baggie, inside the outer jar. "No, not compressed gas," she said. She tried the index again.
I suggested, that since there was no reference to "motor oil", that perhaps it wasn't a hazard or a concern after all. She read on. Other substances. Long lists of chemicals, reagents, solvents. Then, a breakthrough. She asked, "What is the flashpoint?" "Oh, man," I thought, now here's a bridge across this divide. "Over 400 degrees," say I. "Ooooh, OK," she says. She's looking at a list of rather volatile combustibles, with FPs around 100 and high vapour pressures. Her face relaxed. The worm had turned.
She weighed one, put the postage sticker on, and, as she does the next, she "strongly recommends" that I contact my lab and see if I can get these mailers properly labeled. "I will," said I, asking for guidance as to what constitutes acceptable labeling. "ORHM", replied she. "It's a little square figure with the letters in it," she added. "It indicates special handling for hazardous materials."
"But it's not haz...", I didn't say it. My samples got mailed. Best not to push it, I thought.