Hazardous Properties

Annex III of the Waste Framework Directive lists the properties of waste which render it hazardous. These are:

H Code	Property	Description
H1	Explosive	: substances and preparations which may explode under the effect of flame or which are more sensitive to shocks or friction than dinitrobenzene
H2	Oxidising	substances and preparations which exhibit highly exothermic reactions when in contact with other substances, particularly flammable substances.
H3-A	Highly flammable	liquid substances and preparations having a flash point below 21 °C (including extremely flammable liquids), or
H3-A	Highly flammable	substances and preparations which may become hot and finally catch fire in contact with air at ambient temperature without any application of energy, or
H3-A	Highly flammable	solid substances and preparations which may readily catch fire after brief contact with a source of ignition and which continue to burn or to be consumed after removal of the source of ignition, or
H3-A	Highly flammable	gaseous substances and preparations which are flammable in air at normal pressure, or
H3-A	Highly flammable	substances and preparations which, in contact with water or damp air, evolve highly flammable gases in dangerous quantities.
H 3-B	Flammable	liquid substances and preparations having a flash point equal to or greater than 21 °C and less than or equal to 55 °C
H4	Irritant	non-corrosive substances and preparations which, through immediate, prolonged or repeated contact with the skin or mucous membrane, can cause inflammation
H5	Harmful	substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may involve limited health risks
H6	Toxic	substances and preparations (including very toxic substances and preparations) which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may involve serious, acute or chronic health risks and even death.
H7	Carcinogenic	substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may induce cancer or increase its incidence.
H8	Corrosive	substances and preparations which may destroy living tissue on contact.
H9	Infectious	substances and preparations containing viable micro-organisms or their toxins which are known or reliably believed to cause disease in man or other living organisms
H10	Toxic for Reproduction	substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may induce non-hereditary congenital malformations or increase their incidence.
H11	Mutagenic	substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may induce hereditary genetic defects or increase their incidence.
H12	-	Waste which releases toxic or very toxic gases in contact with water, air or an acid
H13(*)	Sensitising	substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or if they penetrate the skin, are capable of eliciting a reaction of hypersensitization such that on further exposure to the substance or preparation, characteristic adverse effects are produced.
H14	Ecotoxic	waste which presents or may present immediate or delayed risks for one or more sectors of the environment
H15	-	Waste capable by any means, after disposal, of yielding another substance, e.g. a leachate, which possesses any of the characteristics listed above.

Notes

1. Attribution of the hazardous properties ‘toxic’ (and ‘very toxic’), ‘harmful’, ‘corrosive’, ‘irritant’, ‘carcinogenic’, ‘toxic to reproduction’, ‘mutagenic’ and ‘eco-toxic’ is made on the basis of the criteria laid down by Annex VI, to Council Directive 67/548/EEC of 27 June 1967 on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances.

2. Where relevant the limit values listed in Annex II and III to Directive 1999/45/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 1999 concerning the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous preparations shall apply.