Sciencemadness Discussion Board

For sale

skip - 16-5-2015 at 14:46

I was wondering the legality of selling off of excess stock I have on ebay. In particular I have pyrrolidine. It was legal for me to buy, shouldn't it be legal to sell ?

Zombie - 16-5-2015 at 15:17

This is all you need to find shipping regulations for most chemical compounds.

http://www.hazmattool.com/info.php?a=Pyrrolidine&b=UN192...

Shipping will have to meet regulations, and you will be fine.

skip - 16-5-2015 at 17:49

thanks zom

violet sin - 16-5-2015 at 20:43

I have found shipping difficult to research my self. Different carriers (USPS, UPS, Etc.) Carry different things in their own right. And certain areas are serviced by different companies, not to mention hand-off's in rural places(mine). Some substances are only considered dangerous/restricted in certain forms or states of division, like fine powders. Tellurium for instance is fine in lump form, but not fine powders. The latter needing box labels/weight limits at least, and ground shipping in some circumstances to the best of my knowledge.

Community standards, local laws and state laws vary, in a confusing manner. After contacting my local USPS to no avail, I contacted the USPS 800 number. And later the Australian customs department. All willing to help. If you keep looking, it will become clear. You can also sell with the disclaimer stating it is the buyers responsibility to keep to rules other than shipping. Seen that before many a time, though I am unsure of the actual coverage of such a statement legally should something happen specifically somewhere.

[Edited on 17-5-2015 by violet sin]

Nice Link Zombie :)

[Edited on 17-5-2015 by violet sin]

Shipping Hazardous Materials

tomholm - 17-5-2015 at 13:25

Yes, adhering to hazardous shipping regulations makes it difficult for a private party to sell excess stock of hazardous materials. (I'm guessing part of the reason is they really don't want private parties to sell hazardous materials because it makes it much more difficult for them to track and monitor.)

Reason #1: USPS will not accept any hazardous materials. UPS and Fedex require shippers to be trained and certified in how to package and ship hazardous materials. You cannot just drop off hazardous packages at the UPS and FedEx stores. You need to establish an eligible account with them and it usually has a cost associated with it.

Reason#2: Anyone shipping hazardous materials must provide emergency response service.

Quote:

The United States Department Of Transportation (U.S. DOT) requirements under CFR 49 Transportation § 172.604

”A person who offers a hazardous material for transportation must
provide a 24-hour emergency response number for use in the event of an emergency involving the hazardous material.“
*Failing to comply can result in civil penalties and significant fines per incident*


Reason#3: Even if you are selling it locally and not transporting through a delivery company, you are still required to properly placard a vehicle transporting a hazardous material on a public roadway. (A requirement intended to protect emergency responders.)

Reason #4: Are you putting yourself in a position of additional liability (due to negligence), depending on the buyer or the chemical sold (DEA List I or II chemicals)? Companies carry business insurance to help cover these concerns.

Of course, some sellers (eBay and foreign importers) may ignore these regulations, but do so at their own risk). They can be held liable, both criminally and for monetary and punitive damages.

All of this makes it difficult and expensive for individuals to sell hazardous materials. Also, you start to understand why it's expensive for companies to ship these chemicals and why small companies don't want to, or can't, deal with it. Generally, it's probably not worth it and you're better off disposing of it through your local hazardous waste disposal site.

skip - 17-5-2015 at 15:52

tomholm , now thats a response that really make sense. Not to say others were invalid. Thats what I thought and thats why I asked first. What If it were limited to 30 ml bottles ? I guess I will hold on to it all, until doomsday. I have bought other hazardous chems off ebay in small bottles, however they were a chem company so. I know how to get them now I don't really care for them, and its a burden. Thanks for all the good advise . Love for s/m.

tomholm - 17-5-2015 at 17:21

Quote: Originally posted by skip  
What If it were limited to 30 ml bottles ?


Well, that's where the training comes in. There are a number of exceptions that affect how regulated chemicals can be shipped. Some "exceptions", because of packaging or quantity, allow certain chemicals that could not otherwise be shipped or only shipped via freight carrier, to be shipped by common carrier. Some of these exceptions also allow some chemicals that would normally require hazardous shipping charges to be shipped without the additional hazardous charges. As you might suspect, these "exceptions" cannot be used by an untrained/non-certified shipper in order to enable them to ship a regulated chemical.

But to answer your question directly, there is not a limited/small quantity exception that would allow the shipment of pyrrolidine without the hazardous shipping charges or by a non-certified shipper.

While I'm not a big proponent for regulations, I understand why they exist in this area. There are examples where people handling improperly packaged and labeled chemicals have been injured. I can also think of a case where a $30M plane became scrap metal because of an improperly packaged and documented shipment of chemicals. That's a lot of liability.

Tom

j_sum1 - 17-5-2015 at 19:45

Quote:
a $30M plane became scrap metal because of an improperly packaged and documented shipment of chemicals

Tom, can you give details of this case? I am interested. I am going to guess a spill of mercury that compromised structural integrity by an indeterminate amount leading to an inability to certify the plane and consequential scrapping. Am I right?
If that indeed is the case (or even if it is not) it might be a good anecdote to put in my bag of teaching tricks.

tomholm - 17-5-2015 at 20:38

I quoted from memory earlier. Turns out it was a $65M plane. Chemical was oxalyl chloride.

Chinese firm ordered to pay $65m over chemical-damaged MAS A330
By: NICHOLAS IONIDESSINGAPORE Source: Flightglobal.com 11:49 6 Dec 2007
A Chinese court has ordered a state-owned company to pay more than $65 million in compensation over an incident nearly eight years ago in which chemicals it was having transported on a Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Airbus A330-300 leaked and destroyed the aircraft.

State-run media say a unit of China National Chemical Construction Corp was ordered yesterday by the Beijing high court to pay more than $65 million in compensation to five overseas insurers over the March 2000 incident.

The official reports say the company's shipment had been declared as a non-toxic solid substance known as hydroxyquinoline when in fact it was a corrosive liquid substance known as oxalyl chloride.

Eighty canisters filled with the chemicals were sent on an MAS A330-300 that operated a regular passenger flight from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur on 15 March 2000. The canisters were due to have continued onward to Chennai in India.

Five airport workers fell ill as they were unloading baggage from the A330 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport after one or more of the canisters leaked and chemicals spilled into the aircraft's cargo hold, resulting in extensive corrosion damage to the fuselage, wing box structure and landing gear.

The six-year-old aircraft, insured for more than $90 million, was declared a constructive total loss around a year after the incident following extensive inspections by Airbus and insurers.

In 2002 insurers and MAS filed a more than $80 million lawsuit in Beijing against the Chinese chemical company as well as a freight forwarder and hazardous materials transportation specialist for damages relating to the loss of the aircraft.

Link: http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/chinese-firm-ordered-to-pay-65m-over-chemical-damaged-mas-220107/

skip - 18-5-2015 at 06:58

I too understand regulations and realize that its for a reason. I am a responsible person with all my hobby items and will abide by the rules weather Im recognized as a scientist or not. Thanks S/M, much respect.