sodium (CAS 7440-23-5) — Safety Data Sheet

This page describes the regulatory documentation issued for sodium (CAS 7440-23-5). The item supplied is a document, not the substance.

sodium (CAS 7440-23-5) at a glance

• Substance – sodium
• CAS number – 7440-23-5
• EC number – 231-132-9
• CLP Annex VI index number – 011-[CAS?]
• Hazard statements – H260; H314 (causes severe skin burns and eye damage); EUH014
• Hazard classes – Water-react. 1, Skin Corr. 1B
• Label pictograms – GHS02, GHS05
• Signal word – Danger
• Entry current as of – CLP00
• CMR classification – not classified as CMR in the harmonised entry
• Documentation issued – safety data sheet in REACH Annex II structure; working draft or signed card
• What is supplied – a document. MolGod.org does not sell, supply or ship chemical substances.

What must the label for sodium contain?

The supply label for sodium is generated from the same classification that drives the safety data sheet: pictograms selected by precedence, one signal word derived from the highest hazard class present, and the hazard statements H260, H314, EUH014 reproduced in full. Where the container is too small to carry the complete set at a legible size, there are lawful ways to handle it and unlawful ones that look identical to a non-specialist.

What happens if a consignment of sodium is refused?

When a shipment of sodium is detained, the expense is typically not the document itself. It is the storage costs, demurrage fees, and the delay incurred by the customer. This financial calculation underscores the importance of verifying the documentation prior to dispatch rather than after receiving a notification from the border.

Disposal route and waste classification

Section 13 for CAS 7440-23-5 outlines the disposal method and procedures for contaminated packaging. Laboratories are subject to audits to ensure their waste management practices align with the information provided in this section. Any ambiguity or lack of specificity in this section may result in findings against the laboratory rather than the supplier, as it is responsible for adhering to the declared waste stream.

What is the EC number for sodium?

Alongside CAS 7440-23-5, this substance carries EC number 231-132-9 and Annex VI index 011-[CAS?]. European documentation is built around the EC number as often as around the CAS: registration dossiers, the candidate list and customs systems key on it. A safety data sheet quoting only one of the two forces every downstream reader to look up the other.

What is the CLP classification of sodium?

The harmonised classification for CAS 7440-23-5 carries 3 hazard statements: H260, H314, EUH014. In plain terms this means H260; causes severe skin burns and eye damage; EUH014. A harmonised entry is binding across the Union — an importer may not soften it, and a self-classification that diverges from it will not survive an enforcement check.

How is sodium classified for road, sea and air transport?

Transport classification for sodium sits in section 14 and differs by mode: ADR for road, IMDG for sea, IATA for air. A sheet that prints all three without stating which applies leaves the shipper to choose, and the shipper is the one penalised for choosing wrong.

What do customs check when importing sodium?

When a consignment of sodium is stopped at the border, the document examined first is rarely the invoice. It is section 14 of the safety data sheet and its agreement with the transport papers. A missing packing group, an absent UN number or a proper shipping name that contradicts the classification of CAS 7440-23-5 will hold the pallet regardless of how complete the remaining fifteen sections are.

Documentation demand on the EU market

CAS 7440-23-5 has a recorded presence on the European trading market, which means documentation for it is requested routinely rather than exceptionally. Substances that move in commerce attract repeat scrutiny: the same sheet is read by successive customers, carriers and authorities, and a defect that survives the first reading rarely survives the tenth.

In which language must the SDS for sodium be supplied?

A safety data sheet must be supplied in an official language of every Member State where sodium is placed on the market, unless that State has stated otherwise. This is the requirement most often missed by importers who hold a technically correct English document and assume it travels. A sheet in the wrong language is a refusal ground on its own, independent of the accuracy of its content.

Why a correct sheet stops being correct

Classification under CLP moves with each Adaptation to Technical Progress. A sheet for CAS 7440-23-5 written before the amendment that touched its entry keeps stating a classification the register no longer holds. Nothing in the document announces this — it reads exactly as it did on the day it was issued, which is precisely why revision dates are checked before content.

Identifiers that must agree

CAS 7440-23-5 and index number 011-[CAS?] are not interchangeable and not decorative. The index number ties the entry to the harmonised classification; the CAS number ties it to the chemical literature. A file carrying one without the other forces every reader to reconstruct the link, and reconstruction is where errors enter.

Which SDS sections decide whether a shipment clears?

A document for CAS 7440-23-5 must follow a specific structure consisting of sixteen sections in the prescribed order, including the required subsections. This format has been established prior to the CLP and continues to be relevant after its implementation. Consequently, adherence to a sixteen-section layout does not necessarily indicate whether the classification information within is up-to-date or current.

Protective equipment and exposure controls

Personal protective equipment for CAS 7440-23-5 is prescribed in section 8, alongside engineering controls that come first in the hierarchy. A sheet naming protective equipment without naming ventilation requirements has skipped the more important half.

Who is responsible for REACH compliance for sodium?

Whoever brings sodium across the Union border carries the documentation duty, and it does not transfer back up the supply chain by contract. Section 1 has to name a contactable entity inside the Union: a foreign address there is treated as no address at all, and it is among the first things an inspector verifies because it takes seconds.

Where is regulatory status recorded for sodium?

The existence of additional obligations beyond classification for CAS 7440-23-5, such as inclusion in the candidate list, authorisation, or restrictions, should be addressed in section 15. As customers increasingly require a written statement regarding these obligations prior to placing an order, this section serves as the appropriate location to provide clarity on the matter.

Purity, certificates and what the sheet does not say

For CAS 7440-23-5, the differentiation between grades such as technical, reagent, and analytical is documented in the certificate of analysis and the relevant specifications rather than on the safety data sheet. This confusion between the two is the most frequent documentation error observed in laboratory procurement processes.

What is the UN number for sodium?

For carriage, sodium is assigned UN 1428, transport class 4.3, packing group I. These entries belong in section 14 of the safety data sheet and must match the shipping papers exactly. A consignment where the sheet and the transport document disagree on the UN number is stopped before anyone reads the remaining fifteen sections.

Which GHS pictograms apply to sodium?

The label for sodium carries GHS02 (flame), GHS05 (corrosion), with the signal word Danger. These are not chosen by the supplier: CLP Annex VI states them for CAS 7440-23-5, and the precedence rules in Annex I decide which pictogram is dropped when two would say the same thing. A label showing a different set from the register is wrong even if every hazard statement on it is correct.

Questions about documentation for sodium

In which language must the sheet be supplied?

In an official language of each Member State where sodium is placed on the market, unless that State has stated otherwise.

Can I check whether my existing sheet is still valid?

Yes. A section-by-section reading against Annex II and the current harmonised entry establishes that in one pass, and a sheet that passes is reported as passing.

Do I need a safety data sheet to import sodium into the EU?

Yes. A sheet compiled to Annex II of REACH must exist before the first consignment moves, and it must be held by the entity placing the substance on the Union market.

What is the CAS number of sodium?

CAS 7440-23-5. In CLP Annex VI the same substance carries index number 011-[CAS?], and both identifiers should appear in the documentation.

MolGod.org issues documentation and does not sell, supply or ship chemical substances. CAS 7440-23-5 identifies the subject of this document.