Calcium Carbide

Description

Greyish-black irregular hard lumps or powder. Shipped in water-tight and air-tight metal containers.

If containers burst due to rough handling, the contents will suffer damage. The remaining co9ntents may decompose due to the absorption of water from the air, consequent upon exposure. The product resulting from the incidental chemical change may be either:

a) A ‘bone dry’ finely powdered talc-like substance (Calcium Hydroxide), which when brought into contact with water will only give a very poor and insignificant yield of acetylene, as it will be almost entirely composed of ‘slaked lime’, or
b) A sludge.

Since calcium carbide is known to evolve acetylene only slowly when exposed to damp air, the condition described under a) would indicate that the actual wetting and/or commencement of exposure must have taken place quite some time prior to arrival at destination.

Hazard: IMDG Class 4.3 Dangerous when wet