# Dr. Lilly Langer — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation **Citation:** 07-0111 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** 2007-09-24 07-0111 concerning 173.120, 173.22, 175.10. ## Document text <<>> Washington. DC 20590 1200 New Jersey Ave.. S.E SEP 2 4 2007 Dr. Lilly Langer 106 Sandy Creek Trail Ref. No. 07-0111 Chapel Hill, NC 27514-5939 Dear Dr. Langer: This responds to your electronic mail request requesting clarification on whether your LUKAS Berlin Water Mixable Artists' Oil Colours, art. no. 0808-0990, with a flashpoint of 313°C - 315°C is regulated under the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR naterials are not hazardous and, therefore, should not be confiscated by Transportatio arts 1/1-180). Specitically, you would like a letter contirming your conclusions that thes Security Administration (TSA) officials when placed in your checked baggage. hazardous material. Generally, this office does not perform that function. However, based Under § 173.22 of the HMR, it is the shipper's responsibility to properly classify a or combustible liquid criteria found in § 173.120 of the HMR. Further, after reviewing the on the information you provided, we agree that these oil paints do not meet the flammable material safety data sheet (MSDS) you provided for the paints, we do not believe that they meet any of the hazard classes defined in Part 173 of the HMR. TSA is the agency responsible for security in all modes of transportation, including civil security threats. Therefore, TSA officials may confiscate materials that they believe to be aviation, and has the authority to restrict passengers from carrying materials perceived as security risks even if the materials are not classified as hazardous under the HMR. We recommend that when placing your oil paints in your checked baggage that you inform the carrier's agent when checking in for your flight and that you pack them with a copy of the MSDS and this letter. I trust this satisfies your request. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance. Sincerely, Hattie L. Mitchell Office of Hazardous Materials Standards Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention 173.22 173.120 070111 175.10 <<>> Stevens Page 1 of 4 $172.101 Drakeford, Carolyn $175.10 From: INFOCNTR Air Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 8:54 AM To: Drakeford, Carolyn 07-0111 Subject: FW: request for formal interpretation Attachments: SDB0800E.pdf; SDS0800USA.pdf; ATT1312990.htm Request for formal interp. —RB 6/7/07 Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 8:53 PM From: Langer Lilly [mailto: lillylanger@bellsouth.net] Subject: request for formal interpretation To: INFOCNTR Dear DOT Representative, I am an artist and would like to continue to travel to paint in various locations around the US and explaining that although I included the product safety information in my luggage with my artist colors, Europe. After speaking on the phone with your hazard materials representative on 6/4/07 and so. Since the information provided indicated that they were not hazardous, your representative said that they were removed from by checked suitcase by the airlines without any indication that they had done they should not have been removed and suggested, based on the information I included below, that I time I travel. write to you and request a "Formal Interpretation" document from you to include with my colors next I look forward to receiving the document as soon as possible. Artists have always been able to travel them, this will no longer be possible. I can tell you that all the artists I know are now faced with the the world in order to paint beautiful sites. However, without the ability to take their oil colors with painting locations! (nowithstanding the loss of their huge financial investment in their oil colors) and dilemma of having with their easels, brushes and canvases but NO artist oils when they get to their would appreciate your checking into this matter and alleviating the problem. The US Department of Transportation defines "flammable liquids" as those with a flash point of 140 F. This Lukas product has a flash point of 595.4 degrees Farenheit (or 313 nave included below is only the information that I felt was relevant to airline travel that legrees Centigrade). Hence, THEY ARE NOT HAZARDOUS. The information that was sent by the Lukas representative based on their Safety Data Sheet (2001/58/EG) dated A check of additional manufacturers of artist grade oil colors shows that they are based on and Winsor Newton). vegetable oil with a flash point at or above 450 degrees (see manufacturers: eg., Gamblin 6/7/2007 <<>> Page 2 of 4 Thanks in advance, Dr. Lilly Langer Begin forwarded message: From: "Lukas, Ddf. / Ingo Sprenger" < ingo.sprenger@lukas-online.com> To: "Langer Lilly" < lillylanger@bellsouth.net> Date: June 5, 2007 2:52:45 AM EDT Reply-To: < ingo.sprenger@lukas-online.com> Subject: AW: product safety data Dear Dr. Langer, Our safety data for LUKAS BERLIN Trade name Water Mixable Artists' oil colors (art.no0808-0990) indicate that they not dangerous according to the transport regulations (GGVS/GGVE/RID/ADR/IMDG Code/ICAO-TI.). Based on information available to us, this product is not a hazardous substance in the currently valid. The base is vegetable oil (sunflower and linseed). The flash point is 313-315 degrees meaning of the law on chemicals or the regulations on hazardous substances in the version which is Centigrade. But ask your airline before the flight. It seems, that some airlines have stricter rules than i.A Kind regards Ingo Sprenger LUKAS Künstlerfarben Harffstraße 40 Dr. Fr. Schoenfeld GmbH & Co. 40591 Düsseldorf E-Mail: ingo.sprenger@lukas-online.com Tel.: 0211 / 78 13 - 44 LUKAS im Internet: www.lukas-germany.de www.lukas-online.com www.lukas.eu Tel.: 0049 211 7813 0 Fax: 0049 211 7813 24 E-Mail: mail@lukas-online.com 6/7/2007 <<>> Page 3 of 4 vertreten durch die Heusgen Talbot GmbH HRB Nr. 26461 Amtsgericht Dr. Fr. Schoenfeld GmbH & Co., Harffstr. 40, 40591 Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, diese wiederum vertreten durch den Geschäftsführer Hubertus Heusgen oder seine Stellvertreter: Bent Breede, Stephanie deLuca-Wirtz, Gabriele Domin, Wolfgang Faller, Dr. Annette Kleine, Sitz Düsseldorf HRA Nr. 12 Amtsgericht Düsseldorf. Der Inhalt dieser Email ist vertraulich und ausschließlich für den bezeichneten Adressaten bestimmt. Wenn Sie nicht der vorgesehene Adressat dieser Email oder dessen Vertreter sein sollten, so beachten Sie bitte, dass jede Form der Kenntnisnahme, Veröffentlichung, Vervielfältigung oder Weitergabe des Inhalts dieser Email Wir bitten Sie, sich in diesem Fall mit dem Absender der Email in Verbindung unzulässig ist. per Email über das Internet unsicher ist, da für unberechtigte Dritte zu setzen. Wir möchten Sie außerdem darauf hinweisen, dass die Kommunikation grundsätzlich die Möglichkeit der Kenntnisnahme und Manipulation besteht. The information contained in this e-mail is confidential. It is intended Access to this e-mail by anyone else is unauthorized. solely for the addressee. listribution or any action taken or refrained from in reliance on it, i f you are not the intended recipient, any form of disclosure, reproductior prohibited and may be unlawful. Please notify the sender immediately. internet is insecure because third parties may have the possibility to We also would like to inform you that communication via e-mail over the access and manipulate e-mails. Von: Langer Lilly [mailto:lillylanger@bellsouth.net] -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Gesendet: Dienstag, 5. Juni 2007 02:39 Betreff: product safety data An: annette.kleine @lukas-online.com Dear Dr. Kleine, I would appreciate your sending me the product safety sheet with regard to your oil paints and also you Berlin water-mixable oils. I have recently returned from a flight from Italy to the US and the airlines confiscated my Winsor Newton water mixable paints as they the product but they disregarded it and took the paint anyway. I believed they were a safety hazard. I included the flash points of have ordered Lukas Berlin water mixable paints to replace the ones that were taken, however, I want to avoid the problem of having them confiscated again when traveling by air. Is there an official document with which you could provide me? I 6/7/2007 <<>> Page 4 of 4 have spoken to the U.S. Hazardous Materials Information Center and the said thatier pharide phems art noteam and of not amable at a low flashpoint, they would provide me with an official letter to include with the paints. It is so frustrating to get to one's painting destination with all the equipment with which to paint and not have any paints. I would greatly appreciate your assistance in this matter as soon as possible. Thanks in advance, Dr. Lilly Langer 6/7/2007 ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa` - SHA-256: `e1323e4fe2a6bedc72c2f0420de7a0256f7d92188bb98e1ca12718ec1e940a0b` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z - Exported: 2026-08-23T05:13:37.146Z - Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-07-0111` ### Source metadata ```json { "materialSubtype": "interpretation", "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials", "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf", "companies": [], "individuals": [ "Dr. Lilly Langer" ], "refIds": [ "07-0111" ], "catalogDates": [ "2007-09-24" ], "catalogParts": [ 173, 175 ], "catalogRowCount": 3, "sourceRecordUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/node/50051" ], "linkedAttachmentUrls": [], "unavailableResponseUrls": [], "duplicateRepresentationUrls": [], "citedSections": [ "173.120", "173.22", "175.10", "172.101" ], "catalogPageUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/173120", "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/17322", "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/17510" ], "pdfUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2007/070111.pdf" ], "representations": [ { "viewUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2007/070111.pdf", "detailUrl": null, "detailHtmlPath": null, "pdfUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2007/070111.pdf", "pdfArtifactPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/07-0111-edc547cee9.pdf", "pdfArtifactSha256": "5ff6298a12b95cb9f39290646310dde2a94488dcbf6253e228cbee151282ea4c", "extractedTextPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/07-0111-edc547cee9.v2.txt", "extractedTextSha256": "faf0122544719fb8a4c496d6593d871598914ea6e35b2b544d3617fc23850328", "pageCount": 5, "extractionVersion": 2 } ], "caveat": "Interpretations apply regulations to the facts presented and do not create independently enforceable requirements.", "jurisdiction": "US" } ```