# Ricca Chemical Company LLC — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation

**Citation:** 09-0054  
**Type / status:** guidance / guidance  
**Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration  
**Effective:** Not stated  
**Published:** 2009-04-16

09-0054 response to Ricca Chemical Company LLC concerning 173.22.

## Document text

<<<PAGE 1>>>

U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
1200 New Jersey Ave. S.E.
Washington. D.C. 20590
APR 1 6 2009
Mr. Loren K. Lowry
Director of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs
Ricca Chemical Company LLC
448 West Fork Drive
Arlington, TX 7601 2
Ref. No.: 09-0054
Dear Mr. Lowry,
This is in response to your March 12,2009 letter requesting clarification of the Hazardous
Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 100- 185). Specifically, you request
confirmation that a product containing 0.1 % Picric Acid (2,4,6-Trinitrophenol) dissolved in
acetone may appropriately be described as Acetone, CTN 1090.
Under 5 173.22, it is the shipper's responsibility to class and describe a hazardous material.
This Office does not normally perform this function. Picric acid (UN0154) is explosive
when dry and requires approval from the Associate Administration prior to transport of the
material. However, it is the opinion of this Office that a 0.1% concentration of picric acid is
sufficiently diluted in solution so that the solution is not regulated as a Class 1 explosive or
as a Class 3 desensitized explosive liquid. Therefore, "UN 1090, Acetone, 3,II" is
appropriate to describe the product.
I hope this information is helpful. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to
contact this office.
Hattie L. Mitchell
Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention
Office of Hazardous Materials Standards

<<<PAGE 2>>>

3172, 101 .
proper Shippin
Drakeford, Carolyn <PHMSA>
s --- *-- - -- .-- -- ** .-%-- --%-- - . -v - --- - --- em ---- 0 9 A c > 5 --- .
From: INFOCNTR <PHMSA>
Sent: Thursday, March 12,2009 12:32 PM
To: Drakeford, Carolyn <PHMSA>
Subject: FW: Request for Interpretation
From: Loren Lowy [mailto:llowy@riccachemical.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 12,2009 11:15 AM
To: PHMSA HM Infocenter
Subject: Request for Interpretation
This is a request for interpretation concerning the intent of 49 CFR parts 171 - 180 with respect to the selection of
a proper shipping name for Trinitrophenol solutions that are dissolved in Acetone or other solvents. Attached is a
letter of interpretation from 2000 that agreed with the requestor that a solution of 1.3% Trinitrophenol in water did
not meet the definition of a hazardous material and therefore was not covered by the regulations.
This request for interpretation concerns a solution of 0.1% Trinitrophenol in Acetone or other solvents. Am I
correct in the reasoning that if 1.3% Trinitrophenol in water is not regulated due to the Trinitrophenol, then a
solution of 0.1% Trinitrophenol in Acetone would not be regulated due to the Trinitrophenol but would be
regulated with the proper shipping name of Acetone solution UN1090? The hazards of this solution are solely
based on the Acetone and not the Trinitrophenol.
Thank you for your consideration.
Loren K. Lowy
Director of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs
Ricca Chemical Company LLC
448 West Fork Drive
Arlington, TX 7601 2
81 7-701 -3305
Fax 81 7-795-8848
e-mail: ~lowy@riccachemical.com

## Provenance

- Official: Yes
- Source: <https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2009/090054.pdf>
- Source ID: `phmsa`
- SHA-256: `5971bdfbb4e424b3455ffad3022e6c3471cb034e452d65aea3205166e623ecdc`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z
- Exported: 2026-08-24T19:57:01.829Z
- Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-09-0054`

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