# Triumvirate Environmental — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation - **operation:** document - **citation:** 05-0240 - **title:** Triumvirate Environmental — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation - **source type:** guidance - **agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration - **status:** guidance - **official:** true - **published on:** 2005-11-30 - **effective on:** Not available - **summary:** 05-0240 response to Triumvirate Environmental concerning 173.433, 173.436. - **machine formats:** - **json:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-05-0240.json - **markdown:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-05-0240.md - **app url:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-05-0240 - **source url:** https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2005/050240.pdf **body:** <<>> U.S. Department of Transportation Washington, D.C. 20590 400 Seventh Street, S.W. Pipeline and NOV 30 2005 Administration Hazardous Materials Safety Mr. Rick Foote Ref. No. 05-0240 Sr. Environmental Compliance Advisor Triumvirate Environmental 61 Inner Belt Road Somerville, MA 02143 Dear Mr. Foote: This responds to your September 19, 2005 letter requesting clarification on the classification of rubidium (Rb-87) as a radioactive material under the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). Specifically, you ask for confirmation that your material, rubidium (Rb-87), is not a hazardous material based on the definition and on activity limits in §§ 173.433 and 173.436. According to your letter, your material (Rb-87) is contained within an article, specifically within a small envelope that is part of a measuring device used in GPS system. The activity of the Rb-87 is less than 1.7 × 10 (negative) 4"* micro curies (approximately 6.29 becquerels). Your understanding is correct. The item will not be a Class 7 hazardous material if the total activity of Rb-87 in a consignment is less than 10 million bequerels. In almost all cases, this item will not be a Class 7 hazardous material. It could become a Class 7 hazardous material only if a single consignment were to contain over 1,590,000 of these items, and the activity concentration exceeds 10,000 becquerels per gram. I hope this answers your inquiry. 173.433 173.436 050240 <<>> 50o4 3173.433 3173.436 RAM Exceptions 05-024C March 1, 2005 Mr. Edward T. Mazzullo Director, Office of Hazardous Materials Standards U.S. DOT/PHMSA (DHM-10) 400 7th Street S.W. Washington, D.C. 20590-0001 RE: Hazardous Materials Regulation Clarification Dear Sir: My client ships a small amount of Rb-87 contained within an article. The rubidium is contained within a small "envelope" that is part of a measuring device used in GPS systems. The activity level from the RB-87 has an activity level of less then 1.7 x 10(negative) 4th micro curies. In order for a material to be considered radioactive first it must meet the definition of a radioactive material. The regulations define a radioactive as the following: "Radioactive material means any material containing radionuclides where both the activity concentration and the total activity in the consignment exceed the values specified in the table in § 173.436 or values derived according to the instructions in § 173.433" We feel that this amount and activity level for the Rb-87 is exempt from the regulations because the material has an activity rating of equal to or less then 1.0 X 10 -4 as per the table found in 49 CFR 173.436. Therefore, we feel that this material is not considered a hazardous material per DOT Hazardous Materials regulations. We are looking for a written confirmation of this information. Thank you Rick Foote Sr. Environmental Compliance Advisor - **truncated:** false - **body characters:** 2911