Hazard symbol

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Hazard symbols are easily recognizable symbols designed to warn about hazardous materials or locations. The use of hazard symbols is often regulated by law and directed by standards organizations. Hazard symbols may appear with different colors, backgrounds, borders and supplemental information in order to signify the type of hazard.

1 Common hazard symbols
2 Radioactive sign
3 Biohazard sign
4 Toxic sign
5 Warning sign
6 European hazard symbols
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Common hazard symbols

name	symbol	unicode	image
toxic sign	☠	U+2620	Image:Skull and crossbones.svg
caution sign	☡	U+2621
radioactive sign	☢	U+2622	Image:Radiation warning symbol.svg
Non-Ionizing Radiation sign			Image:Radio waves hazard symbol.svg
biohazard sign	☣	U+2623	Image:Biohazard symbol.svg
Warning sign	⚠	U+26A0	Image:Achtung.svg
high voltage sign	⚡	U+26A1	Image:High voltage warning.svg

[edit] Radioactive sign

This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it.

Image:Radiation warning symbol.svg

The international radioactivity symbol first appeared in 1946, at the University of California, Berkeley Radiation Laboratory. At the time, it was rendered as magenta, and was set on a blue background.<ref name="Origin of the Radiation Warning Symbol (Trefoil)">Origin of the Radiation Warning Symbol (Trefoil).</ref> It is drawn with a central circle of radius R, an internal radius of 1.5R and an external radius of 5R for the blades, which are separated from each other by 60°.<ref name="Biohazard and radioactive Symbol ,designe and proportions">Biohazard and radioactive Symbol ,designe and proportions. </ref>

[edit] Biohazard sign

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Image:Biohazard symbol.svg

Developed by Dow Chemical company in the sixties for their containment products.<ref>Biohazard Symbol History. </ref>

According to Charles Baldwin, an environmental-health engineer who contributed to its development:

We wanted something that was memorable but meaningless, so we could educate people as to what it means.

(how to draw it<ref name="Biohazard and radioactive Symbol ,designe and proportions">Biohazard and radioactive Symbol ,designe and proportions. </ref>)

[edit] Toxic sign

Main article: Skull and crossbones

Image:Skull and crossbones.svg

A skull and crossbones is a symbol consisting of a human skull and two bones crossed together under the skull. Today, it is generally used as a warning of danger (usually in regard to poisonous substances).

The symbol, or some variation thereof, was also featured on the Jolly Roger, the traditional flag of European and American pirates. It is also used by the Skull and Bones, a secret society at Yale University.

Today, the skull and crossbones is still the only standard symbol for poison.

[edit] Warning sign

Main article: Exclamation mark

Image:Achtung.svg

On warning signs, an exclamation mark is often used to draw attention to a warning of danger, hazards and the unexpected.There are several theories about the origins of the exclamation mark.

[edit] European hazard symbols

These hazard symbols for chemicals are defined in Annex II of Directive 67/548/EEC. A consolidated list with translations into other EU languages can be found in Directive 2001/59/EC (See the links section).

Explosive (E)	Oxidizing agent (O)	Highly flammable (F)	Extremely flammable (F+)
Toxic (T)	Very toxic (T+)	Harmful (Xn)	Irritant (Xi)
Corrosive (C)	Dangerous for the environment (N)