Quantities of Hazardous Materials

Each chemical (hazardous material) has unique physical and health hazards. Some chemicals have multiple hazards. For example, acetic acid is both flammable and corrosive.

Maximum allowable quantities (MAQs) are determined as an aggregate quantity of a hazardous materials per hazard class and physical state in a single control area. Each control area has separate MAQ limits, based upon building features such as floor level and automatic fire sprinkler coverage.

Here is an example of how MAQs are determined within a control area. If the floor of this building is a single control area, then each of the labs’ chemical quantities will be combined in aggregate to determine the MAQ for each hazard category.

 A control Area diagram on the left with the labs’ chemical quantities will be combined in aggregate to determine the MAQ for each hazard category on the right. The bottom right shows the total flammable liquid is 125 gallons which is greater than the MAQ flammable liquids at 120 gallons.

In this example, the aggregate quantity of flammable liquids exceeds the MAQ and is not in compliance.