semiatic

GHS05

Corrosion

Burns skin, damages eyes, eats metal.

Liquid dripping from two test tubes: on the left onto a bar that is being eaten away, on the right onto a hand that is being burned.

GHS code
GHS05
Name
Corrosion
Signal word
Danger (Warning if it only attacks metals)
Old orange symbols (not one-to-one)
C (Corrosive), Xi (Irritant)

What it warns about

The corrosion pictogram marks a product that destroys skin tissue on contact, can cause serious and lasting damage to the eyes, or attacks metals. One pictogram covers all three, so the hazard statements on the label say which applies.

The pictogram only names the kind of hazard; follow the product’s label and safety data sheet for how to use, store and dispose of it.

The hazard classes it stands for

EU and GB: CLP Regulation, Annex V

  • Skin corrosion, category 1 and sub-categories 1A, 1B and 1C
  • Serious eye damage, category 1
  • Corrosive to metals, category 1

US: OSHA Hazard Communication Standard, Appendix C

  • Corrosives (skin corrosion and burns, serious eye damage, corrosive to metals)

A category number is the severity inside a class: category 1 (or type A) is the most severe. The hazard statements on the label (H-codes in the EU, such as H225 “Highly flammable liquid and vapour”) say exactly which class and category applies.

Signal word

Danger for skin corrosion and serious eye damage; Warning when the only hazard is being corrosive to metals.

A label carries one signal word for the whole product: if any hazard calls for Danger, Warning does not appear as well.

Where you see it

At home

Oven cleaners and drain unblockers (sodium hydroxide or strong acids), some limescale and toilet cleaners, some dishwasher detergents (for eye damage) and some bleaches.

At work

Caustic soda, hydrochloric and sulfuric acid, battery acid, concrete and mortar mixes (wet cement can seriously damage eyes), and many industrial cleaners.

Examples of typical products, not a list of what any brand is classified as; the label on the product in your hand is what counts.

Where the rules differ

  • When the corrosion pictogram is on the label, the exclamation mark is not used for skin or eye irritation (OSHA Appendix C, C.2.1.3; CLP Article 26(1)(c)).
  • Corrosive to metals is a physical hazard: a product can carry this pictogram only because it attacks metal, with Warning, even if it is not corrosive to skin.
  • The black-and-white corrosive label in transport (49 CFR 172.442 in the US) is a different system.

The old orange symbol it replaced

Replaced the orange C (Corrosive). It also took over one Xi (Irritant) case: R41, risk of serious damage to eyes, became serious eye damage category 1, which carries this pictogram rather than the exclamation mark.

The mapping from the orange squares of Directive 67/548/EEC to the GHS pictograms is not one-to-one: CLP Annex VII translates each old classification separately, and some have no direct translation at all. All ten old symbols and what replaced them.

The other eight pictograms

Sources

Written in our own words from these official texts and checked on the date shown. The CLP text is the UK National Archives copy on legislation.gov.uk (EUR-Lex and unece.org did not answer a plain request from this host); it carries EU amendments made up to the end of 2020, and later EU changes may not be reflected. OSHA’s own pages refused the request, so the US text is the eCFR copy of the regulation.