Hydrochloric acid: Regulation

Corrosive fumes and the danger of mixing with bleach

What this tab covers How it is regulated and what could disrupt supply: hazard classification, rules in the EU, US and India, anti-dumping duties and other trade measures, and supply-risk notes.

Hazards

Classification	UN number	Key risks
Skin Corr. 1B; Eye Dam. 1; STOT SE 3 (respiratory irritation); Met. Corr. 1	UN1789	Corrosive fumes; reacts with metals to give hydrogen; mixing with hypochlorite releases chlorine gas.

Main rules

Where	Rule	Effect
EU	REACH; CLP; Drug precursor regulation (Category 3)	HCl is a scheduled precursor; export licences for some destinations
US	DEA List II chemical; EPA risk management for anhydrous HCl	record keeping
UN	1988 Convention Table II	monitored as a drug precursor

India

Rule	Effect
BIS standard IS 265 for hydrochloric acid (indicative)	sets grades and purity for domestic supply
MSIHC Rules 1989	storage and handling

Trade measures

None significant

Supply risk

Low; supply is local and abundant wherever chlorine is made. Shortages occur only during regional chlor-alkali outages.