Question

At Walmart the other day I spotted this fire diamond. It was randomly there on a wall on the side of the store, with seemingly no explanation. There were no chemical tanks or anything near the sign, but there was a door that was a little bit away.

I cannot find anything that has this fire diamond, let alone a corrosive oxidizer.

Any help in finding this mystery chemical is appreciated.

The fire diamond is shown below. It does use the informal COR symbol, which means corrosive.

Answer 1

The fire or hazard diamond at Walmart is part of the NFPA 704 system, which provides information on the risks of substances, including flammability, reactivity, and health hazards. A 'COR' symbol indicates a corrosive oxidizer, such as potassium dichromate.

Step-by-step explanation:

The fire diamond you saw at Walmart, also known as the hazard diamond, is part of the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) 704 Hazard Identification System. This label is used to communicate information about the risks associated with various substances, specifically their flammability, reactivity, health risks, and other special hazards. Each diamond shape within the larger diamond corresponds to a type of risk and is color coded: red for flammability, blue for health risk, yellow for reactivity, and white for special hazards. A corrosive oxidizer is noted by the 'COR' symbol in the special hazard area of the diamond.

For instance, potassium dichromate is an example of an oxidizing chemical that could be represented by a fire diamond, as it contains oxygen that can cause other materials to combust. The NFPA 704 system uses a scale from 0 to 4 to rate each risk, with 0 indicating no hazard and 4 indicating extreme hazard. Thus, the information on the hazard diamond you observed is intended to inform and protect those handling or in the vicinity of potentially dangerous substances, which may include emergency responders in the event of an incident.