It is very important to understand this handbook provides multiple forms of reference material, additional advanced and technical reference material (e.g. Bretherick's Handbook of Reactive Chemicals, Oxford Chemical Dictionary, etc.) will need to be obtained according to the reader's needs, nonetheless, the material used throughout this handbook will assist the technician when potentially handling or encountering Extremely Hazardous Substances (EHS) by using the quick reference Guide to Chemical Hazards, Incompatibilities & Reactive section of the handbook.

Personnel who specialize in the handling of these materials must have an understanding of the chemistry of EHS in order to choose the proper personal protective equipment (PPE), containment vessels, collection procedures, neutralization tactics, disposal methods, handling, packing, marking, storage, and shipment of energetic materials per 1910.109 OSHA.

***** This handbook is NOT a chemistry dictionary or instructional textbook nor is it intended to be. It simply provides fundamental chemistry information that hazmat and hazardous waste workers may encounter and need to have a better understanding of, such as: OSHA regulations, organic chemistry vs. inorganic chemistry, atomic structures, terms and definitions, types of bonding, naming of compounds, balancing chemical equations, elements of the periodic table, how reaction formulas work, sampling/detection devices, and incompatible, reactive and energetic materials.