The Most Dangerous Gas Is Often the One Nobody Recognises as Dangerous
When people think about explosion safety, they usually think of hydrogen, natural gas or LPG—substances that everyone immediately associates with fire and explosion hazards.
In practice, however, the reality is often quite different.
Explosive atmospheres are frequently created by substances that are used every day and are therefore considered familiar or routine. Ethanol in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Isopropyl alcohol during cleaning operations. Acetone in laboratories. Solvents used in coatings and paints. Flavourings and extracts in the food industry. These substances are well known, widely used and often perceived as "ordinary", which can unintentionally lead to an underestimation of their explosion hazards.
This is precisely where explosion safety begins.
Not with the name of a substance, but with understanding its physical and chemical properties. Vapour pressure, flash point, explosive limits, minimum ignition energy, auto-ignition temperature and the way the substance is used within the process together determine whether an explosive atmosphere can develop. The very same substance may present little or no explosion risk under one set of operating conditions, while under different process conditions it may require comprehensive explosion protection measures.
This is also why experience alone is never sufficient. A solvent that has been used safely for many years may require a completely different explosion risk assessment following a process modification, an increase in operating temperature or a change in ventilation performance. The substance itself has not changed—the operating conditions have.
That is exactly why EN IEC 60079-10-1 for explosive gas atmospheres and EN IEC 60079-10-2 for combustible dust atmospheres do not contain lists of "dangerous substances". Instead, these standards provide a structured engineering methodology for determining whether, where and under which operating conditions an explosive atmosphere may occur. The assessment is based on the interaction between substance properties, release characteristics, ventilation and actual process conditions. Every installation is therefore unique.
Within the European Union, this engineering approach supports compliance with the ATEX Workplace Directive (1999/92/EC), which requires employers to identify and assess explosion risks. In the United Kingdom, the same principles are embedded in the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR). In both jurisdictions, explosion protection is based on understanding the actual hazards presented by the process—not on assumptions about the name or familiarity of a substance.
Perhaps this is the most important lesson in explosion safety. A substance is not inherently "safe" or "dangerous" simply because of its name. The risk is determined by its properties, concentration, process conditions and the potential for ignition. The substances used every day therefore deserve exactly the same engineering attention as the gases that everyone immediately recognises as hazardous. Explosion safety begins not with recognition, but with understanding.
References
- ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU
- ATEX Workplace Directive 1999/92/EC
- UK Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR)
- EN IEC 60079-10-1:2021 – Explosive Atmospheres – Classification of Areas – Explosive Gas Atmospheres
- EN IEC 60079-10-2:2026 – Explosive Atmospheres – Classification of Areas – Combustible Dust Atmospheres
- EN 1127-1 – Explosion Prevention and Protection
- Safety Data Sheets (SDS)
- European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)