Chloric acid

A poison. A strong irritant by ingestion and inhalation. Dangerous fire hazard; ignites organic matter upon contact. A very powerful oxidizing agent. Violent or explosive reaction with oxidizable materials. Aqueous solutions decompose explosively during evaporation. Solutions greater than 40% are unstable. Reacts violently with NH3, Sb, Sb2S3, As2S3, Bi, CuS, PHI4, SnS2, SnS. Reaction with cellulose causes ignition after a delay period. Dangerous reaction with metal sulfides and metal chlorides (e.g., incandescent reaction with antimony trisulfide, arsenic trisulfide, tin(II)sulfide, tin(IV) sulfide, explosion on contact with copper sulfide). Reaction with metals (e.g., antimony, bismuth, iron) forms explosive products. When heated to decomposition it emits toxic fumes of Cl−. See also CHLORATES and CHLORINE.