As used in this chapter the following words shall have the following meanings:
I. The term “commissioner” means the commissioner of the department of health and human services.
II. The term “hazardous substance” means
(a) Any substance or mixture of substances which is toxic, is corrosive, is an irritant, is a strong sensitizer, is flammable or generates pressure through decomposition, heat, or other means, if such substance or mixture of substances may cause substantial personal injury or substantial illness during or as a proximate result of any customary or reasonably foreseeable handling or use, including reasonably foreseeable ingestion by children;
(b) Any substance which the commissioner by regulation finds, pursuant to the provisions of N.H. Rev. Stat. § 339-A:5, meets the requirements of subparagraph (a);
(c) Any radioactive substance, if, with respect to such substance as used in a particular class of articles or as packaged, the commissioner determines by regulation that the substance is sufficiently hazardous to require labeling in accordance with this chapter in order to protect the public health.
Provided, however, that the term “hazardous substance” shall not apply to economic poisons subject to RSA 438, nor to products subject to RSA 153, nor to foods, drugs and cosmetics subject to RSA 146, nor to substances intended for use as fuels when stored in containers and used in the treating, cooking, or refrigeration systems of a house, but such term shall apply to any article which is not itself an economic poison within the meaning of N.H. Rev. Stat. Chapter 438 but which is a hazardous substance within the meaning of this paragraph by reason of bearing or containing such an economic poison. This term shall not include any source material, special nuclear material, or by-product material, defined in N.H. Rev. Stat. Chapter 125 by the United States Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and regulations issued pursuant thereto by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
III. The term “toxic” means any substance (other than a radioactive substance) which has the capacity to produce personal injury or illness to man through ingestion, inhalation, or absorption through any body surface.
IV. The term “highly toxic” means any substance which falls within any of the following categories: (a) produces death within 14 days in half or more than half of a group of 10 or more laboratory white rats each weighing between 200 and 300 grams, at a single dose of 50 milligrams or less per kilogram of body weight, when orally administered; or (b) produces death within 14 days in half or more than half of a group of 10 or more laboratory white rats weighing between 200 and 300 grams, when inhaled continuously for a period of one hour or less at an atmospheric concentration of 200 parts per million by volume or less of gas or vapor or 2 milligrams per liter by volume or less of mist or dust, provided such concentration is likely to be encountered by man when the substance is used in any reasonably foreseeable manner; or (c) produces death within 14 days in half or more than half of a group of 10 or more rabbits tested in a dosage of 200 milligrams or less per kilogram of body weight, when administered by continuous contact with the bare skin for 24 hours or less.
V. If the commissioner finds that available data on human experience with any substance indicates different results from those obtained on animals as set forth in paragraph IV, the human data shall take precedence.
VI. The term “corrosive” means any substance which in contact with living tissue will cause destruction of tissue by chemical action; but shall not refer to action on inanimate surfaces.
VII. The term “irritant” means any substance not corrosive within the meaning of paragraph VI which on immediate, prolonged, or repeated contact with normal living tissue will induce a local inflammatory reaction.
VIII. The term “strong sensitizer” means a substance which will cause on normal living tissue through an allergic or photodynamic process a hypersensitivity which becomes evident on reapplication of the same substance and which is designated as such by the commissioner. Before designating any substance as a strong sensitizer, the commissioner, upon consideration of the frequency of occurrence and severity of the reaction, shall find that the substance has a significant potential for causing hypersensitivity.
IX. The term “extremely flammable” shall apply to any substance which has a flash point at or below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, as determined by the Tagliabue Open Cup Tester, and the term “flammable” shall apply to any substance which has a flash point of above 20 degrees to and including 80 degrees Fahrenheit, as determined by the Tagliabue Open Cup Tester; except that the flammability of solids and of the contents of self-pressurized containers shall be determined by methods found by the commissioner to be generally applicable to such materials or containers, respectively, and established by rules adopted under the authority of N.H. Rev. Stat. § 339-A:5, which rules shall also define the terms “flammable” and “extremely flammable” in accordance with such methods.
X. The term “radioactive substance” means a substance which emits ionizing radiation.
XI. The term “label” means a display of written, printed, or graphic matter upon the immediate container of any substance or, in the case of an article which is unpackaged or is not packaged in an immediate container intended or suitable for delivery to the ultimate consumer, a display of such matter directly upon the article involved or upon a tag or other suitable material affixed thereto.
XII. The term “federal act” means the Federal Hazardous Substances Labeling Act. (Public Laws No. 86-613, 74 Stat. 372; 15 U.S.C. §§ 1261-1276.)