Class 9 Dangerous Goods

Class 9 (Miscellaneous Dangerous Goods) is the transport hazard class that covers dangerous goods presenting a risk during transport that don’t meet the definition of any of Classes 1 through 8. It exists as a deliberate catch-all in the classification system used by the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR), the UN Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (the ‘Orange Book’), the US DOT Hazardous Materials Regulations (49 CFR Parts 171-180), and the IMDG Code for ocean freight. For most research labs, the phrase ‘class 9 dangerous goods’ or the ‘class 9 miscellaneous dangerous goods’ category means one thing in practice: dry ice and lithium batteries, the two hazard triggers that show up in an ordinary lab shipment far more often than anything from Classes 1-8.

What Falls Under Class 9

Because Class 9 is defined by exclusion — ‘a hazard not otherwise covered’ — its scope is broader than the other eight classes. Items commonly assigned to Class 9 include:

• Dry ice (UN1845, solid carbon dioxide) — used to keep biological samples, reagents, and other temperature-sensitive materials cold in transit.
• Lithium batteries — lithium-ion cells and batteries (UN3480 shipped alone, UN3481 packed with or contained in equipment) and lithium metal cells and batteries (UN3090 shipped alone, UN3091 packed with or contained in equipment). These cover almost any battery-powered lab instrument, sensor, or data logger.
• Magnetized material — devices or materials with a magnetic field strong enough to affect aircraft navigation instruments.
• Elevated-temperature substances — liquids shipped or offered for transport at or above 100°C, or solids at or above 240°C.
• Environmentally hazardous substances — materials meeting marine-pollutant criteria under the applicable transport mode’s criteria.
• Other genuinely miscellaneous articles that meet a Class 9 hazard definition but don’t fit Classes 1-8.

In practice, the first two items on that list — dry ice and lithium batteries — account for the overwhelming majority of Class 9 shipments a research lab will ever originate.

Why Labs Encounter Class 9 So Often

Class 9 is easy to overlook precisely because dry ice and batteries don’t read as hazardous the way a corrosive acid or a flammable solvent does. Nobody treats a cooler of dry ice or a spare battery pack with the same instinctive caution as a bottle of concentrated acid, but both are regulated dangerous goods once they’re offered for transport, and both carry real documentation, packaging, and labeling requirements. Staff who ship samples on dry ice, or who send battery-powered field equipment for repair or loan, are handling Class 9 dangerous goods whether or not anyone in the lab thinks of it that way.

Class 9 Label Requirements

The Class 9 dangerous goods label follows the same square-on-point (diamond) format as the other eight hazard classes, but its design is deliberately plain: the upper half carries seven vertical black stripes on a white background, and the lower half is white with the number ‘9’ underlined at the bottom point. Unlike Classes 1-8, the Class 9 label carries no hazard pictogram — no flame, no skull, no corrosion symbol — which is itself a visual cue that this is the miscellaneous, catch-all class rather than a specific hazard type. The label must appear on the outer packaging of a Class 9 shipment alongside the required proper shipping name, UN number, and (where applicable) quantity marking — for dry ice, specifically the net weight of dry ice in the package.

Multiple Hazard Classes on One Shipment

A single package can legitimately carry more than one dangerous goods class at once, and Class 9 is the class most likely to stack with another. The clearest example: a Category B biological substance (UN3373) packed in dry ice for cold-chain shipping is both a Class 6.2 infectious substance and a Class 9 dangerous good in the same box, and both sets of marking, labeling, and packing requirements apply simultaneously. Labs that ship biological specimens on dry ice need to satisfy the Category A/B classification rules and the Class 9 dry ice rules on the same shipment — treating it as only one or the other is a common compliance gap.

What Class 9 Is Not

Because Class 9 functions as a catch-all, it’s worth being explicit about what it does not cover, since these are frequently confused with it in a lab setting:

• Corrosive fixatives, decalcifying solutions, acids, and bases are Class 8 (Corrosives), not Class 9.
• Flammable solvents such as ethanol, methanol, and acetone are Class 3 (Flammable Liquids), not Class 9.
• Radiolabeled compounds and radioisotope reference standards are Class 7 (Radioactive Material), not Class 9, regardless of activity level.
• Category A infectious substances (UN2814/UN2900) are Class 6.2, not Class 9 — unless the same package also contains dry ice, in which case both classes apply.

Governing Standards

Class 9 classification originates in the UN Model Regulations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and is implemented, with mode-specific detail, by: the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations and ICAO Technical Instructions for air transport; the US DOT Hazardous Materials Regulations (49 CFR Parts 171-180, administered by PHMSA) for ground and domestic transport; and the IMDG Code for ocean freight. Requirements can differ by mode and by carrier on top of the regulatory minimum, so labs that ship Class 9 materials regularly should confirm current packing instructions, quantity limits, and documentation requirements against the specific mode and carrier being used rather than relying on a single generic checklist.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Class 9 of dangerous goods?

Class 9 (Miscellaneous Dangerous Goods) is the transport hazard classification for substances and articles that present a hazard during transport but aren’t covered by Classes 1 through 8 — most commonly for research labs, dry ice and lithium batteries.

What does ‘class 9 miscellaneous dangerous goods’ mean?

It’s the formal name for Class 9: a catch-all category defined by exclusion rather than by a single hazard type, distinguishing it from classes like Class 3 (Flammable Liquids) or Class 8 (Corrosives) that are each defined by one specific hazard.

Is dry ice Class 9?

Yes. Dry ice (solid carbon dioxide, UN1845) is classified as a Class 9 miscellaneous dangerous good under the UN Model Regulations, IATA DGR, ICAO Technical Instructions, and US DOT HMR whenever it’s offered for transport, including when used purely as a coolant for another shipment.

Are lithium batteries Class 9 dangerous goods?

Yes. Lithium-ion batteries (UN3480 shipped alone, UN3481 packed with or in equipment) and lithium metal batteries (UN3090 shipped alone, UN3091 packed with or in equipment) are Class 9 dangerous goods. Depending on watt-hour rating, lithium content, and quantity, some shipments qualify for reduced ‘excepted’ marking and documentation provisions, but they remain Class 9 regardless.

What does a Class 9 dangerous goods label look like?

A diamond (square-on-point) label with seven vertical black stripes on a white background across the upper half, and the number ‘9’ underlined at the bottom point of the lower half. It carries no hazard pictogram, unlike labels for Classes 1-8.

Related CASRAI Resources

For the full picture of how Class 9 fits into a lab’s broader shipping-compliance obligations, see the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations guide, which walks through all nine hazard classes as they apply to lab shipments; the dedicated Dry Ice Shipping Regulations guide (UN1845, Class 9, and Packing Instruction 954); the Hazmat Shipping Training and Certification Requirements for Lab Staff guide covering DOT/IATA training obligations; and the Category A vs. Category B classification guide for the Class 6.2 side of a combined dry-ice biological shipment. See also the Cold-Chain Shipping Requirements for Biological Reagents guide for temperature-controlled packaging more broadly.