Chemical trade names

Chemical trade names, for both substances and mixtures, have been used for decades by the chemical industry. There have been numerous changes of trade name as companies have change hands and rationalised their product lists, or altered the trade name to one which matches their own style.

If you are using a substance with a trade name, the chemical name should also be given on the label and the SDS, along with identifying numbers (CAS no, EC no, or Index no).

However, mixtures, which use a mandatory trade name, are more difficult to identify.  Ideally, you need to get hold of a Safety Data Sheet (SDS), to find out what the list of hazardous components are in the mixture.  This is especially important where you are classifying a mixture from outside the EU for import; or where you are making a new mixture out of the original mixture, and need to know what the component substances are in that mixture.

Mixtures can often be identified through an internet search, especially google (other internet search engines are available).

There are also published trade name directories, which can help you identify both a substance (or mixture), and its suppliers.  The largest and most up to date of these is the Industrial Chemical Thesaurus, which can be obtained as an electronic version (older editions are available in hard copy from Amazon, but may not be as up to date).  The current version  can be bought from https://www.chemicalonline.com/doc/industrial-chemical-thesaurus-0001 .