GHS REFERENCE / H-CODES / H401

H401 — Toxic to aquatic life

The GHS hazard statement for hazardous to the aquatic environment — acute, category 2. Here is what it means, the label elements that travel with it, and the substances that carry it.

At a glance

Official statementToxic to aquatic life.
Hazard classHazardous to the aquatic environment — acute
CategoryCategory 2
Signal wordNo signal word
PictogramNone assigned

What it means

Toxic to fish, crustaceans, or algae in short-term exposure. Environmental classes appear on SDSs and labels, but in the US they sit with EPA and DOT rather than OSHA.

EU CLP classifies aquatic acute Category 1 only, so this code is rare on US/EU sheets; it exists in the UN GHS.

Precautionary statements paired with H401

When the engine writes SDS Section 2 or a container label for a product carrying H401, these are the P-codes it assigns, in the official Annex 3 groups:

PreventionP273Avoid release to the environment.
DisposalP501Dispose of contents/container in accordance with local/regional/national/international regulations.

Substances that carry H401

None of the 4,225 substances in our database carries H401 in pure form. The note above explains why it is rare on US and EU sheets.

Same hazard class: H400 · H402

Reference information, not legal or professional advice. Statement texts and allocations follow GHS Rev 9 / 29 CFR 1910.1200 Appendix C as implemented by our classification engine; the regulatory text and agency practice control. Claims last reviewed July 23, 2026.

The engine writes these for you.

When SDS HQ authors an SDS or a container label, it assigns the hazard statements, signal word, pictograms, and precautionary statements from these same tables — automatically, with the calculation shown.

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