The annual meeting of the Chief Inspectors of Explosives (CIE) and the Working Group of the International Group of Experts on the Explosion Risks of Unstable Substances of the Explosives Propellants and Pyrotechnics Section (IGUS EPP) was held in Mesa (Phoenix, Arizona, USA) from April 12 to 17, 2026. Poland was represented by Daniel Buczkowski, a representative of the Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Industrial Organic Chemistry.
IGUS is an international group of specialists from around the world that facilitates discussions on the risks associated with hazardous, unstable substances. The group’s goal was to exchange information on the behavior of these substances and to improve and promote safety related to their production, storage, transport, and use. Through its activities, IGUS supports international organizations dealing with dangerous goods regulations.
During the meeting, issues including:
- accidents and safety related to the transport of semi-finished products used to produce emulsion explosives,
- the possibility of excluding from Class 1 products containing explosives that pose a low risk,
- construction and use of containers limiting the effects of an explosion,
- methods of testing explosives,
- causes of explosion of ammonium nitrate and mixtures based on it when exposed to fire or heat,
- transport classification of pyrotechnic items intended to emit smoke.
During the one-day technical trip, meeting participants had the opportunity to, among other things:
- observations at the Arizona Army National Guard Weapons Training Range of the thermite reaction, used, for example, to connect railway rails,
- familiarize yourself with Axon equipment used to incapacitate dangerous people without endangering their life or health,
- visit to the Daicel company, which uses mixtures of zirconium and potassium perchlorate in pyrotechnic products.
A representative of Łukasiewicz-IPO delivered a lecture entitled “Permissible manners of road transport of explosives”.
