Product Overview
Hydrogen Peroxide 12% ACS Grade is an aqueous oxidizer solution (H2O2, CAS 7722-84-1) offered in pack sizes from 1 quart bottles to 330 gallon totes. It is the strength buyers reach for when 10% is not quite enough oxidizing power and 30% brings more handling burden than the process justifies. The ACS Grade designation is the version laboratories, QC departments, and analytical buyers specify when their purchasing workflow calls for an ACS-designated reagent rather than a technical-grade material.
Typical buyers include analytical labs running titrations, chemical manufacturers using peroxide as an oxidant, textile and pulp operations bleaching fiber, and water-treatment operators dosing wastewater. If you need to decide fast: 12% is a mid-strength oxidizer, regulated for transport as a Class 5.1 hazardous material (per 49 CFR 172.101), and every listed pack size is available to order with an SDS and lot-specific COA.
Why This Concentration
At 12%, hydrogen peroxide delivers meaningfully more active oxygen per gallon than household-strength solutions while staying below the 20% threshold that changes the transport picture. Its proper shipping name — hydrogen peroxide, aqueous solutions with not less than 8 percent but less than 20 percent hydrogen peroxide (stabilized as necessary) — places it in Packing Group III (per 49 CFR 172.101), the least stringent packing group within Class 5.1. That is the practical trade-off this concentration buys you: real oxidizing capacity with a lighter packaging burden than stronger solutions.
Many buyers discover 12% as the step up from Hydrogen Peroxide 10% ACS Grade when a bleaching or oxidation step runs too slowly, or as the step down from 15% ACS Grade and 30% ACS Grade when they want to reduce the hazard their crew handles. If your process does not require the ACS designation — bleaching, cleaning, general water treatment — Hydrogen Peroxide 12% Technical Grade is the same concentration in the technical version. For low-demand rinse or dilution work, 3% Technical Grade covers the bottom of the range.
Chemical Profile
Hydrogen peroxide is H2O2 with a molecular weight of 34.015 and CAS number 7722-84-1. This 12% w/w aqueous solution is a liquid with a slightly sharp odor and a density of 1.04 at 20 °C — just heavier than water, which matters when you convert drum weight to volume for dosing. It is highly water-miscible, with solubility of 100 mg/mL or greater at 72 °F, and has a low vapor pressure of 1 mmHg at 59.5 °F. As an oxidizer, it may intensify fire (per the product's GHS classification), and containers exposed to prolonged fire or heat can rupture violently as the peroxide decomposes — a decomposition that releases water and oxygen, which is also why vented closures and headspace management matter in storage.
Industrial Applications
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Oxidizing agent, chemical manufacturing: peroxide donates active oxygen in synthesis and oxidation steps, then decomposes to water and oxygen, leaving no persistent residue in the reaction stream.
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Analytical reagent: labs use hydrogen peroxide in titrations and sample-preparation oxidation steps; the ACS designation is the version analytical purchasing workflows typically specify.
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Bleaching, textile and pulp: peroxide bleaches textile fiber and wood pulp by oxidizing chromophores, an established alternative to chlorine-based bleaching chemistry.
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Water and wastewater treatment: operators dose peroxide to oxidize sulfides and organic contaminants and to supply dissolved oxygen in treatment trains.
Handling & Storage
The signal word for this product is Danger (per the product's GHS classification). The governing hazard statements are: H272 — may intensify fire; oxidiser; H302 — harmful if swallowed; and H318 — causes serious eye damage (per the product's GHS classification). H318 sets your PPE floor: sealed chemical splash goggles and chemical-resistant gloves any time the container is open, with an eyewash station within reach of the work area.
Store it cool, out of direct sunlight, and away from organic materials, reducing agents, and combustibles — as a Class 5.1 oxidizer, it feeds fires it touches rather than starting them alone. Keep it in compatible containers such as HDPE; never return unused product to the original container, and never decant into unrinsed drums that held incompatible material. Good ventilation limits vapor accumulation, and stable, cool storage slows the gradual decomposition every peroxide solution undergoes.
Hazmat & Shipping
This product ships as a regulated hazardous material. The governed classification: UN2984 (per 49 CFR 172.101), Hazard Class 5.1 — oxidizer (per 49 CFR 172.101), Packing Group III (per 49 CFR 172.101), under the proper shipping name "Hydrogen peroxide, aqueous solutions with not less than 8 percent but less than 20 percent hydrogen peroxide (stabilized as necessary)" (per 49 CFR 172.101). Unlike suppliers who leave the transport classification for you to look up, we publish it on the page — our warehouse team packs Class 5.1 shipments to these requirements from Taylor, Texas, from quart bottles up through 55 gallon drums and 275 and 330 gallon totes.
Documentation
A Safety Data Sheet accompanies every order and is available in English, Spanish, French, and Japanese. A lot-specific Certificate of Analysis is available for this product, and a Technical Data Sheet is on file — most QC and purchasing teams request the COA at order time so the lot paperwork lands with the material.
Why Buy from Alliance Chemical
We offer this 12% ACS Grade solution across sixteen pack configurations, from 1 quart bench bottles to 330 gallon totes, each packed to the UN2984 / Class 5.1 / PG III requirements that govern it (per 49 CFR 172.101) and shipped with its SDS and available lot-specific COA. Alliance Chemical has operated as an industrial chemical distributor since 1998 and has served more than 50,000 customers from our Taylor, Texas warehouse. The shipping and handling guidance on this page is reviewed by Andre Taki, DOT Hazmat Specialist.
