Shipping the fluid

Below one milliliter

Updated October 2026

On this page8

What it says The classes it covers The quantity The closure restraint again And a tougher package test Without breakage or leakage from any inner receptacle Which route fits depends on the collection References

A different kind of exception: the material stops being a hazardous material at all.

What it says

When packaged in accordance with the section, the listed materials do not meet the definition of a hazardous material in 49 CFR 171.8 and are therefore not subject to the requirements of the subchapter. That is a stronger statement than an exception.

The classes it covers

Packing Group I materials of Division 6.1 with no inhalation hazard, and Packing Group II and III materials of Class 3, Divisions 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 and 5.1, Division 6.1, Class 8 and Class 9. Ethanol’s class is on that list.

The quantity

One milliliter per inner receptacle for authorized liquids, one gram for solids. That is a vial, not a jar, and it is realistic only for very small preserved material or for a sample of the fluid itself.

The closure restraint again

Each inner receptacle with a removable closure has its closure held securely in place with wire, tape, or other positive means. The same sentence appears in both sections, which tells you how much weight it carries.

And a tougher package test

Five free drops from 1.8 m, which is 5.9 feet, onto a solid unyielding surface: flat on bottom, flat on top, flat on the long side, flat on the short side, and on a corner at the junction of three intersecting edges. Plus a compressive load.

Without breakage or leakage from any inner receptacle

And without a substantial reduction in the effectiveness of the package. So the outer packaging is doing real work, and the glass vial inside is surviving because of what is around it.

Which route fits depends on the collection

A single small type specimen might travel under 173.4b. A set of jars does not fit either section, and then the answer is a properly classified shipment rather than an exception, which is a question for a hazmat shipper.

References

49 CFR 173.4b, De minimis exceptions, which take listed Packing Group II and III materials out of the definition of a hazardous material at 1 mL per inner receptacle for liquids, subject to five specified 1.8 m drops and a compressive load. law.cornell.edu

49 CFR 173.4, Small quantities for highway and rail. Class 3 and other listed materials are not subject to other requirements where the inner receptacle holds no more than 30 mL of liquid, is not liquid-full at 55 C, is glass, earthenware, metal or plastic of at least 0.2 mm, has any removable closure held securely with wire, tape or other positive means, and is packed with non-reactive absorbent able to take the entire contents inside a strong outer packaging, the whole demonstrated by prototype testing. law.cornell.edu

Written from federal statute and regulation, not from a collection room. Wildlife law is federal, state and sometimes tribal at once, and the Lacey Act makes a state or foreign violation a federal matter. Nothing here is advice on a particular specimen, and the permit questions belong to the Fish and Wildlife Service.