Avoid taking chances. The information on this sheet and on container labels will also help protect you. It takes very little to make reactives or chemicals near them explode, burn or release dangerous vapors. Explosives, the most obvious reactives, can sometimes go off in the presence of a tiny spark, even from friction.
Oxidizers contain large percentages of oxygen.
They can cause other substances, like flammables, to burn. Unstable chemicals can explode under what seems like safe conditions, such as heat or slight movements. Some chemicals, such as ether, become unstable over time. These can be especially dangerous because your usual procedures are no longer safe. Incompatible chemicals, such as acids and bases, seem stable on their own but react strongly when they are mixed together.