UN numbers for batteries

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Class 9 dangerous goods

The miscellaneous hazard class of the UN Model Regulations, where lithium and sodium-ion batteries sit; wet lead–acid and nickel batteries with corrosive electrolyte are Class 8 instead. Fully regulated battery consignments carry the Class 9A label — seven vertical stripes above a burning-battery symbol — alongside the separate lithium battery mark where that applies.

Dangerous goods declaration

The shipper’s signed document listing each dangerous item in a consignment — UN number, proper shipping name such as ‘Lithium ion batteries packed with equipment’, class, packing instruction and quantity — and certifying that it is classified, packed, marked and labelled correctly. Fully regulated battery shipments need one; Section II shipments do not.

IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations

The airline industry’s manual for shipping dangerous goods by air, built on the ICAO Technical Instructions and reissued every year. Lithium batteries fall under packing instructions 965–967 for lithium-ion — alone, packed with or inside equipment — and 968–970 for lithium metal. Lithium-ion batteries shipped alone must be at no more than 30 % state of charge; from 2026 so must those packed with equipment above 2.7 Wh.

Lithium battery mark

The rectangular package mark — a red hatched border, a burning-battery symbol and the UN number — that flags small lithium batteries in a consignment relieved of the full dangerous-goods rules, such as Section II by air; Section IB packages carry it beside the Class 9A label. It is at least 100 × 100 mm, or 100 × 70 mm on small packages.

Sodium-ion battery

A cell built like a lithium-ion cell but shuttling sodium ions, usually between a hard-carbon negative and a layered-oxide (NFM), polyanionic (NFPP, NVP) or Prussian-blue positive. It uses no lithium or cobalt and needs no copper foil, so it can be stored at 0 V, at the cost of lower energy density.

UN 38.3

The United Nations test sequence that every lithium cell and battery must pass before it can be shipped: altitude, thermal cycling, vibration, shock, external short, impact or crush, overcharge and forced discharge. Air shipment of cells also caps state of charge at 30 %.

References & further reading

Further reading on this topic

These sources provide broader context; they are not presented as citations for every statement in this entry.

1. UN Manual of Tests and Criteria, Revision 8

   United Nations Economic Commission for Europe · 2023

   Topic background · Dangerous-goods classification tests; subsection 38.3 concerns battery transport testing.

2. Manual of Tests and Criteria, Revision 8, Amendment 1

   United Nations Economic Commission for Europe · 2025

   Topic background · Amendments to Revision 8, including changes to battery testing in subsection 38.3.