---
title: "Exclamation mark (GHS07) — what it means"
description: "Irritant, skin sensitiser, harmful if swallowed or inhaled, or may cause drowsiness — the lower-severity hazards. What the symbol looks like, what happens if you ign"
url: https://atoneplace.net/symbol/hazard-ghs-irritant/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Exclamation mark (GHS07)

**Exclamation mark (GHS07): Irritant, skin sensitiser, harmful if swallowed or inhaled, or may cause drowsiness — the lower-severity hazards.**

⚠

## What it looks like

A bold exclamation mark, black on white in a red diamond.

## What it means

The catch-all pictogram and the most common one on household products: washing-up liquid, detergent capsules, most cleaning sprays and many cosmetics ingredients. It covers acute toxicity category 4, skin and eye irritation, skin sensitisation, narcotic effects and damage to the ozone layer. Skin sensitisation is the part worth taking seriously despite the mild-looking symbol — a sensitiser causes an allergy that becomes permanent, so once someone reacts to it, every future exposure will provoke a reaction.

> Defined by UN GHS / EU CLP / OSHA HazCom. Where a symbol differs between standards, the difference is described above rather than resolved — both versions are in circulation on real labels.

## Other hazard warnings symbols

| Symbol | Means |
| --- | --- |
| Exploding bomb (GHS01) | Explosive, self-reactive, or an organic peroxide that can explode. |
| Flame (GHS02) | Flammable — or a substance that heats up, ignites in air, or gives off flammable gas when wet. |
| Flame over circle (GHS03) | Oxidising — it will feed a fire, including one that has nothing else to burn with. |
| Gas cylinder (GHS04) | Gas under pressure — compressed, liquefied, refrigerated or dissolved. |
| Corrosion (GHS05) | Causes severe skin burns and eye damage, or corrodes metal. |
| Skull and crossbones (GHS06) | Acute toxicity — fatal or toxic in small amounts by swallowing, skin contact or inhalation. |
| Health hazard (GHS08) | Serious long-term health effects — cancer, genetic damage, harm to fertility or the unborn child, organ damage, asthma from inhalation, or fatal if swallowed and it enters the airways. |
| Environment (GHS09) | Hazardous to the aquatic environment — toxic to fish and other water life. |
| Orange explosive (E) | Explosive, under the old European system. |
| Orange oxidising (O) | Oxidising agent, under the old European system. |
| Orange flammable (F, F+) | Highly flammable (F) or extremely flammable (F+), under the old European system. |
| Orange toxic (T, T+) | Toxic (T) or very toxic (T+), under the old European system. |
| Orange harmful or irritant (Xn, Xi) | Harmful (Xn) or irritant (Xi), under the old European system. |
| Orange corrosive (C) | Corrosive, under the old European system. |
| Orange dangerous for the environment (N) | Dangerous for the environment, under the old European system. |
| NFPA 704 fire diamond | A US placard telling emergency responders how a stored chemical behaves in a fire. |
| Biohazard | Biological material that can cause disease — blood, cultures, clinical waste. |
| Radiation trefoil | Ionising radiation — a radioactive source or a device producing radiation. |
| Laser radiation | Laser radiation — do not look into the beam. |

## Common questions

### What does the exclamation mark (ghs07) symbol mean?

Irritant, skin sensitiser, harmful if swallowed or inhaled, or may cause drowsiness — the lower-severity hazards.

### What does it look like?

A bold exclamation mark, black on white in a red diamond.

## Related pages

- [Corrosion (GHS05)](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/hazard-ghs-corrosive/)
- [Health hazard (GHS08)](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/hazard-ghs-health/)
- [Orange harmful or irritant (Xn, Xi)](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/hazard-eu-orange-harmful/)
- [Exploding bomb (GHS01)](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/hazard-ghs-explosive/)
- [Flame (GHS02)](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/hazard-ghs-flammable/)
- [Flame over circle (GHS03)](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/hazard-ghs-oxidising/)
- [Gas cylinder (GHS04)](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/hazard-ghs-gas-cylinder/)
- [Corrosion (GHS05)](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/hazard-ghs-corrosive/)
- [Skull and crossbones (GHS06)](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/hazard-ghs-toxic/)
- [Health hazard (GHS08)](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/hazard-ghs-health/)
- [Environment (GHS09)](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/hazard-ghs-environment/)
- [Orange explosive (E)](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/hazard-eu-orange-explosive/)
- [Orange oxidising (O)](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/hazard-eu-orange-oxidising/)

## Sources

- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place (/about/)