Iowa State Police Sgt. Nathan Ludwig told the Register the chemical was an oxidizer, although it's unclear exactly what kind. An oxidizing chemical can increase the chance of a fire or explosion.

The usage of regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) is, thus, rapidly increasing for the removal of hazardous or unwanted pollutants in metalworking and coating industries. The regenerative thermal ...

In their first two tastes of Martian soil, scientists with NASA's Phoenix mission have discovered an oxidizer — a class of chemical compounds normally responsible for destroying organic molecules.