# Is it legal to ship something with (frozen) dry ice?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-ship-something-with-frozen-dry-ice/659557>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 28, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-ship-something-with-frozen-dry-ice/659557 "2013-05-28T17:29:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-ship-something-with-frozen-dry-ice/659557/21 "2013-05-29T22:17:32Z")

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[QUOTE=brujaja]  
… what constitutes packaging that will allow CO2 vapor to dissipate? Would cardboard covered in brown paper be OK?  
[/QUOTE]

Just a cardboard box. No paper.

A regular box isn’t air tight - they just don’t want people doing something goofy like putting the dry ice in a sealed jar, can, or plastic bag as those will eventually burst.

Wrapping packages in paper is never a good idea as it invariably gets snagged on a belt at the sort facility and your box is now naked with no address.

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**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-ship-something-with-frozen-dry-ice/659557/22 "2013-05-29T22:41:40Z")

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> [@brujaja](#):
>
> If not, is there any other way to ship perishables?

You can pack things into a soft side cooler with ice packs. If it’s something you can freeze, like a large bowl of soup, freeze it, pack it tightly in an insulated container, and ship it.

You want to avoid any air space inside your container, so use a soft container, squeeze out all the air, and pack it into a larger rigid container and stuff it with foam or crunched up newspaper.

If you can get dry ice packs you may as well use those.

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**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\
**Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-legal-to-ship-something-with-frozen-dry-ice/659557/23 "2013-05-30T04:23:26Z")

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> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> If it’s something you can freeze, like a large bowl of soup, freeze it, pack it tightly in an insulated container, and ship it.

Oh … duh … _ **I can ship it frozen.** _ Heh. Didn’t occur to me. Yikes.

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