Hydroxylamine is a reactive chemical with formula NH2OH. It can be considered a hybrid of ammonia and water due to parallels it shares with each. At room temperature pure NH2OH is ordinarily a white, unstable crystalline, hygroscopic compound; however it is almost always encountered as an aqueous solution. Hydroxylamine tends to be explosive, and the nature of the hazard is not entirely understood. At least two factories dealing in hydroxylamine have been destroyed since 1999 with loss of life. It is known, however, that ferrous and ferric iron salts accelerate the decomposition of 50% NH2OH solutions. Hydroxylamine and its derivatives are more safely handled in the form of salts