Two carbonaceous substances-a chemically activated carbon and a bituminous coal-are found, in microcalorimeter experiments, to display a temperature dependence of reaction rate. at odds with the Arrhenius equation. Since Arrhenius behaviour is always assumed in tests for spontaneous heating of such substances, this places a question mark over the validity of such tests for at least some of the materials to which they might be routinely applied. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.