The U.S. Chemical Safety Board recently released a report and video documenting three chemical accidents in universities and steps that both could have been taken to reduce their severity and should have been taken to prevent their occurrence.
The New York Times article below is wrong on one point; the video does not refer to the demonstration that caused the boy’s injury. That demonstration is commonly done in secondary schools and the chemical involved, methanol, is generally considered the source of more serious chemical-related injuries in schools than any other.
Here’s the link : http://www.csb.gov/csb-releases-safe...hemistry-labs/ by the Chemical Safety Board
Here’s the link: http://www.csb.gov/videos/experimenting-with-danger/ which is excellent, though it is 24 minutes long (they’re an incredibly detail-oriented organization for obvious reasons).
There are multiple lessons to be learned from this:
- Never wear synthetic clothing in a science lab
- Always be aware of the specific hazards of the chemicals you’re working with and how to protect yourself from their hazards
- Wear proper personal protection in hazardous environments
- Always practice spill response and fire response procedures
- Material safety data sheets are often flawed, though they still generally remain the best source of information on managing chemical hazards for a product
Note that the experiments described in this video and the chemicals used are never used in secondary schools.
Dave Waddell
Environmental Investigator, Project Coordinator
Local Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County
130 Nickerson St., Suite 100, Seattle WA 98109
School Experiment That Burned Boy Was Focus of Federal Warning
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/04/ny...l-warning.html
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