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Nick,
I haven't laughed this hard in quite a while! At least not while reading a science article. Thank you so much for the link.
Yaritza
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
On Behalf Of Nick Parpart
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2020 6:57 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Horror stories
** External Email **
I often do high vacuum distillation of cannabinoids and there was one time in my early days that upon completion, air was let into the system via a relief valve towards the vacuum pump. The solvent that had collected in one of the cold
traps was sucked back into the 20 liter boiling flask that was still ~180C which caused an impressive ball of flames to shoot through the entire system. Luckily, it extinguished itself after a few seconds although it could have been much worse. I cannot stress
enough to never use cheap chinese glass for anything vacuum related. I have imploded a few flasks, 5L erlenmeyer being the largest, and it is quite a dramatic scene.
Side note, many here would probably be interested in Derek Lowe's "Things I'll never work with" posts. They are well written with a sense of humor and he has written a fair amount of them (I've read at least 20 of them).
On Tue, Oct 20, 2020 at 11:51 AM Dr Bob <drbob**At_Symbol_Here**flowsciences.com> wrote:
Hi Dan!
Really good pyrophoric info!
Even some implied data related to burn/blow up ratio!
Dr. Bob Haugen
Director of Product and Technology Development
Flow Sciences, Inc.
910 332 4878
Containment Products ¥ Get a Quote/Consultation ¥ Get Support/Replacement Parts
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTE: This e-mail, including all attachments, is directed in confidence solely to the person(s) to whom it is addressed, or an authorized recipient, and may not otherwise be distributed, copied or disclosed. The contents of this transmission may also be subject to intellectual property rights and all such rights are expressly claimed and are not waived. The contents of this e-mail do not necessarily represent the views or policies of Flow Sciences Inc. or its employees.
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU> On Behalf Of Carmen Nitsche
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2020 12:20 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Horror stories
This seems a good time to remind everyone of the wonderful NOTVOODOO resource Alison Frontier (University of Rochester) has put together. There are several safety related pages - including the Rookie Mistakes section http://chem.chem.rochester.edu/~nvd/pages/rookie_mistakes.php
And she also encourages community tracking of incidents - such as fires and explosions caused by pyrophoric agents - to highlight high risk/oft repeated incidents.
I am excited that she is planning on adding top reaction incidents from the Chemical Safety Library (CSL), with a similar page.
Speaking of the CSL, did you see the announcement about the next phase of the Chemical Safety Library? Pistoia Alliance and CAS have teamed up to offer a new platform for this community crowdsourced safety database of laboratory reaction incidents. Check it out and please consider contributing for the safety of all!!! https://www.cas.org/resources/press-releases/chemical-safety-library
Warm regards, --Carmen
Carmen Nitsche
CCDC Inc.
On Monday, October 19, 2020, 01:41:49 PM EDT, Daniel C Herrick <herrickd**At_Symbol_Here**mit.edu> wrote:
How about the postdoc who was unpacking boxes and dropped the bottle of hydroiodic acid on the floor. It broke, and since he was wearing sandals with socks (seriously?), the HI got on his foot. He then ran down the hall to the men's room to rinse rather than use the safety shower in lab, because in that building the safety showers don't have drains and he didn't want to get water all over the lab. This of course changed a "minor" incident into a "major" one.
The researcher was ok, but the floor in the lab has never recovered - it is permanently stained.
Thanks
Dan
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Daniel C. Herrick, CIH
Senior EHS Coordinator
Mechanical Engineering Department (MechE)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
77 Massachusetts Avenue, room 3-449g
Cambridge, MA 02139
Email herrickd**At_Symbol_Here**mit.edu
Web http://mecheehs.mit.edu
http://ehs.mit.edu
Phone 617-253-2338 (MIT: x3-2338)
-----Original Message-----
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU> On Behalf Of davivid
Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 10:08 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Horror stories
This thread about nitric acid distillation got me thinking.
One thing that I think would be useful, educational, and entertaining is a collection of laboratory "Horror Stories". I'm sure every experienced chemist has a few. These could be a means of motivating and educating the public as well as other chemists. Think of these as chemistry "morality tales". No obtuse jargon, no lengthy analysis. Just some good old fashioned story telling. Youtube channel anyone?
A couple of my favorites
A low boiling solvent condensed in a liquid nitrogen cooled trap. When the dewar was removed the twisted vacuum tubing flipped the trap upside down sending the cold solvent into the rotary vacuum pump that had been running overnight. The overpressure created by flash boiling when the solvent hit the hot oil split the pump casing at the casting seam.
Another one
There was an attempt to grind a material in a ball mill. Unfortunately the material was too soft. So the researcher added liquid nitrogen, sealed up the heavy ceramic ball mill and proceeded to grind as usual.
Fortunately they mentioned their cleverness to a supervisor who promptly had everyone get to safety before the inevitable explosion.
Cheers!
Dave Lane
Principal
Clavis Technology Development
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