| About This Archive | | DCHAS-L 2007 Index | | DCHAS-L Yearly Index | |
Check out Safety Emporium for your N95, N99, and face shield needs.
|
Previous by Date: Subject: Re: Request for Advice on Chemical Hygiene Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:21:53 -0700 Author: Jim Quinn |
Next by Date: Subject: Re: Request for Advice on Chemical Hygiene Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:39:52 -0700 Author: DAVID KATZ |
Bob, Krylon is the silver bullet for protecting the labels: http://www.krylon.com/main/product_template.cfm?levelid=5&sub_levelid=8&prod uctid=1736&content=product_details. Show the Krylon to the art instructor--it is also used to make charcoal rubbings and chalk drawings (relatively) permanent. As for dealing with the unknown reagents, consider introducing the students to a little analytical chemistry. There is a fair chance that you can cull out the really bad players like picric acid, mercury, heavy metal salts and peroxidized ether. Whatever you do, don't be grinding the caked ammonium nitrate! The remainder, I'm guessing, will be indicator dyes, and (relatively innocuous) salts of unknown quality. Using very small quantities, make aqueous solutions and create a matrix of tests. Teachers should test the procedures first! When I taught chemistry, this was the final lab exercise of the year. I gave the students 5 unknown salts and their grade on it was based on correctly identifying both the anion and the cation for a 10 point grade. Amazing how many perfect scores you get--and how fast you can use up old stock. In any case, don't save anything you can't identify and don't return the tentatively identified materials back to inventory because they are going to frustrate more than help...if the reagents have changed composition (no label: unknown expiration date) you are not going to achieve the results you are hoping to get no matter how motivated the students are to follow the instructions for the exercises. I'll wager that all your anhydrous materials are now, to varying degrees, hydrated. The benefit of keeping them in stock for anything other than a closely supervised "Identify the Unknown" exercise is not worth the risk. Discarding unidentified materials is an important lesson to instill in the staff as well as the students. I have seen some really good foreign taught chemists who have learned some really dangerous habits. (I actually had to add "Do not siphon hazardous waste by mouth" to one of our SOP's.) See if you can find a local business partner for the school or suggest that to the teachers. I don't know how remote you are but it might be a workable plan to enlist the financial assistance of alumni to help restock or to assist with the destruction costs. In any event, treat those unlabeled reagents with respect and protect the students--if you have to dump it all, so be it. You can start with a clean slate and get the new inventory segregated and the bottles bagged, tagged, taped, sprayed or etched and logged and at the same time you know that you don't have any bad players lurking in your storage that are not appropriate for that grade level. JSBonnell Mgr., Env. Svc., Barr Laboratories, Inc. -----Original Message----- From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of rebelford**At_Symbol_Here**UALR.EDU Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 8:42 AM To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: [DCHAS-L] Request for Advice on Chemical Hygiene I am in Thailand and the day after I arrived I ran a one day workshop on Information and Communication Technologies as the fourth day of a five day nation wide workshop for high school teachers. I included a section on MSDS and Chemical Hygiene, and on the following day I was given written questions by the "adjun" (teachers). Although only a minor part of my workshop was on chemical hygiene, every question but one dealt with either chemical hygiene issues or green chemistry. It appears that in this humid land (full of black mold) there is a propensity for labels to disintegrate off bottles in school stock rooms, and I was asked what to do. So, I am asking if anyone has any web based (or other) protocols for dealing with unlabeled containers that I could share. I would really appreciate any input as these are great people whom I believe have far greater problems than we do when it come to chemical hygiene issues and they do care. I really appreciate any input and help. Sincerely, Bob Belford . *********************************************************** Robert E. Belford Department of Chemistry University of Arkansas at Little Rock http://www.ualr.edu/rebelford 501-569-8824
Previous post | Top of Page | Next post