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Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2010 15:47:25 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: Vaiju.Bagal**At_Symbol_Here**EMDCHEMICALS.COM
Subject: Re: pregnant student in chemistry lab
In-Reply-To: <B1331E0BABBF2F41ADBB549EF89EA74A033492391CA6**At_Symbol_Here**WITTFSVS.wittenberg.edu>
I, of course, am in industry and not academia, but this was an interesting
question. It does appear that there should be guidelines akin to CHP for
undergraduate students in classes. it also appears to be a learning
opportunity in chemical safety as well for the students. How does your
CHP handle the issue of teratogenicity?
In our company we work with an occupational medicine group, and in an
emergency we would have sent along the MSDS to emergency responder.
Therefore it seems the student can bring MSDS of the reagents to her
physician, perhaps in conjunction with an occupational medical group,
In addition, We have set procedures and the MSDS for each reagent in the
procedure, and in addition we include a safety section which addresses
PPE, limitations, etc to that procedure. This sounds like the same
situation as for general chem labs,. Is it possible to incorporate this
kind information in the lab instructions in order to standardize the
protocol at Wittenberg?
If the individual lab that uses a teratogen cannot be altered with
alternative reagents, skipping that one does seem to be a reasonable
alternative. As a parallel in industry, we would reassign the lab worker,
Ujjvala (Vaiju) Bagal
Specialist, Methods Development
Phone: 01-912-964-9050 ext.53236
Fax: 01-912-966-5917
Email: Vaiju.Bagal**At_Symbol_Here**emdchemicals.com
EMD Chemicals
110 EMD Blvd
Savannah, GA 31407
Home: www.emdchemicals.com
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"David C. Finster"
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08/09/2010 02:54 PM
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[DCHAS-L] pregnant student in chemistry lab
I am aware that a student who will be taking a general chemistry course
this fall is pregnant. I am writing to the list to seek advice about how
to best handle this circumstance (assuming that one of the options ? not
taking the course ? is not a preferred option).
(I have checked the D-CHAS archives, and other sources, and found no
particularly helpful answers to this question. This is not really a CHP
matter since the student is not an employee ? although we ordinarly use
our CHP as the safety document for students, too.)
So far as I know (but I can check this to be certain) none of the
chemicals used in our general chemistry labs are teratogens. Thus, my
initial suggested course of action is that the student participate in all
of the labs experiments (using all of the PPE at all times that is
recommended for all students.) We rarely use chemical hoods in this
particular course since most of the chemicals we use present no
significant inhalation risk. (We use hoods when there is an inhalation
risk.)
If there is some chemical that is, or is suspected to be, a teratogen, I
would advise the student to skip that lab (and have the instructor
determine how to do this without any penalty to the student).
The pathway suggested above seems reasonable and prudent to me. However,
since we live in a world where the consideration of worst-case scenarios
is wise and legally prudent, it seems to me that having the student
consult with her physician (with a complete list of chemicals ?in hand?)
and having the physician and/or student ?sign off? on some reasonable
statement in advance seems smart. Since I would not expect a physician to
be familiar with the teratogenic effects of ?all chemicals?, I would also
present the physician with a detailed list of the known or suspected
effects of each chemical (extracted from TOXNET) with regard to being
handled while pregnant.
The advice and experience of the D-CHAS group is welcome.
Dave
David C. Finster
Professor of Chemistry
University Chemical Hygiene Officer
Department of Chemistry
Wittenberg University
dfinster**At_Symbol_Here**wittenberg.edu
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