We use double containment in ventilated storage and only use it in the hood, leaving all pipet tips and such in the hood to avoid volatility issues. It can cause a false hazard.

Monique Wilhelm
Laboratory Manager
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
University of Michigan - Flint

-----Original Message-----
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU] On Behalf Of Stuart, Ralph
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2019 2:10 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] ‰-mercaptoethanol (‰ME)

>Not pleasant, but was it a hazard?

The odor of BME beyond "not pleasant" - it's disruptive. I had an experience at a previous institution where fugitive BME odors led to 3 building-wide fire alarms in a year as people thought the smells were related to natural gas leaks. People who don't use BME in the hood to control fugitive odors risk having their (and others') work interrupted for significant amounts of time while the fire department investigates these calls.

This is a case when looking at the properties of a chemical in isolation leads to missing key aspects of the situation.

- Ralph

Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
Environmental Safety Manager
Keene State College
603 358-2859

ralph.stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu

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