![]() The ideal storage temperature for any chemical is printed on the bottle. It’s also prudent to have dedicated storage at: Examples include reducing agents, heavy metal salts, and histological stains such as trypan blue. Introducing heat to flammable and poisonous chemicals is bad news all around.Īnd poisons include anything with the skull and crossbones symbol, all carcinogens, teratogens, and mutagens. In short, acids, bases, and oxidizers react violently with each other and organic material. To ensure your lab is safe for everyone to work in, separate: Remember, there’s a tacit agreement when we work in the lab that we are responsible for each other’s well-being and our own. Then, if everyone else did the same, we’d all be safe from such stupidity. The great thing is, you can take the onus of responsibility yourself and never do something so daft. If somebody was using an odorless mutagen on the bench, I am sure you would prefer not to enter the lab. You should not take out an organic solvent you have never worked with, ignore the COSHH form, and start using it on the bench. Okay, so I’m not saying work in a fume hood for tasks such as DNA transformation or cell culture inoculation (this is a key point that we’ll return to-you and me knowing approximately what chemical processes are taking place).īut diluting acids and bases for use with the pH meter, preparing SDS-PAGE gels, and spiking samples with reducing agents all involve hazardous chemicals, fumes of which we’d be better off not breathing in.Īnd remember, our exposure is chronic. If you have easy access to a fume hood, why choose not to work in it? ![]() This is forgivable-the chemical inventory for my lab runs to well over 1000. You and I are also aware of the function, reactivity, and danger of only a tiny fraction of chemicals in our respective laboratories. It’s safer to assume that most chemicals can harm you than they cannot. Work in a Fume Hood Unless You Have a Reason Not To ![]() Let’s go through ten broadly applicable golden rules to help keep you and your colleagues working safely in the lab. We just held our breath.Īllow me, then, to give you a chemist’s guide to working safely in the lab. And I’ve got to say, biosciences, up your game. Therefore, there are a lot of hazards.Īs a chemist who defected to biosciences, I’ve observed a difference in attitude towards health and safety between the two disciplines. Working with chemicals is dangerous and can lead to these scenarios. ![]()
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