edited by
MALCOLM M. RENFREW University of idaho MOSCOW. idaho 83843
Results of Safety Inspections of College Laboratory and Chemical Storage Facilities The Safety Committee of the New York Section of the American Chemical Society's2 During the spring of 1980, the Safety Committee of the New York section of the American Chemical Society conducted inspections of the laboratories and chemical storage facilities of eleven colleges in the New York metropolitan area. The standards used fr,r thcsc iniipwtim. iirr dtccrilwu in rhr C . . I i i t ill .Acurlrmitora:e area. and in the lahuratorira. Holtlci. i d v e n t mnl, and drum; l i r q u r n t l y n w r r e d floor arcas and hlurkd nrceir t o r r i t s or prevented doors from opening and closing. (el Disposal of Chemicals: Each college was in the process of developing its own methods of safelv . disoosine,. of chemical n a i t t * . This uwallg leads, hcwrver, ro rhr practirc uf krcpin: unhl&d l m t t l c i and waste solvents in storage since safe disposal techniques are currently too expensive far many colleges to afford. The individual problems pointed out here wauld he serious enough by themselves. Unfortunately, they are found combined in many storage areas, thereby increasing the hazards many-fold. The situation can he best illustrated by the sketch of one college's storage area s h a m in the figure. ~
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Journal of Chemical Education
A chemical storage area of a college inspected by the safety committee corridor or exterior walls LEGEND: U o p e n shelves rn -doors @fire extinguisher 1 closet containing potassium metal piled haphazardously among cardboard shipping cartons filled with assorted chemicals 2 unlabeiled bottles or bottles with illegible labels 3 chemicals spilled on shelves 4 strong oxidants (KBrOg KC103 an shelves with oxidizable chemicals 5 concentrated acids and bases stored together 6 chromic acid on shelves with organic compounds 7 bottles of 30% hydrogen peroxide next to concentrated acetic acid 8 5-gal cans of organic solvents piled two and three deep 9 bromine and benzene in alphabetical order; cans corroded lo anhydmur ether, undated cans 11 collodion (extremely flammable) on open shelves 12 ethyl ether in randomly piled boxes; expiration date 18 months prior to inspection 13 box of chemicals labelled "patent carcinogens'' 14 large bottles on edges of top shelves (approximately 10 flhigh) 15 several bottles labeled only as "organic waste"
Safety Equipment (a) Showers: Every college inspected had some emergency safety showers, but these were not always adequately sited or engineered. One college had a valve instead of a pull-ring on the shower, which could reduce the availability and the rate of delivery of water. Another had rings that were held over doorways by eup-hooks, necessitating an upward movement before a downward pull. Others had showers which were used iointlv were adequate, there was only one college that indicated when the showers had last been inspected. (h) Eyewashes. Only two of the colleges inspected did not have piped-in eye washes; they depended on the small, wall-mounted, portable units. None of the colleges had units which used warm water; instead, all were mounted on the cold water line. Some commercial units were placed so low that a student wauld have to stoop over to use them. Since the A.C.S. recommendation is that the eyes be flushed for 15 minutes, any of these units would cause great discomfort. Additionally, there was not always an adequate number of eye wash stations, so a student might have to run across an entire laboratory to use the eye wash.
( c ) Fire Extinguishers. The A.C.S. handbook recommends that each laboratory he equipped with one fire extinguisher per lab heneh, of appropriate type and size. This might seem somewhat excessive, and in actuality we evaluated the number of extinguishers on the basis of room size, geometry, and extinguisher size and type. Even with this reduced reouirement. manv laboratories did
areas, even though it is these areas which present the greatest potential hazard. Many extinguishers in laboratory areas were poorly marked and not mounted accessibly. Others lacked seals or were partially discharged, makine them undeoendable in an emereenw. .. . hlanv staled extinyuislwrs did not r . m y tngs with CLrrrnt datel uf inspcrtiun.
Ventilation Ventilation, particularly of storage areas, was a problem in a few cases. In one college, ventilation of the solvent room washy means of a fan which operated only when the lights were on. In another college, the ventilation was so poor that the inspectors developed headaches after a very short time in the building. Three out of eleven colleges had hoods which were all operable and working at the recommended velocity (100 cuhic ftlmin).
Only unc rollrgr hnd marked thesaah lrvrls st which t h r hocrds nchiercd this velocity. Huud. were wr). d t e n cluttered b) borrles ot' corrosives and of volatile organic solvents which were being stored there rather than in cabinets.
supervised and unsupervised), particularly conducting laboratory experiments without adequate eye protection. Use of prescription glasses without side shields was generally allowed and the A.C.S. recommendation against contact lenses was acknowledged but rarely enforced.
Housekeepingin General
Conclusions and Recommendations
Most, but not all, colleges bad explosionproof refrigerators, but, in general, these were filled with non-volatile chemicals. Chemicals were usuallv undated so that it was imoossib k t,ensurt that old supplirq were urtd lirst. Sinks were d t c n cluttered. faucers lcnkrd, and exits were unrnnrkrd. One college had kiek-out panels for emergency use in small laboratories with only one exit, but these were not obvious or marked and about half the time were physically blocked. Stools sometimes filled aisles in laboratories and created an obstacle course. Although this practice was admitted by the instructors to be unsafe, the stools were not removed because of the students' resistance to standing through a threeor four-hour laboratory period. Large solvent cans were not grounded when the contents were dispensed. Belts on vanrum pumps were not always shielded, nor were vacuum systems adequately protected.
Safety Education Safety education on all levels needed improvement. Three colleges gave formal training in labaratory safety and only two colleges involved students on the safety committees. Too often the inspectors observed students in unsafe situations (bath
there is a need for substantial improvement in the academic area. The eleven inspected colleges are not isolated eases but are probably quite representative of the group. Even though we urofess a sineere interest in laborat"; safe& we fall into the t r m of the "status quo." In some cases this is due to inertia or a feeling that our practices are adequate. In other eases we recognize the need for improvement but are unable to find the money to bring ahout the necessary changes. However. an unbiased insneetion. nreferablv hv nn e&rnal aeencv witha kna&dee of the provement. Three members of our group of inspectors teach at colleges which were visited by other committee members, and they all found that new eyes caught several points the" had overlooked. w e aueeest that each ehemistrv denartand handling is a serious problem, particu-
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Number 1
January 1982
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lady when facilities are limited and relatively inexperienced students are involved in preparing and dispensing materials. Since storage space is usually limited, no more than a "ear's suoolv of mast chemicals should he ,~~~ kept an hand at any time. In the ease of hazardous materials, even this is probably too great a quantity. Hoods should be checked and the correct sash height indicated. An inexpensive vaneometer is available from Lab Safety Supply Co.3 to cheek their performance. Safety showers and eye washes should be checked semi-annually. Ace Scientific Supply Co.4 and General Scientific Equipment Co.' have eye wash units that can be easily plumbed into regular faucets without interfering with normal use. These are comparable to more expensive, free-standing models and preferable to the portable units. Smoke and fire detectors are a necessity, as are adequate fire extinguishers. Wooden solvent safety cabinets can he custom-built to OSHA standards by a good carpenter for far less than the cost of the commercial units. It is a little-known fact that wooden cabinets are better protection than metal cabinets in case of fire because of the insulating properties of the wood.6 Mare effort has to be made to adequately educate our students in safety. A safety quiz ~
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might he made mandatory before a student is allowed into the lahoratmv: .. one eolleee - we inspected used a computer-generated safety quiz for this purpose. Finally, a safety library should he sssembled and placed where it can he used by all in the department. This library should include, at a minimum:
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CMA recently puhlished a statement that it has discontinued its technical ~uhlieations series and that any copies should be destroyed "as the information .may he outof-date and should not he relied on as currently valid" (11). A telephone call t o CMA confirmed that this includes the waste disposal manual, although it was not specifically named in the disclaimer since the last edition was puhlished in 1974
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1. "Safety in Academic Chemistry Labo-
ratories" ( I ) , A.C.S. publication 2. "Safety in the Chemical Laboratory," Vol. 1-3 (3)by N. Steere and Vol. 4 hy M. Renfrew 3. "Handbook of Laboratory Safety" (4) by N. Steere 4. "Safety in Working with Chemicals" ( 5 ) by M. Green and A. Turk 5. "The Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards" (6) by L. Bretherick 6. "The Merek Index" (7) 7. "Prudent Practices for Handline Hazardous Chemicals in ~ahoratories(9)hy NAS/NRC 8. "Hazards in the Chemical Laboratory" (10) hy L. Bretherick
Acknowledgment We thank the New York section of the American Chemical Society for its help, both financial and moral, insetting up the Safety Committee and suooortine its work. We also
A book that would previously have been recommended for inclusions in this library is the "Laboratory Waste Dispaal Manual" (8) nublished hv CMA. the Chemical Manufac-
Literature Cited (1) "Safety in Academic C h t r y Laboratories," 3rd d , American Chemical Soeiety Committee on Chemical Safety, Washington,D.C., 1979. (2) Safety c a m i t t e e of the New York Section of the Amexiean Chemical sowety, "Laboratory safety I: Guidelinesfor aComplebSsfety Audit i n thechamieal Laboratory." J. CHEM EDUC.,58.AW0 (1981). (3) S h e , N. V.,d.,"S&tyin theChedealL~bobotory." Division of Chemical Education of t h e Ameriean ChemiealSaeiety,Easton, PA, 1987 ff, Vol. 13. ( I ) Steers. N.V.,"Handbook of LaboratorySsfety,"2nd 4..CRC Publishing Co., Cievcbnd, OH, 1971. (5) Green, M. E., and Turk, A., "Safety i n Working with Chemicals," Maonillan Publishing Co., New York, .a"* a".".
(6) Bmtherick, L., "Hsndbwk of Reactive Chemical Hazarde," 2nd d,Butternorth Publishing Co.. wobum, MA, 1979. (7) "The Merck Index." 9th ed., Merek 8 Co., Rahww, N1.1976. (8) "Laboratory WaateDispasalMaoual."Manufsetvring Chemists h e i a t i o n (CMA), Waahiogton, D.C., 1974. (9) NASrnRC, "Prudent Prseticea for Handling Hasrdou C h e m i d in~boboton~s."NationalAcad~my Press, W>on,DC, 1981. (10) Bretherick, L . (Editor), '-H-dE in the Chemical Laboratory,"3rdEd.,The RoyalSoeietyof Ch-try, London, 1981. 57.350 (1980). (11) J. CHEM. EDOC.,
This paper is based in pan on a paper presentedat Ihe National Meeting of h e Americanchemical Society in New York City, August 1981. 1 Powere. R. (Chairman mraugh June 1981). Beim, H.. D'Angelo. G., Gracian, D., Redden, P.. Shine, R.. Shumik. A.. and Uriarte. R. Conespandence Jhould be s d b w D h.P. Redden, Depmment of Chemishy. St. Peter's College, J e w y C'ty. N.J. 07306 (chairman of Safety Committee beginning July 1981). Lab Safety Supply Co.. P.O. Box 1368. Janesville. WI 53545: Catslocl number 1170M. 'Ace Scientific Supply Co., P.O. Box 127, Linden, N.J. 07038: Catslog number 13-9642-01. 5GBneral Scientific Equipment Co.. Limekiln Pike and Williamo A m Philsdeiohia. PA 19150 "Kleen Eves" lna
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~ederalRegister, 39,No. 125,June 27, 1974: Steers (3).-Safety invo1. 1. pp. 4&47.
