e d i t e d by MALCOLMM. RENFREW University of idaho
Moscow,idaho 83843
Safety Concepts for Undergraduate Chemistry Laboratories Frank L. Chlad and James K. Hardy University of Akron,
Akron,
OH 44325
Designing safety into your undergraduate chemistry teaching laboratories involves a great deal more than a few well-placed fire extineuishers and a sign that indicates safetv "~ goggles must he worn. I t requires a careful and thorough examination of the total concept of chemical safety from a logistical standpoint, with a complete overview of what happens to a chemical from the time it is received a t your loading dock, until it is ultimatelv consumed. or dis~osed o.f ns a-~waste. .~In all too many laboratories, a chemical ordered for a particular teaching laboratory is received and placed in that teaching laboratory until it is used. Each undergraduate labor&ry thus becomes a mini-stockroom with few control procedures. Quite often, particularly in the case of the undergraduate organic laboratories, the toxic or noxious chemicals are stored in hoods (of which there are normally not a sufficient number), and the hoods become "storage" areas rather than "work" areas. This practice can be extremely dangerous in that it greatly reduces the working space, restricts proper air flow, and in the event of a minor fire or explosion, can turn a small problem into a disaster because of the incompatibility of the chemicals stored within the hood. Another situation that occurs frequently is that of changing experimentsor laboratory manuals in a course. Many chemicals that are no longer needed as a result of the change continue t o be stored in the laboratory with the thought that they undoubtedly will be used "sometime" in the future. This causes ~~~~~
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Frank L. Chlad is a member of the faculty in the department of Chemistry at the University of Akron and serves as Administrative Officer. He is also the University Director of Chemicai Disposal. He is a member of the Chemical Health &Safety division of the American Chemical Society and serves on the Chemical Protection committee for his local Akron section. He is also vice-president of the Campus Health & Safety section of the Industrial Commission of Ohio. He is active as a consultant in the area of laboratory design and safety and has assisted in the design of many chemistry facilities throughout the United States. For the past five years he has conducted the annual Chemical Safety Symposium series at the University of Akron and has received a special award from the governor of the State of Ohio for his eflolls in the area of chemical safety.
costly disposal situation. The Department of Chemistry a t the University of Akron has adopted a policy that has worked exceedingly well. Absolutely no chemicals are stored in the undergraduate lahoratories. Instead, the department has several dispensing stockrooms which service the various teaching laboratories by means of a "cart" system. The system works in the follawing manner. The chemical storekeeper in charge of the dispensing stockroom requisitions those items and chemicals which will Volume
James K. Hardy received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University in 1981 and is an assistant professor of chemistry at the University ol Akron. An analytical chemist, Dr. Hardy's research interests are pollution sampling and monitoring; heavy metal uptake by aquatic plants; and computer applications to chemical education and safety. He is a member of the American Chemical Society.
he needed for the following weeks laboratories from the mainchemical storage area. He. by the labs. These items are placed on laboratory carts, each identified hy the course and room number, and they are picked up at the dispensing stockroom by the graduate teaching assistants five minutes prior to the actual start of the laboratory period. These materials are wheeled into the individual labs
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60 Number 4
April
1983
A117
and are then issued to the students. At the end of the lahoratory period any unused materials or waste is put back onto the cart and it is then returned to the dispensing stockroom.
Several things are accomplished by utilizing this system. There is a high degree of control exercised over the use of the chemicals, our laboratory maintenance is excellent due to the absence of chemicals in the rooms when they are not actually in use, and we are also able to analyze accurately the cost of operatian far each course. In addition, we have an uncluttered laboratory with no storage problems, we have greatly reduced the possibility of anyone using the wrong chemical, we have eliminated pilferage or unauthorized use of anv chemical. and mast important of all, it is a very safe and efficient method of operation.
Our philosophy is based on the premise that chemistry departments should have a safe, well-designed chemical storage facility with all the necessary safety features, and i t is only common sense to store the department chemicals in that area for as long a period of time as possible prior to their actual use.
Another extremely important aspect of chemical safety is that of assuring proper ventilation. Our new undergraduate organic chemistry laboratories were designed without conventional laharatory benches. Instead, each lab has 16 8-ft fume hoods a t which the students do all their work. The lab is flameless, the Bunsen burners having been replaced with steam baths, heating mantles, and hot plates. We have also converted over to 19/22 standard taper, semi-micro glass^ ware in an effort to "scale-down" our experiments. Having the students work with smaller amounts of material has not only made the lab safer, but much more economical as well.
The concept that all chemical work must he performed in acontrolled environment is also carried out at the introductory chemistry level. There are eight introductory chemistry lahoratories arraneed in four blocks of two. the two heing separated by sliding pocket doors a t the endof each aisle. Eachlahoratory thus has four exits and prevents anyone from heing trapped at the end of an aisle should an emergency occur. A laboratory has 24 student stations, each one with a bench top "T"-type hood. The hood has an adjustable baffle to allow for the removal of vapors either heavier or hghter than air. Each laboratory has, in addition, an induced-air fume hood from which chemicals are dispensed during each laboratory period. A118
Journal of Chemical Education
E w h UI rhr ldlr )ratcnr$ ha: .I l & v i ~ i m w n which ~ ~ is ~tilivcdI S , p r e ~ n r,4 I J 1 5 - ~ n 1 1p~ .n h h in~truclhrn.ryrnrn1 p r : ~r tm, the students beginning their experiments. This pre-lab tape contains instructions for any set-ups or apparatus, as well as a thorough explanation of any safety precautions which must he taken. Since all students view this t a m the aafetv information is nresented n
undergraduate student receives a copy ofthe department rules to he followed in the laboratories. The student then signs a card (which is kept on file) which indicates that they have read. understand. and aeree to follow these
what the rules were.
The department has amandatory rule requiring the wearing of safety goggles in the laboratories. The goggles are the flexible, fog-free type with lenses that can he replaced. These goggles are the type specified by the American National Standards Institute Practice for Occupational Safety and Educational Eye and Face Protection. The department also has a policy which prohihits the wearing of contact lenses in the laboratory (even if goggles are worn over them). Enforcement of the rule requiring the wearing of safety goggles is strictly enforced. Students are given one warning, and should a second violation of this rule occur, the student is excused from the lahoratory and is given a lab grade of "O" for that day. Students are also required to keeplong hair tied hack, not to wear any dangling jewelry, and to wear proper footwear. (Nu sandals or thongs are allowed)
A moeram eurrentlv under develanment
disk contains all programs needed to system operation. Information pertaining to the individual lahoratory courses is stored on secondary "lab" disks. This allows the operator to work with different courses simply by changing this disk. Lab disks contain information on all experiments done in a lab program or those scheduled t o be done. By experiment name, the following data are stored: Chemicals and expendables and amount per student required, special equipment needed, stockroom preparations, general safety precautions, chemical spill and disposal procedures, and any notes recorded when the experiment was last run. The "master" disk has a chemicallsupply database which contains information about all chemicals and expendahles used by the stockrooms. Each item in the datahase contains the following information: Our internal chemical stores stock numher, item name, unit amount, and aseries of numerical codes. The codes are a modification of those adopted by the National Fire Protection Association and are used to represent various chemical and physical properties as well as degrees of hazard. (NFPA codes No. 49 and 325M)
The programming available allows for searching and editing these databases as well as projecting future chemical and expendable needs. The two programs most routinely used are "LABPREP" and "SAFETY." "LABPREP" is run prior to preparing for any expenment. By entering the experiment name and the numher of students m the lab course, a printout is produced which contains the following information: Any special lah preparations and equipment needed, types of unknowns used (if any), general safety, spill, and disposal procedures, and any notes that have been recorded. A list of all chemicals and expendables is then produced with the total quantities needed. Before printing out a chemml, its hazard ratings are checked. The hazard ratings are based on flammability, reactivity, and health effects, all on a 0-4 scale. If any of these ratings is 2 or greater, the word "HAZARD" is printed next to the chemical name. At the end of the listing, if any hazards have been identified, the operator is advised to run "SAFETY."By running this program, the operator can obtain a more complete listing of the hazards involved. This can be done for any one chemical or for an entire experiment. This information can then be distributed to all laboratory instructors who inturn will inform the students of any possible dangers. By making all persons involved in the lahoratory program aware of any chemical hazards, serious problems can he averted.
In addition to the above, the authors have copflighted a software program in order to assist those persons who are responsible for the procurement, storage, and disposal of chemicals. This program is called "CHEMI DAT" O. Prim to this time, a person who needed information about a certain chemical had to refer to a myriad of source material. This program now consolidates and correlates these many segments and individual pieces of information into one comprehensive data base which can be easily utilized by a person using modern computer methods. The initial look-up and identification of the compound will he the first procedure. The system will search for the substance either by actual name, synonyms, partial name, molecular formula, E.P.A. number, U.N. (D.O.T.) number, or chemical abstract registry. After locating the chemical, the system will then instruct the operator and provide the following data: Name, synonyms, molecular formula, E.P.A., U.N. (D.O.T.), and C.A.S.
extinguishing procedure, spill control, personal urutective eauiument reauired. rec.. ommended storage procedures, and disposal methods. Hard copy can be generated if desired. A successful program of total chemical safety requires a full-time effort on the part of everyone in your department. Safety is not an item that can he "emphasized" far a few weeks and then forgotten until the next accident or incident occurs. A lasting cammittment needs to he made in order to insure rethat your laboratories hecome-and main-a safe place in which to teach and learn. Volume 60
Number 4
Aoril 1983
A119
