Dear AMMRL members,
Given the recent question about biohazards I would like expand upon this
and bring up chemical hazards and/or radioactive materials.
We had an incident that resulted in a loss time accident from chemical
exposure. The compound was decaborane. It was being analyzed to verify
that it was supplied as the 10B isotope. The group needed to lift it off
of a surface and asked for a good polar NMR solvent and DMSO was suggested
by a member of the facility. The graduate student prepared the sample and
let it stand for about an hour. At that time we picked the sample up for
analysis but it was capped and was noticeably bubbling. The member of the
facility asked about the bubbles and was told it was just Hydrogen gas and
took the sample to an open bench and pierced the cap. The tube actively
vented for a short period of time and an odd odor was noticed. (If the
toxicity had been stated this tube never would have been vented on an open
bench.) After attempting to run the sample for a while the person noticed
an odd feeling and we went to the PI's office and started to try to
determine what might have vented other than Hydrogen gas. At that point
the possibility of much more toxic decomposition products came up.
In retrospect any mention of borane or silane should raise a flag, but at
the same time when someone hands us an NMR tube that contains a highly
toxic sample it seems obvious that they should actively inform us of that.
It is now painfully obvious that any unexpected reaction (color change,
gas emission, thermal changes, etc) should result in the tube being
returned to a hood immediately, especially with a hazardous compound.
The vendors have sheets to cover possible contamination for returned
probes. Does anyone have a written policy for all users that requires
them to alert the facility personnel of the fact that they are running or
submitting highly toxic compounds? During the interview with the workers
compensation agent I quickly realized that having an unwritten policy that
people should notify us of hazardous samples seemed totally indefensible.
To summarize:
Do you have a written policy on hazardous samples?
Do you require that all PI’s sign a form stating they understand and
accept the policy?
Are you using special sample fixtures like the Teflon chambers for toxic
samples?
Would you normally do a literature search in choosing a solvent?
Thanks in advance for your replies. I will remove identifying information
and post a summary of responses.
Regards,
Joe
______________________________________
Joe Dumais, Ph. D.
Associate Research Professor
Director of Research Instrumentation Facility
Department of Chemistry / University of Nebraska Lincoln
834 Hamilton Hall / PO Box 880304
Lincoln, NE 68588-0304
Phone (402) 472 6255 / Fax (402) 472 9402
http://www.chem.unl.edu
Received on Wed Oct 20 2010 - 07:20:14 MST