DOES YOUR SCHOOL’S CHEMISTRY LAB HAVE AN ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN?

A UCLA chemistry professor has been charged in the death of a research assistant in an accident in a UCLA chemistry lab in 2008. His arraignment is set for April 11th. If convicted, the professor could go to prison for 4 ½ years. The Regents face a fine of $1.5M for each of the 3 counts of “willfully violating occupational health and safety standards”. CAL OSHA has already fined the school nearly $32,000.

CAL OSHA stated that the assistant lacked proper training; that she was neither experienced nor well trained to handle the chemicals that killed her. They further stated that the professor failed to make mandatory the use of PPE; the assistant was not wearing a lab coat.

The charges are believed to be the first arising from an academic lab accident in the US.

The report also stated that UCLA failed to address previous safety lapses, and had ”wholly neglected its legal obligations”.

The chancellor for legal affairs stated the assistant was well trained and experienced and had performed the experiment safely before, and chose not to wear protective gear.

Think about that statement for a moment--- at 23 years of age, how “well- trained and experienced” could she have been?

The research assistant was transferring about 1.8 ounces of t- butyl lithium from one sealed container to another when the plastic syringe came apart in her hands, spewing the chemical compound that ignites when exposed to the air. She was wearing a synthetic sweater that caught fire and melted onto her skin. She died 18 days later.

A brief internet search showed surprising results for the number and types of academic laboratory accidents that have occurred within the last few years.

Here are a few examples:

• September 2011: University of Maryland: A small explosion in a chemistry lab sent 2 students to the hospital after the experiment blew up, causing a fire in the fume hood. The students received first degree burns and lacerations. They were using nitric acid and sulfuric acid. It was assumed during the investigation that followed that there was an incompatible substance in the waste container that reacted with the acids.

• November 2011: Southwest Community College, Memphis: An explosion sent 3 students and their professor to the hospital. The explosion was caused by mixing the chemicals phosphoric acid and 2- methyl- cyclohexanol. They all suffered burns and severe cuts. There were 12 students in the lab at the time.

• January 2010: Texas Tech: A graduate student worker was injured in an explosion. She lost 3 fingers and suffered serious eye damage while working with a potentially explosive chemical compound. This experiment using energized materials was being conducted under a funding agreement with the Department of Homeland Security. The student had set out to produce 1o grams of an explosive compound which was 100 times more than an informal lab limit. The student crushed a shock- sensitive material in a mortar and pestle! The experiments for Homeland Security did not come with any safety training guidelines.

• June 2011: Boston College: A chemistry student was injured when her experiment exploded. She received cuts to her face and burns to her hands. She compounded the problem when she went home to clean up. HazMat crews then had to decontaminate her car and her apartment. The chemical she was using- thionyl chloride- can be used to make mustard gas and nerve toxins. She was working alone in the lab, because there were no specific guidelines that prohibited this activity.

• University of Missouri: Four students were badly injured in a hydrogen explosion.

• October 2011: University of Florida: A student was injured after an explosion and chemical spill. He suffered cuts to his face and hands. Another student in the lab suffered hearing loss after the explosion.

• 2009: Genoa, Ill: Several students sitting in the front row in a classroom were severely injured when an experiment on the teacher’s desk blew up sending an alcohol- fueled fireball into the classroom. One student had burns over 50% of her body- and her jeans melted to her skin. One boy had the skin on his face peel off.

• 2007: Michigan: At two high schools 40 miles apart 2 experiments using methyl alcohol caused fires in the labs causing severe burns. One student has undergone 8 skin grafts. Methyl alcohol experiments have caused fires in schools in California, Texas, Wisconsin and Washington State.

An Associated Press article referring a Drake University Study showed that as many as 55-65% of North Carolina chemistry teachers have never been trained in safety.

A USA TODAY article stated that there have been similar accidents and even death at 120 school labs in the past 10 years. The Department of Homeland Security has a $3.5 M project to study explosives detection at 12 universities. The project came with no safety-related requirements.

James Kaufman with the Laboratory Safety Institute stated that lab accidents at schools and colleges happen 10-50 times more frequently than in the chemical Industry.

How would your School/ College Labs measure up? Are there safety procedures in place? Has everyone been trained and tested on the safety procedures? How about chemical storage? Are incompatible items stored together? Are they stored alphabetically? Do you allow students/ research assistants to ignore safety Personal Protective Equipment rules? Are students/ assistants observed and supervised?

THIS IS YOUR WAKE-UP CALL!