Chemical Forums

Specialty Chemistry Forums => Chemical Education and Careers => Topic started by: blackcat on October 10, 2019, 02:28:38 PM

Title: Let's share lessons about chemical accidents
Post by: blackcat on October 10, 2019, 02:28:38 PM
I know this is a scary topic, yet I think we will all learn from it.

Here I would like to ask you to share incidents of chemical accidents that you know. It can be your personal story (if you work in the lab as PhD students or professionals) or any well-known chemical disasters.

Please try to bring up lessons as to how we can do better to prevent these accidents.
Title: Re: Let's share lessons about chemical accidents
Post by: kriggy on January 07, 2020, 08:05:06 AM
IMO the most famous from recent times
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheri_Sangji_case

Title: Re: Let's share lessons about chemical accidents
Post by: billnotgatez on January 07, 2020, 04:30:20 PM
In the past we have had several threads about this topic.
If I have time later I will post some of the links when searching on our forum search (see menu above) using the word
Quote
accident
.

I can remember one that was about a woman getting a very small drop of organic mercury compound which led to death even when she was very well protected.

I have found several but not the one I am looking for
here are 2 threads
Chemical Forums >Specialty Chemistry Forums >Citizen Chemist >Accidents in the lab
https://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=662.0 (https://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=662.0)
Chemical Forums >General Forums >Generic Discussion >Chemistry accidents
https://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=8695.0 (https://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=8695.0)


Title: Re: Let's share lessons about chemical accidents
Post by: kriggy on January 08, 2020, 04:36:39 AM
Quote from: billnotgatez on January 07, 2020, 04:30:20 PM

I can remember one that was about a woman getting a very small drop of organic mercury compound which led to death even when she was very well protected.


Yeah, that was pretty mindblowing incident tbh. Not really a nice death.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Wetterhahn
Title: Re: Let's share lessons about chemical accidents
Post by: blackcat on January 08, 2020, 05:51:53 PM
Quote from: kriggy on January 07, 2020, 08:05:06 AM
IMO the most famous from recent times
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheri_Sangji_case

This case is actually a very famous one. Many people think the prime cause is lack of PPE (i.e. lab coat). It is true, however, in my opinion, the inexperience of using syringe for air-sensitive reagent is the real cause. The student was only an undergraduate, who should never be let alone to deal with such reagent as tert-butyllithium.
Title: Re: Let's share lessons about chemical accidents
Post by: blackcat on January 08, 2020, 05:54:21 PM
Quote from: billnotgatez on January 07, 2020, 04:30:20 PM
In the past we have had several threads about this topic.
If I have time later I will post some of the links when searching on our forum search (see menu above) using the word
Quote
accident
.

I can remember one that was about a woman getting a very small drop of organic mercury compound which led to death even when she was very well protected.

I have found several but not the one I am looking for
here are 2 threads
Chemical Forums >Specialty Chemistry Forums >Citizen Chemist >Accidents in the lab
https://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=662.0 (https://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=662.0)
Chemical Forums >General Forums >Generic Discussion >Chemistry accidents
https://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=8695.0 (https://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=8695.0)

I cannot remember the full details but the story of mercury posioning is also a famous story. I remember she was a professor and she made significant progress in organomercury chemistry.

It is that her gloves did not protect her from organomercury stuff.
Title: Re: Let's share lessons about chemical accidents
Post by: billnotgatez on January 09, 2020, 04:07:13 PM
@kamiyu2550

Did you read the WIKI link provided by @kriggy about Karen Wetterhahn?