Organic Laboratory Safety Notes

This site is presented under the auspices of:

The Department of Chemistry

at the

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

with major funding from

The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation

New York, NY

Personal Safety Equipment

Safety Glasses/Goggles:

The following is NOT proper. Eye protection must cover the eyes, not the chest or forehead.

Laboratory Safety Equipment

• Fire Extinguishers:

  Know the two types of fire extinguishers. In this case, the yellow extinguisher is "dry chemical powder". The red extinguisher is "carbon dioxide". Carbon dioxide extinguishers are much preferred (powder extinguishers make an incredible mess). Aviod shooting a fellow human being with powder (the powder gets in the eye and causes eye irritation).

  BUT, in some cases, "powder" extinguishers are also red, so READ THE TAG to know what you are using.

  

• Safety Showers:

  If you or a labmate is on fire -- go (or direct him/her) to the entrance doorway to the lab. Find and pull the brass ring. Many gallons of water will be dumped from the shower on the ceiling to extinguish the blaze instantly.

  

• Eyewash Fountains:

  If you get a chemical in your eye -- wash it out immediately! Use the eyewash fountains (but run some water through before you wash your eye). Retract your eyelid (do not squint -- it restricts water access). Afterward, go to your school's health center. Take your lab book so that the personnel can know with what you were working at the time of the accident.

  

General Safety Concerns

• No eating or drinking in the lab!

  

• Don't point reaction tubes at your neighbor, or yourself. Something may splatter out.

  

  Here's a better solution.

  

• A messy work area is often a safety hazard!

  

• Never heat ORGANIC LIQUIDS with a Bunsen burner. A fire will always result. Use a Bunsen burner for aqueous solutions only.

  

• Heating of ORGANIC LIQUIDS with a HOT PLATE is also a fire danger. Organic vapors are heavier than air; they drop down to near the heating coils under the plate. Use a SAND BATH, or STEAM BATH, or HEATING MANTLE to heat organics.

  

• Steam Bath: Steam baths are gentle ways of heating organics. Turn them on strongly, until they get going (it often takes a while), then reduce the volume of the steam. Then place your flask on the steam bath. You don't need huge volumes of steam (in this illustration -- too much steam is being applied -- KEEP it DOWN!).

  

• Don't plug heating mantles directly into the wall socket (110 V). They will quickly burn out.

  

• Do plug heating mantles into the TRIAC (or transformer, if your lab has one). Then, dial up the voltage you need (1 - 10 = approximately 10 V to 110 V).

  

• Read the experimental procedure ahead of lab. An unprepared student is a danger to him/herself and TO OTHERS.

  

• This could be what happens, if your mind is not on what you are doing.

  

• Broken Glass: DON'T throw broken glass into the waste basket.

  

  DO use a special thick-walled container for broken glass. (If you don't happen to have one, an old milk carton is a good substitute.

  

• Floods: Make sure CONDENSER HOSES go into the drain! Only a trickle of water is necessary, not a rushing stream of water.

  

  This illustration shows the hose properly situated in the drain. It may also be necessary to loosely attach a clamp to it, so that it does not "hop" out.

  

Safe Chemical Disposal Procedures

• Use the proper disposal jugs located in the hood: the ACETONE jug for acetone; the ORGANICS jugs for other organic solvents (or organic solids); the ACID jug for acids such as H₂SO₄; the BASE jug for bases such as NaOH solutions or ammonia solutions. If in doubt, ASK YOUR TA!
• Absolutely DO NOT dump things down the drain, unless the procedure specifically says to do so.


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Safe Laboratory Instrumentation Procedures

• Certain equipment, such as this gas chromatograph, have very hot elements (e.g., the injector). This person is about to burn his left forefinger.

  

• This person is about to burn his noe on the vertical metallic plate of this melting point apparatus.

  

• When removing a thermometer from the melting point apparatus -- LIFT STRAIGHT UP!

  

  If you attempt to remove the thermometer at an angle, it will snap off. If the mercury bulb falls into the melting point apparatus and breaks, the mercury will vaporize on the hot chamber. The entire lab will have to be evacuated.

  

Have a Safe Semester!

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Credits: Jeff Woodford, design

Dave Kurk and Jody Anderson, players

Professor C. A. Kingsbury, Faculty Advisor, UN-L