From: "Paul Harrison"Date: April 7, 2006 9:07:49 AM EDT Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Spill kit portable vs. fixed I don't have a lot of experience with HF, but should point out, as a chemist, first that there is NO WAY that fluorine gas could be evolved from HF; just think about your level I redox chemistry. Second, I would imagine that calcium carbonate or hydroxide is a good idea because CaF2 is insoluble in the water that would be used for clean-up (it is the natural rock form of fluorine: fluorite, as I recall). Using sodium carbonate would generate NaF which by contrast is water-soluble, and thus harder to dispose. Presumably, another feature of calcium salts is that the excess spill agent is also water-insoluble, as opposed to sodium salts. Best, Paul Harrison
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