reply-type=response

I know this is going to get me in trouble, but you are so right about the 
heat of neutralization.  In my youth we had a compost pile in an old 
porcelin sink and one of my roommates put a bunch of rotten meat into it. 
Well, the maggots came in a big way.  I, being the brilliant know-it-all 
that I was, decided I would get rid of an old bottle of muratic acid whose 
label was falling off by dumping it into the compost.  Well, the maggots 
swelled up to about quadruple their normal size and these super maggots 
started to leave the tub.  It was getting real scary.  So, I decided to 
neutralize the "broth" with some sodium bicarbonate, and yep, that cooked 
em.

I am now a wiser person and do know better than to dispose of muratic acid 
by pouring it into a tub full of maggots.

Cheers, it's Friday the 13th.

Bob

Dr. Robert E. Belford
Department of Chemistry
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
www.ualr.edu/rebelford
(501)569-8824
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Undergraduate CHEM Lab Safety" 
To: 
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 10:17 PM
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Undergraduate Accident

> We have a photograph of the scar that remains from an acid spill being 
> neutralized with bicarbonate on skin - thermal burn (heat of 
> neutralization) on top of chemical burn. Man with the scar says it seemed 
> like a good idea at the time.
>
> Wash with running water, 15 minutes: dilute the corrosive, wash it away & 
> cool the irritated skin. No scrubbing; no soap; no brushes; don't do 
> chemistry on your skin.
>
> Sheila M. Kennedy, CHO
> Safety Coordinator
> Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories
> Chemistry & Biochemistry, UCSanDiego
> (858) 534-0221
>
>
> Edward Senkbeil wrote:
>> Recently we had an accident in the general chemistry lad where a student
>> spilled some 4.0M NaoH on her wrist.
>> The protocol we have followed in the past is to wash with water for 15
>> minutes and then send to the University Health Center.  We. normally
>> follow the protocol to "Protect, but not treat".  The skin was slightly
>> red due to the spill.
>>
>> When the student reached (was escorted to) the Health Center, they said
>> they could not treat chemical burns.
>> They wanted to send her to the hospital emergency room, but the student
>> didn't go because of lack of insurance.
>>
>> Three days after the accident, the student's wrist still has a few pink
>> spots.
>>
>> The questions are:
>>
>> 1. Should we (lab instructors) treat by neutralizing the base with
>> something llike vinega, rather than just washing?
>>
>> 2. Who should be responsible (or maybe liable) for appropriate
>> treatment?  Howd do university health centers handle someting like this
>> incident at other universities?
>>
>> Thanks for any information,
>> Ed Senkbeil
>> Chemistry Department
>> Salisbury University
>>
>
> -- 
> Sheila M. Kennedy, CHO
> Safety Coordinator
> Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories
> Chemistry & Biochemistry, UCSanDiego
> (858) 534-0221 

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