Monona,
I
too was ‘confused?’ when I read the headlines this morning.
My first thought when I read the first one you mentioned was that there
must have been a drum of nitric spilled to warrant a hazmat team and evacuation
of the building. The second story said maybe a liter of acid was
spilled. This certainly would not warrant such a response. Did you
notice that it supposedly took 23 firefighters just to neutralize the spill?
(That part sounds like a “How many _____does it take to change a light
bulb?” joke.) As for the part about melting the Cu tubing…..
Give me a break. Nitric will react with Cu. Maybe some nitric
splashed on some tubing, but this would not be a melting. Neutralization reactions
are exothermic, but the melting point of Cu is over 1000 C! It
would be interesting to know what really happened.
Safety
is of utmost importance. That is a given. However, part of working
safely is not just recognizing when there is some danger, but recognizing the
degree. It’s like the old joke about what do you get when you try
to use a sledge hammer to kill a fly? A happy fly and a hole in the
wall. The headlines are full of over-reactions. Some say better
safe than sorry, but you then end up with students, and others, who can’t
recognize true danger. This is when things can go very wrong, as we have seen.
Kay
From: DCHAS-L Discussion
List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of ACTSNYC**At_Symbol_Here**CS.COM
Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2011 10:22 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Chemical Safety headlines from Google (24
articles)
OK,
Class. Which of these two completely different stories is true?
Monona
TUCSON FIRE: UA STUDENT TAKES QUICK ACTION IN ACID SPILL
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/education/college/tucson-fire-ua-student-takes-quick-action-in-acid-spill/article_0f4d2ab0-fea1-11e0-aa8c-001cc4c03286.html
A quick-thinking UA student threw sodium bicarbonate on a chemical spill ina
science lab Monday, which helped prevent any injuries.
Tucson Fire Department firefighters responded to the spill involving nitric
acid shortly after noon at the Shantz Building and had the incident under
control at 1:44 p.m., Tucson Fire Capt. Jeff Langejans said.
Four students were in the lab in the 1100 block of East Fourth Street when the
spill occurred, Langejans said. One student threw the sodium bicarbonate onthe
nitric acid, and then pulled the fire alarm.
SNIP
ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT : NITRIC ACID SPILL FORCES EVACUATION OF SHANTZ
http://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/index.php/article/2011/10/nitric_acid_spill_forces_evacuation_of_shantz
A spilled container of nitric acid forced the evacuation of the Shantz building
on Monday. Officers on scene said no one was hurt in the accident.
The spill occurred when a glass container filled with nitric acid dropped and
broke. According to Tucson Fire Prevention Capt. Jeff Langejans, someone tried
to neutralize the spill with sodium bicarbonate, causing an exothermic reaction
that melted the copper piping on compressed air containers in the lab.
SNIP
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