I thought I would send this to the list outside the digest, since this sounds a larger than average lab waste explosion, although the cause is familiar...it's a good reminder for waste segregation trainings.

- Ralph

Acid explosion injures chemistry students

A student was seriously injured and 15 others also hurt when the left-overs of a chemical experiment exploded after they were mistakenly mixed together at a German university.

The 24-year-old student was hit by flying glass and breathed in poisonous chemicals which are thought to have caused a lung embolism, police in Karlsruhe said on Thursday.

The organic chemistry students were clearing up after an afternoon's lab work in the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT) on Wednesday when a mix of nitric acid and sulphuric acid came into contact with an organic chemical.

The glass beaker containing the left-over acids exploded, scattering acid, poisonous fumes and pieces of glass across the laboratory. Police estimated that around =8010,000-worth of damage was caused.

All those in the lab inhaled the gases, which led to some breathing difficulties, police said in a statement. The 24-year-old student was seriously hurt and was taken to accident and emergency at the local hospital.

The others were taken to various hospitals nearby for examination, as was a firefighter who suffered a chemical eye injury.

The building was evacuated while firefighters carried out tests for chemicals, but found no danger. Karlsruhe police were on Thursday collecting evidence to establish what had happened, but there was no immediate suspicion of foul play, a spokeswoman told The Local.

Ralph Stuart

secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org

Secretary

Division of Chemical Health and Safety

American Chemical Society