Good morning everybody:

 

Whenever an incident like this is reported, we all find ourselves asking, "haven't we sent this message before loud and clear?  Another fireball, another flashback, more injuries.  Who isn't hearing this message?" 

 

Maybe we need to have a discussion with the press.  Reading this article, if I were an outside observer, I'd say this was an "experiment gone wrong."  In fact, it was a stunt that should never have been done in the first place.  

 

The press reports these things in vague terms at first--especially if an investigation is in process--they aren't given sufficient information.  However, when more facts come to light, I wonder if they have a person knowledgeable about the science contributing to the story.  I'd love to see ACS draft a procedure giving guidelines to reporters covering a story involving a chemical accident.  Sometimes the reports give incorrect information or minimize the importance of what could be a true cautionary tale.  

 

Eddie McGrath

 

Edward J. McGrath

Science Supervisor

Red Clay Consolidated School District

1502 Spruce Avenue

Wilmington DE  19805

 

(302) 552-3768

 

We did not inherit the Earth from our ancestors.  We borrowed it from our children.

 

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From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU> on behalf of Mark Pichaj <mark.pichaj**At_Symbol_Here**BIOLA.EDU>
Sent: Friday, November 24, 2017 1:52 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] 'Large fireball' injures students in chemistry experiment gone wrong

 

Friends,

 

   What really frosts my jets (in addition to the injuries, of course, and the bad name given to chem demos) is the lack of details in the news release.  I want to know exactly what they were doing, and exactly what went wrong, so I can exactly not do that in the future myself.  I can guess that it might have been a flame-test demonstration of various salts...but am not sure how that could go wrong.  Details, please!

 

 

yours,

Mark

 

 

Mark Adolf Pichaj  •  Assistant Professor  •  Department of Chemistry, Physics & Engineering  •  Bradley 2  •  x4866

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BIOLA  UNIVERSITY  •  13800 Biola Avenue  •  La Mirada, Calif.  90639  •  562-903-4866  •  mark.pichaj**At_Symbol_Here**biola.edu

 

 

On Thu, Nov 23, 2017 at 6:28 AM, Samuella B. Sigmann <sigmannsb**At_Symbol_Here**appstate.edu> wrote:

..."150 between 1998 and 2002" and the then ones listed since 2011 does not even include the events between 2002 and 2011 which is where Calais Weber's incident falls. 
S-

 

On 11/23/2017 8:27 AM, Harry Elston wrote:

You’re going to have to move to a smaller font or go double column soon. 

Harry

 

From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU] On Behalf Of Samuella B. Sigmann
Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2017 6:25 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] 'Large fireball' injures students in chemistry experiment gone wrong

 

Their definition of "experiment" is also significantly different than the one I use....  Watching colored flames burn hardly evokes the scientific method.  I have updated the presentation slide...
 

1. Oklahoma City, OK – November 2011

2. Maple Grove, MN – December 2011

3. Frisco, TX – September 2013

4. Avondale, AZ  - November , 2013

5. New York, NY – January 2014

6. Reno, NV – September 2014

7. Denver, CO – September 2014

8. Raymond, IL – October, 2014

9. Chicago, IL – November, 2014

10. Tallahassee, FL – May 2015

11. Washington, DC – October 30, 2015

12. Perth Amboy, NJ – May 24, 2017

13. New York, NY – November 22, 2017

 

And over a decade ago, the Associated Press reported that at least 150 students had been seriously injured in school laboratory accidents between 1998 and 2002. http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/beacon-teacher-faulted-experiment-leaves-students-badly-burned-article-1.1565533

.... at least they will get into a "good" university.  (Sorry, I could not resist).  Everyone have a safe Thanksgiving.
S-

On 11/22/2017 5:35 PM, Stuart, Ralph wrote:

I am willing to guess that the school's report that "there were no hazardous materials involved” relies on a definition of "hazardous materials" different from the one I use...

- Ralph

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/large-fireball-injures-students-in-chemistry-experiment-gone-wrong/ar-BBFvnmw?li=BBnbcA1

'Large fireball' injures students in chemistry experiment gone wrong

Four students at an elite all-girls Catholic high school in New York City reportedly suffered burns and respiratory injuries Wednesday after a “large fireball” exploded in a chemistry experiment gone wrong.

A teacher at the school was conducting a flame experiment in front of a class and the flame apparently grew too large, Sister Patricia Wolf, president of St. Catherine Academy, told NBC New York.

“This morning an accident occurred during a demonstration in which several students were singed by a flame in the chemistry lab,” the school said in a statement. “Four students were sent to the hospital. There were no hazardous materials involved.”

The teacher was distraught after the incident, Wolf said, but all the students are expected to be okay, NBC New York reported. The parents of all the students were notified by text.

The private school, which charges around $9,000 per year in tuition, has “a 100 percent college acceptance rate to some of the finest colleges and universities in the world,” its website says.

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We, the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do everything with nothing. Teresa Arnold paraphrased from Konstantin Josef Jirecek (1854 – 1918)

 

Samuella B. Sigmann, MS, NRCC-CHO

Senior Lecturer/Safety Committee Chair/Director of Stockroom

A. R. Smith Department of Chemistry

Appalachian State University

525 Rivers Street

Boone, NC 28608

Phone: 828 262 2755

Fax: 828 262 6558

Email: sigmannsb**At_Symbol_Here**appstate.edu

 

--- For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional secretary at secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas

--- For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional secretary at secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas

 

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******************************************************************************

We, the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, for so long, with so little, we are now qualified to do everything with nothing. Teresa Arnold paraphrased from Konstantin Josef Jirecek (1854 – 1918)

 

Samuella B. Sigmann, MS, NRCC-CHO

Senior Lecturer/Safety Committee Chair/Director of Stockroom

A. R. Smith Department of Chemistry

Appalachian State University

525 Rivers Street

Boone, NC 28608

Phone: 828 262 2755

Fax: 828 262 6558

Email: sigmannsb**At_Symbol_Here**appstate.edu

 

--- For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional secretary at secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas

--- For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional secretary at secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas

--- For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional secretary at secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas