Hello-

For those planning on contacting their local schools-  I have created a template (below, since attachments won’t go through the list) of the email that I will be sending to my own local schools.  Please feel free to copy/modify as you see fit, etc-  anything to get the word out there!

 

Joe

 

 

November 27, 2017

 

Superintendent

School District

Address

 

Dear Dr. Superintendent:

As a parent of a current student as well as a chemist and member of the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Division of Chemical Health and Safety- I’m writing to you today to ensure that you were aware of recent accidents involving unsafe scientific demonstrations and that your district has policies in place for ensuring the safety of scientific demonstrations in your schools.  In addition, I would like to make you aware of information that ACS produced specifically related to the safe handling of chemicals for educational purposes.

The driving force behind my correspondence today was the recent report of several students being injured during a “chemistry experiment gone wrong”. Details on this specific event are still slim, but unfortunately seem to be consistent with several recent events in which students have been injured during demonstrations involving flammable materials.  One such experiment, the ‘rainbow demonstration’ has been the cause of numerous accidents resulting in severe student and teacher injuries.  In spite of many news reports and multi-million-dollar settlements- these accidents continue to happen.

So we are reaching out directly to our local school districts and teachers to try to spread the word regarding the dangers of these types of experiments and safer alternatives.  The ACS, National Fire Protection Agency, and the US Chemical Safety Board have all created documents highlighting these dangers and guidelines for providing safe and educational demonstration.  I’ve included several links to these (free) resources below and would be glad to discuss this more with you if desired.

Sincerely,

Your Name,

Address and Phone

 

 

American Chemical Society Committee on Chemical Safety (www.acs.org/safety)

• Safety Alert Rainbow Demonstration (safer procedure for this experiment at bottom of page!)
• ACS Guidelines for Chemical Laboratory Safety in Secondary Schools

 

US Chemical Safety Board (www.csb.gov)

• www.csb.gov/videos/after-the-rainbow
• CSB Issues Back to School Safety Message on Safe Practices During Classroom Science Demonstrations
•  

National Fire Protection Association (www.nfpa.org)

• Standard on Fire Protection for Laboratories Using Chemicals

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU] On Behalf Of Marta Gmurczyk
Sent: Monday, November 27, 2017 3:10 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] An Action Item for CHAS Members

 

Dear All:

  I am working here with my ACS web colleagues on reorganizing the ACS Committee on Chemical Safety website and by mistake, the "old page" has been replaced with a proposed new page with broken links. Thank you to all who alerted me about it.

 

The page with active links has been now reinstituted and we made an information about the Rainbow Experiments more visible. If you still see the page with inactive links please  clear you cache and open a new browser window to see the changes.

 

The page can be accessed at www.acs.org/ccs

 

Thank you.

 

Marta Gmurczyk

ACS Safety Programs

 

 

 

-----Original Message-----

From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU] On Behalf Of NEAL LANGERMAN

Sent: Monday, November 27, 2017 11:32 AM

To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU

Subject: [DCHAS-L] An Action Item for CHAS Members

 

The discussion on safety in high school science classes presents an opportunity for every CHAS member.  This opportunity is particularly relevant if you have children (or grandchildren) in K-12 schooling.  Reach out to your local school or school district and to the PTA.  Provide officials and teachers with copies of 2 documents you can download using the links below:

 

New and Improved -- Flame Tests Demonstration ("Rainbow

Demonstration")

https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/about/governance/comm

ittees/chemicalsafety/safetypractices/flame-tests-demonstrat

ion.pdf?_ga=2.215180816.660530426.1511799365-1503430357.1437

933218

 

ACS Guidelines for Chemical Laboratory Safety in Secondary Schools https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/about/governance/comm

ittees/chemicalsafety/publications/acs-secondary-safety-guid

elines.pdf?logActivity=true

 

Please do this soon and then let everyone know with the hashtag #highschoolsafety

 

Thank you all for helping protect our kids

 

Neal

 

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------

Safety is the practice of fixed and unbendable principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times.

Paraphrase of Everett Dirksen.

The information contained in this message is privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer.

 

ACSafety has a new address:

NEAL LANGERMAN, Ph.D.

ADVANCED CHEMICAL SAFETY, Inc.

PO Box 152329

SAN DIEGO CA 92195

011(619) 990-4908 (phone, 24/7)

www.chemical-safety.com

 

We no longer support FAX.

 

 Please contact me before sending any packages or courier delivery.  The address for those items is:

5340 Caminito Cachorro

San Diego CA 92105

 

---

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