A quibble - The (presumably) concentrated sulfuric acid should be blotted off, not wiped off, as wiping exposes additional skin. I note that chemical weapons
exposure decontamination calls for carefully blotting the agent off before removing clothing and showering.
Cold water + concentrated sulfuric produces an impressive amount of heat and the possibility of thermal skin burns. Not likely to occur with the flow rates from
drench hoses and showers. Could occur if a sink tap is used.
As part of the first lab day safety demonstration, I have poured a small (~ 1 ml) amount of conc sulfuric on my palm. It does not burn. The paper towels that
I used to blot it off were destroyed as soon as they contracted the conc sulfuric (cellulose + H2SO4).
The point of the demonstration is that most materials used in teaching labs - I note that lithium alkyls are not routinely used freshman and sophomore level labs
- are not so hazardous that a person should react without taking a brief moment to think or yell for help before reacting.
The other point of the demonstration was to show what conc sulfuric does to clothing and why students should either wear old clothing or lab aprons.
John Nail
Professor
Oklahoma City University
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
On Behalf Of ILPI Support
Sent: Wednesday, April 17, 2019 8:51 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] C&EN article on emergency decon
I concur. The immediate priority is to get the stuff off you by the most efficient means possible.
Question: You spill sulfuric acid on shirt and jeans. Which will work better? I hope this is painfully rhetorical:
1. Grab paper towels, wipe the acid off you, remove clothing, wipe some more, and then shower or
2. Stand under shower, pull handle, remove clothing.
So the take-home from the article is that if no shower is available, wiping stuff off is certainly better than not doing anything. Hmm, this is going right back to the Common Senseª thread...
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Ok, reading the article it appears 'dry decon' is the first step at least partially because
1) "Responders may need 10-20 min to set up the water spray, called a pipe-and-ladder system. The warm shower system takes even longer to install
and get operational.." and
2) 'Dry decontamination provides several other benefits besides speed and effectiveness. For one, it helps prevent hypothermia, " mentioning the water from a
fire hydrant may be 10C (50F).
So I don't see either of these reasons impacting the current "get them under the safety shower first" protocols for those facilities which have access to safety
showers plumbed with tempered water....
Thank you, Ralph. I also noticed that. I was surprised that I hadn't heard this in any other venue.
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
-------- Original message --------
From: DCHAS Membership Chair <membership**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Date: 4/16/19 1:32 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] C&EN article on emergency decon
There's an interesting article in this week's copy of C&EN on updated protocols for decontamination of victims of chemical exposures. It can be found at
https://cen.acs.org/safety/New-step-better-chemical-decontamination/97/i15
and suggests that dry wiping of affected areas should proceed dousing with water.
I wonder if this will affect protocols for use of laboratory safety showers any time soon?
- Ralph
Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Membership chair
American Chemical Society
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
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