Thank you Dave. Reach out to as many groups as you can.
Sammye

On 6/21/2019 6:36 PM, davivid wrote:

Here is a letter I just emailed to the National PTA. Let's hope this helps get some progress on the issue.

Dave Lane
Principal
Clavis Technology Development


-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Dangerous classroom demonstration
Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2019 15:31:09 -0700
From: davivid <davivid**At_Symbol_Here**well..com>
To: info**At_Symbol_Here**pta.org

Dear PTA Gatekeeper

I write to call your attention to a common classroom demonstration that injures students in several incidents every year. I hope that the PTA can help end this practice by informing parents and schools of the danger.

The demonstration is typically called the "Rainbow Flame" or similar. It involves solutions of various metal salts dissolved in alcohol that are set on fire. The different metal salts give various colored flames, hence "rainbow flame". If alcohol is poured near flame or other ignition source the alcohol can suddenly erupt from the bottle in a phenomenon called "flame jetting". The jet of flaming alcohol can severely burn anyone in the path of the flames even as far as ten feet away.

Here are some links describing flame jetting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sfUl6GIdYo
Small Bottle, HUGE Fireball (How Flame Jetting Works)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkOX91tRb04
Dangerous =E2=80=98Flame Jetting' Phenomenon Kills Hundreds Every Year



Here are links to some recent instances of flame jetting that have injured students

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2015/11/11/this-chemistry-fire-demonstration-has-repeatedly-burned-students/?noredirect=on

https://nypost.com/2019/06/18/student-injured-in-science-class-recalls-hopelessly-burning-alive/

https://www.pritzkerlaw.com/personal-injury/2017/rainbow-fire-science-experiment-hospitalizes-6-tx-preschoolers/

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/04/nyregion/school-experiment-that-burned-boy-was-focus-of-federal-warning.html

https://nypost.com/2019/06/20/teacher-of-chemistry-lab-gone-wrong-neglected-safety-protocols-expert/



Here is information on making classroom demonstrations safer

https://cen.acs.org/articles/93/i46/Make-Chemistry-Classroom-Demonstrations-Experiments.html?PageSpeed=noscript

http://ameriburn.org/prevention/stop-the-flame/

https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/chemical-safety/basics/flame-jetting.html

https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/about/governance/committees/chemicalsafety/publications/ccs-chair-rainbow-demonstration-cen-comment.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkBFG1mTSBk
A Safer "Rainbow Flame" Demo for the Classroom


I ask your help in making classrooms safer for all students.

Thank You
Dave Lane

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Samuella B. Sigmann, MS, NRCC-CHO

Chair, ACS Division of Chemical Health & Safety, 2019

Senior Lecturer/Safety Committee Chair/Director of Stockroom

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

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