All,

For easier access, here's the bleach fact sheet: https://ehs.stanford.edu/reference/sodium-hypochlorite-bleach
We also have a less polished sheet (quickly made early in the pandemic when there were shortages of RNA extraction kits) on phenol-chloroform extractions: https://ehs.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/Safety-information-for-RNA-extraction.pdf

Sincerely,

Jack Reidy (he/him)
Research Safety Specialist, Assistant Chemical Hygiene Officer
Environmental Health & Safety
Stanford University
484 Oak Road, Stanford, CA, 94305
Tel: (650) 497-7614



-----Original Message-----
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU> On Behalf Of CHAS membership
Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2022 7:18 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Qiagen kits incident report

A list member shared this incident that occurred last week:

Earlier this week departmental and EHS staff responded to an incident where a small amount of incompatible materials (bleach and RNA extraction buffers) were inadvertently mixed together which released a potentially toxic gas. Fortunately, no one was injured and the mixed chemicals were safely managed for disposal.

Please review the following handling instructions for Qiagen kits:

Researchers using Qiagen kits for extraction of nucleic acids are reminded that reagents in these kits contain guanidine hydrochloride that can form highly reactive compounds when combined with bleach. As indicated in the Qiagen kit handbooks, sample preparation waste (even minute amounts) should NOT be mixed with bleach or acidic solutions

If liquid containing reactive Qiagen buffers is spilled, clean with suitable laboratory detergent and water. If the spilt liquid contains potentially infectious agents, clean the affected area first with laboratory detergent and water and then with 1% (v/v) sodium hypochlorite.

Researchers should review and update as appropriate their SOPs when working with Qiagen kits.

For additional information on using bleach in the laboratory, Stanford University has an excellent set of safety precautions on use of Sodium Hypochlorite (Bleach).

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