• Question: doo u doo danjerus xperrimeents

    Asked by hannahlittleee to Roy, Rowena, Nicola, Kieren on 11 Mar 2014.
    • Photo: Rowena Fletcher-Wood

      Rowena Fletcher-Wood answered on 11 Mar 2014:

      Yes.

      I work with carcinogenic chromium which can cause cancer, burn skin and eyes, cause swelling, nausea, diarrhoea, anaemia and internal haemorrhaging. I use a recirculating fumehood to measure out very small amounts of solid (0.0298g) and dissolve it in water where it is much less harmful as there is less chance of breathing it in.

      I also work with x-rays and gamma rays in the analytical equipment. The x-ray machines have safety systems in place so you can never expose yourself to the beam. When using gamma rays, we have to check the lab for radiation leaks using a Geiger-Muller counter and line up a protective wall of lead bricks between us and the source.

      I also work at very high temperatures. I fuse my materials into coloured glass beads at 1050C. Molten glass at that temperature is very dangerous and you can’t work on it alone. I have used furnaces up to 1500C. At that temperature you have to wear a dark mask. If you open the furnace door without one it is like looking into the sun.

    • Photo: Roy Adkin

      Roy Adkin answered on 11 Mar 2014:

      Hi Hannah,
      The work I do isn’t really dangerous, no…but it doesn’t matter what you are doing, as long as you are careful, follow the procedures and act responsibly you should always be safe.
      The risk of the work can be very high but ultimately you can reduce the danger by assessing the ways that the work can be made safer. That’s why we write risk assessments for all the experimental work we do before we start.

    • Photo: Nicola Rogers

      Nicola Rogers answered on 12 Mar 2014:

      Yes, I do – When I make my luminescent compounds many of the reaction materials are toxic, and the solvents used are all flammable. One of my reactants also sets on fire if it gets wet!

      However, none of my reactions are dangerous to me, because I always assess all the dangers before I start, and all my reactions are set up in a fumehood, and I wear goggles, labcoat and gloves in the lab all the time.

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