• Question: What is the most dangerous thing you have ever handled?

    Asked by ozzydeath1 to Alex, Ali, Kerry, Philip, Theo on 12 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Kerry O'Shea

      Kerry O'Shea answered on 12 Nov 2014:

      Hydrofluoric acid, which is highly corrosive and can dissolve glass. I was wearing fully protective gloves and glasses when handling it but I try to avoid using it wherever possible!

    • Photo: Alex Pool

      Alex Pool answered on 13 Nov 2014:

      I use liquid nitrogen a lot which is -196C so very cold! We have to wear loads of protective equipment and face shields.

      I also used to work with viruses so we had to make sure none came in contact with our skin in case we got infected (the virus was designed only to kill cancer cells so even if we did nothing should have happened).

    • Photo: Alison Thomson

      Alison Thomson answered on 13 Nov 2014:

      Probably concentrated hydrochloric acid. Just like Kerry, I had to wear loads of protective gear to make sure I didn’t get any on myself!

    • Photo: Philip Ratcliffe

      Philip Ratcliffe answered on 14 Nov 2014:

      A pencil – they can be really dangerous if they’re sharp! ;^)
      Really though, being a theorist, I never get to do anything even vaguely dangerous in my work.
      Having said that, I use a bicycle to get there and that can pretty risky at times.

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