Have you ever worked with a highly dangerous material?

Question: Have you ever worked with a highly dangerous material?
- Keywords:
  dangerous,
  material
Asked by anon-353601 on 23 Mar 2023. This question was also asked by anon-361077.
- Jo Ellis answered on 23 Mar 2023:
  
  Yes and when in a laboratory it’s best to be aware of the risks, fortunately the rules are very clear in the uk
- Clara Zehe answered on 24 Mar 2023: last edited 24 Mar 2023 8:30 am
  
  Yes, I have worked with dangerous chemicals and also with X-rays and lasers. In these cases, it is very important to know about the risks and protect yourself accordingly. In a laboratory, there are clear rules that help lower the risks of working with a dangerous material or other hazards (like lasers or X-rays). We make sure to follow them at all times for our own safety.
- Martin McCoustra answered on 24 Mar 2023:
  
  Many chemical substances are dangerous and there are very strict rules for working with them. As I student I worked is some compounds that were extremely potent carcinogens. Today we work with metal carbonyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other dangerous materials. However, all the work I’ve done has used or is using tiny quantities of these materials stored in glass or metal containers connected to our vacuum systems. They just don’t get out except when we let them into those chambers. They are very safe then to work with.
- Graeme Dykes answered on 24 Mar 2023:
  
  Safety is a top priority in the lab. That means no eating or drinking in the lab. Always wearing labcoats and safety spectacles. Wearing the gloves when handling chemicals.
  Labs are full of dangerous items such as robots which will break bones if you stick you hand in the wrong place at the wrong time. Gas cylinders, even those filled with nitrogen are tremendously powerful. All of this before you start handling chemicals with know toxicity or even untested. The best way to avoid accidents is by good training and education. If in doubt ask before doing something. Over my career, I have worked with highly flammable chemicals, some with cancer causing properties and even cyanide.
- Alana McNulty answered on 24 Mar 2023:
  
  My PhD project involved experiments where I had to handle uranium. My project looked at how uranium can move in the ground where there are areas of contamination, so I got to set up some field experiments over in America with quite high quantities of uranium. In the lab, we reduce any risks by following really clear procedures, and making sure we don’t spread any contamination by accident.
  Having said that, there are a lot more chemicals in the lab that are significantly more dangerous than uranium!
- Rebecca Woods answered on 24 Mar 2023:
  
  Yes, as said by others we work with lots of dangeous materials, some chemicals are toxic/poisionous, highly flamable, carcinogenic/mutagenic (cancer causing), strongly oxidising, pyrophoric (will burst into flames on contact with water/oxygen in the air). We also have biohazards, radioactive materials, lasers, compressed gases etc. Before doing any work we do a risk assessment to keep ourselves as safe as possible.
- Arno Kraft answered on 27 Mar 2023:
  
  Yes, when I was a first-year undergraduate 40+ years ago, we had to analyse unknown inorganic salts. Still remember one of my unknowns turned out to be potassium cyanide, which is incredibly toxic (poisonous) but a solid. It also reminds you that you need to be careful with other compounds where you are not alerted to the risks.
  
  Personally, I found highly toxic compounds that are solids easier to handle. You just had to be careful. Just don’t eat them and avoid cross-contamination, for example by scratching your skin with your gloves. Highly toxic compounds that are also volatile are much more challenging to handle since inhalation is a risk. Still remember working with diazomethane, a highly toxic gas that is carcinogenic (= causing cancer), mutagenic and explosive (with a tendency to explode if the glassware has a single scratch). You really have to take care and check and plan everything. Or when working with hydrazine (carcinogenic even though used as a rocket fuel) and dimethylsulfate (another carcinogenic compound) it is wise to have a water bath with a reagent that can destroy the highly compound. I used the bath to wash any contaminated glassware. Fortunately, never needed it to immerse my hands but it was there in case of any accident.
- Nathalie Oguntona answered on 27 Mar 2023:
  
  Yes. Some dangerous because of their explosive nature and others (e.g. carcinogens) due to their potency. Safety first helps
- Jade Markham answered on 31 Mar 2023:
  
  I have worked with HF which dissolves your bones :O
  
  And I work with pyrophorics a lot – this means they react with oxygen in the air and burst into flames

Question: Have you ever worked with a highly dangerous material?

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