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Posted By GavinR
Hi,
Just wondering what the issues are regarding the use of glass containers & equipment, e.g. beakers, volumetric flasks, dispensing units (dropper caps) burettes, etc.
I have carried out a review of the testing area where we store and use small quantities of chemicals in order to test the strengths of our tanks and we have some glass and plastic containers. The supplier has supplied most of the glass containers but certain chemicals are diluted and stored in plastic containers with mixing etc carried out in glass units.
Simply I'm asking is there a requirement for certain chemicals to be stored in glass or can they be kept in plastic to reduce any potential accidental spillage or breakage from the glass? We used Methyl orange, silver nitrate, sulphuric acid >50%, etc.
Cheers, Gav
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Posted By Glyn Phillips
I would be checking the MSDS. Some chemical cannot be stored in some types of containers as they may react with the material causing them to rupture or leak. In addition some chemicals may react with the container, producing chemical reactions.
Having worked in laboratories for many years, I do not believe that storage of chemicals in glass containers is a significant hazard if other control measures are adhered to. i.e. store as small a volume as possible for use, keep containers well in on the bench, only have out on the bench the containers that you are using at the time, separate incompatible materials in storage etc.
Make sure you have suitable procedures in place to deal with any spillages of the chemicals used, this would include any PPE needed to clean up.
Glyn
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Posted By GavinR
Thank you Glyn,
I have checked the MSDS but in 90% of the cases it does not mention anything about glass or plastics. Only one MSDS to be honest has made a comment that it must be stored in glass or PTFE.
Cheers.
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Posted By Merv Newman
Before getting into this, the second (?) oldest profession I was a lab technician. Organic and inorganic analyses.
I still have scars on my hands from broken glassware. I remember losing my trousers, socks and shoes to broken Winchesters of sulphuric. (twice. once my fault, once hers)
It is perfectly possible today to build and run a lab without glass containers or apparatus. Polyethylene or polypropylene would be appropriate materials resistant to the vast majority of chemicals. But check with your suppliers.
I have no direct knowledge (my bacteriological and virology experience dates from about 40-45 years ago) but I understand that, today, a lab handling dangerous pathogens will have NO glass.
Anyone else remember sucking up pasteurella pestis with only a cotton wool bung in the end of the pipette to stop you swallowing the stuff ?
Merv
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Posted By Jim Walker
Cotton wool plug in pipettte - yer big jessie, Merv!
My first job was PHLS.
Only a few years before had they stopped testing for sugar in urine by having a taste.
After a spell as an inmate in a isolation ward, did I decide the pay was not enough and moved on to the (then) cushy world of university labs.
Then followed:
Badly bitten by a rat, twice electrocuted (woke up other side of lab), Bottle of media fresh out of autoclave blew up in my face. Mate chopped off finger in said autoclave door mechanism.
Happy Days!
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Posted By Jim Walker
Gavin,
Sorry about the hijack!
I believe you can get plastic coated glass (where glass is required) that way if you break the container at least it contains the shards.
It's also sensible for a number of reasons to buy at required dilution and minimum sizes.
ie 10 X 250 ml is better than 1 X 2.5 litre and can be cheaper in the long run.
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Posted By Merv Newman
jim,
I think we have answered Gavin's question and so can safely digress until the monitors start exercising their privileges.
I think the mice were the worst for biting. the girls used to cuddle the rats. and the bunny rabbits. Guinea pigs and sheep were boring but the horses were OK.
I eventually caught work-related whooping cough (haemophilus pertussis), took it home and passed it on to my younger sister.
one of the first labs they showed me had a plaque on the wall in memory of a doctor who had "passed away in faithful pursuit of his duties"
Apparently he was smoking a pipe while pipetting pasturella pestis (black death) and got them a bit mixed up. I dare say procedures have improved a bit over the years.
Moved on to the water works which was much more dangerous.
Be a lab technician. It's a mans life (and oh those white coats !)
Merv
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Posted By Jim Walker
Merv,
Thought I'd continue this as it might show some of the young uns how well H&S now protects them.
My spell in isolation was with TB - strain brought in by Asians kicked out of Uganda by Amin.
Me & the boss caught it - he was a flea expert and we spent our time (6 weeks) with him tutoring me on various pathogens, but mainly what he knew about fleas.
Later he took me to visit Miriam Rothchild (world expert on fleas) - was almost worth catching TB for that experience alone.
Did you smoke Kymograph drums with Benzene?
How about washing mercury from Spygme whatsits?
Glass blowing using Asbestos wool for plugs?
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Posted By Merv Newman
Jim,
if you want some tales from that era (us old fogies love to compare notes)
Yes we did smoke the kymies with benzene. And pipette acids and bases and all sorts of smelly things by mouth. Never wore gloves, safety shoes, safety glasses.
I got bitten by a rabid rabbit.
We had at least 20 MDs on the research side. No-one even mentioned H&S
Smallpox was grown in hen's eggs then transferred to the skins of sheep. After harvesting they were slaughtered and we all got a joint of lamb to take home.
Nostalgia for the first job out of school.
Merv (And I met my first girlfriend there. (Moira, where are you now ?))
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Posted By Mike
It was nearly 40 years ago but did I really dispose of 200 grams of unwanted potassium metal in a water filled pit outside the lab and then run? Yes I did. The resulting detonation was contained by heavy planks across the pit but they did lift a bit.
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Posted By Merv Newman
I would have left the planks off. Much more spectacular.
Merv
But have lobbed it in from a good distance.
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