Neal,

Thanks for the comments on “Pilo ts Gloves.”  Can you provide a link to what you mean by these as it isn’t immediately clear?  I assume you are referring to gloves that are Nome x or neoprene and go most of the way to your elbow covering the wrist and forearm including the closure to a lab coat sleeve if it is not gathered..

Referring to your note and George̵ 7;s, finding the balance point to when non-syringe techniques are appropriate in terms of scale is always a concern.  She was transferring about 50 mL, as I understand, which is more typically done by cannula into a dropping funnel for subsequent measured addition rate.  For sample sizes below 10 mL, few are familiar with transfer techniques that are not syringes.  The use of a shut off valve to prevent drips, etc. and the use of inert atmosphere tubes are improvements, but still involve syringes.  Above 10 mL becomes a discussion point about techniques in a research environment vs the same questions in scale-up situations.  The UC Riverside link on the CA FACE Alert page and the Aldrich page inserts with their organometallics provide a good set of instructions for small scale transfers though it is not as complete as I would like to see.

As a direct outcome of this accident, I am putting together a training session on organometallics handling and transfer techniques to be required for all of our synthetic chemists.  While it will be a refresher for all, being sure to cover it will catch a few who may not have gotten all the lessons in graduate school as well as reminding all of our safety measures and requirements. 

Please continue to contribute comments in this area so we minimize the chances of repeats.

Lee.

Belo w is the content of an email I just sent to the people who published the pyropho ric alert.

 

As a chemist and an expert in handling reactive materials, I have reviewed your pyrophoric chemical ALERT and strongly disagree with the gloves shown in the figure.  The gloves being used protect against the much less severe chemical hazard, not against the significant fire hazard.  The figure shows the result of an inadequate hazard recognition and risk assessment, translated into an inappropriate PPE assessment.

 

R 20;Pilots Gloves” with thin mil nitrile under them, if wanted, is the appropria te PPE.  In addition, a device such as a Unishield should be used to prot ect the face, and fire retardant clothing, such as a Nomex lab coat, not the co tton one shown, should be used.

 

Ther e is a lot of mis-information both about the incident and the correct way to handle pyrophoric chemicals.

 

Neal

 

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