ACS Division of Chemical Education Demo Guidelines - http://www.divched.org/content/safety-guidelines-chemical-demonstrations Chemical Demonstrations Those planning chemical demonstrations have a responsibility to follow and document safe laboratory practices. Only persons who have appropriate education and experience in chemistry and chemical safety should perform chemical demonstrations. Thus these are for use only by experienced chemical practitioners. Before the Demonstration Alwa...

There are practical considerations.  Ideally one would put each chemical with only the same material in the correct sized secondary containment bin.  The correct size secondary containment bin is whichever it the larger volume between A.) 100% of the volume of the largest container inside, or B.) 10% for the total volume contained. Scientific Plastics makes Spill Trays -- Secondary Containment for inside cabinets and on shelves. Click here for a company that makes bins. Spill trays can be...

The book Bretherick’s handbook of reactive chemical hazards, edited by Peter Urben assisted by M.J. Pitt (7th ed., 2007) is available to Pitt users as an e-book. It can be accessed through its library catalog record: http://pittcat.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=6277405 From this page, click on the link next to "Click for Web Access" to access the e-book. A print copy of this same edition is also available at Falk Library; the record can be seen at http://pittcat.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/Pw...

Filling the dry sink traps with water to seals out odors from the drain pipes and stops these terrible smells from entering our labs.  We should also run water in the sinks they do not normally use -- the cup sinks. We should fill all the drains in our labs at least once a month and fill them wit?h water as needed (even the cup sink drains that we don’t use!), because some one may believe there is a natural gas leak. Natural gas itself is odorless and t-butyl mercaptan is added by gas comp...

All radiation safety questions should be directed to the Radiation Safety Office: 412-624-2728 (Normal business hours) 412-624-2121 (After hours—University Police) 412-647-2345 (After hours—UPMC Hospital Operator) http://www.radsafe.pitt.edu/

A safety narrative. We have a special waste collection day to make the building safer by getting rid of all the unwanted, unsafe, and unlabeled chemicals.  I get rid of material when I notice it is unused, bad, or expired, but some researchers, however, don't do that.   So this is a great opportunity to designate chemicals as waste.   If you have unstable chemical waste and are concerned about it reacting in the waste room this is the best time to get rid of it.  The chemical disposal specialis...