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Some Hazardous Chemicals in the Laboratory

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Enter your teHazardous chemicals could be presenting health and physical threats to people working in academic, clinical, and even industrial laboratories. These chemicals pose certain risks including damage to your skin, lungs, mucous membranes, and even eyes. Researchers have always been surrounded by extremely dangerous elements such as infectious microbes and certain chemicals present in the lab.

Acetonitrile: You must exercise caution while handling this flammable irritant. When this solvent is mistakenly ingested, inhaled, or even absorbed through your skin, it gets transformed into the deadly cyanide.

Chloroform: This is a volatile substance and could be causing irritations to your lungs and eyes. However, it is known to act as an effective anesthetic which would be depressing your CNS (Central Nervous System). When chloroform is inside your body, it would be converting itself to a really toxic phosgene which is supposed to be a well-known chemical weapon that was utilized during the World War I. This is one of the significantly hazardous lab chemicals and you need to be careful.

DMSO (Dimethyl Sulfoxide)

Dimethyl Sulfoxide is a brilliant solvent and would be causing toxins, contaminants, and even medicines to get absorbed into the skin that may trigger unanticipated effects. It could help in boosting the effects associated with steroids, blood thinners, sedatives, heart medicines and other medications. You must consider wearing butyl rubber gloves if you are required to dissolve huge amounts of neurotoxic pesticide rotenone, a kind of a toxic present in Dimethyl Sulfoxide. This is supposed to be a developmental neurotoxin.

Formaldehyde

This is a fixative and is supposed to be a human carcinogen. You must make use of the fume hood as formaldehyde could be triggering asthma, dermatitis, and sinusitis. Do not consider using hydrochloric acid with formaldehyde as together they would be forming a potent carcinogen called bis (chloromethyl) ether.

2-Mercaptoethanol

2-Mercaptoethanol smells like rotten fish and is actually a combustible corrosive. 2-Mercaptoethanol can cause harms to your skin and damage your mucous membrane and may trigger pneumonitis, larynx spasms, and even pulmonary edema if inhaled.

Methanol

Just the way volatile solvents are supposed to get into the body via the gut, skin, or the lungs; methanol is known to do the same. When Methanol enters your body, it would be transforming itself into formic acid that could be causing blinding retinal toxicity and metabolic acidosis.

Sodium Azide

This is a popular preservative but is supposed to be a highly toxic skin irritant that could be causing heart failure, headaches, and incredibly low blood pressure. Easy availability and toxicity have made Sodium Azide a way of committing suicide. Moreover, this dangerous chemical could form highly explosive substances when poured down the sink as this would be reacting with lead and copper pipes.

Sodium Hydroxide

Sodium hydroxide could be even more dangerous as compared to a concentrated acid if it is splashed in your eyes. Acids would be precipitating proteins that would be forming a scab or a protective layer over the tissue that is not harmed. Robust bases such as sodium hydroxide would be destroying the cell membranes. There is no formation of scab and as such the base could go on burning all the way. You must consider wearing goggles to protect your eyes.

THF or Tetrahydrofuran

THF is a solvent that is highly flammable and also forms explosive, shock-sensitive peroxides with time. When the THF evaporates away, the remaining solution will be concentrated with the peroxides. A slight disturbance to the container could cause a serious explosion.

Conclusion

You must handle all sorts of laboratory chemicals with some caution. You never know how hazardous a particular chemical could be.xt here …

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