Safety Alert
Reactive Chemical Safety
On December 29, 2008, a 23-year-old research assistant was killed in a laboratory accident at UCLA. The accident occurred as the researcher was using a plastic syringe to extract t-butyl lithium, an air reactive compound, from a sealed container. The syringe came apart as she was withdrawing the liquid from a sealed container and immediately ignited. The subsequent flash fire set her clothes on fire and resulted in 2nd and 3rd degree burns on over 43% of her body. She died 18 days after the accident.
The article from the Los Angeles Times entitled “Deadly UCLA lab fire leaves haunting questions” is available in its entirety at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-uclaburn1-2009mar01,0,3624028.story
To help reduce the risk of this from occurring at the university, the Department of Environmental Health and Safety has put together a training program for people working with reactive chemicals. An online version of the training is available at the link below. In addition, EHS can conduct classroom training on air and water reactive compounds.
Some examples of materials that may be air or water sensitive include:
Boranes
Borohydrides
Organoboranes
Organolithiums
Organoaluminums
Gringard reagents
Alkali Metals (Lithium, Sodium, Potassium, Rubidium, Cesium)
Online Training
To take the online training, you will need to go to MyEHS, register and login. Then go to the online training section and take the course entitled "Working Safely with Reactive Chemicals". Click here to access MyEHS
Additional information on reactive chemicals can be found at:
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