Safe practices for handling chemicals:
- Design your experiment carefully
- Study Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for every chemical you use
- Use smallest quantities allowed by your experiment
- Use APPROPRIATE protective equipment (gloves, lab coats, masks, goggles, hoods, glove box, inert environment,…)
- MSDS will tell you what type of glove/mask/handling is appropriate
- Make sure you have the means to address an accident
- Weak bases to neutralize acids, weak acids to neutralize bases
- If you use HF: you MUST have calcium gluconate gel next to it, to use on the skin in case of an accident
- Store you chemicals as outlined in the MSDS when not in use
- Hood is NOT a good storage place for your chemicals
- Transport chemicals safely: use rubber buckets (or similar) for glass bottles, carts for gas cylinders and rubber buckets or cardboard boxes for powder containers.
- LABEL everything appropriately. Label should have: chemical name or formula, your name/lab room, phone extension
- Chemicals labeled inappropriately will be dumped as waste
- Dispose of chemicals SAFELY after use
- MSDS contains information on how to safely dispose a chemical
- Use the sink only if you trust your chemical enough to drink it
- Sharps and harmful solid waste goes to “Sharps-Solid waste” containers (ask IESL safety officers on how to get them)
- Label your waste containers as well