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weeksie98
Harmless
Posts: 36
Registered: 24-10-2013
Location: England, UK
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pretty protic
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How professional are your labs?
I am currently working on building up my home lab, and plan on keeping it professional and clean. A limit on people in the lab, correct safety
equipment according to reagents being used, all blades secured, MSDS on hand at all times, eye wash, and much more. There will be stringent rules that
must be followed. This brings me to wonder, what are the rest of you like? Are you as strict as I am, or do you have a more carefree approach to your
lab?
'If organic chemistry were easy, it would be known as "biology".'
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elementcollector1
International Hazard
Posts: 2684
Registered: 28-12-2011
Location: The Known Universe
Member Is Offline
Mood: Molten
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Being confined to a 6' by 4' table and a storage cabinet, mine is extremely messy. I've tried cleaning it, but I simply have too much stuff and too
little space.
Elements Collected:52/87
Latest Acquired: Cl
Next in Line: Nd
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Pyro
International Hazard
Posts: 1305
Registered: 6-4-2012
Location: Gent, Belgium
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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I don't really have professional saftey setup (no MSDS, no eye wash) but am very anal about the rest being professional!
all the glass has to be spotless, everything needs to be in cabinets, the surfaces have to be clean and free of clutter,...
all above information is intellectual property of Pyro.  |
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TheChemiKid
Hazard to Others
Posts: 493
Registered: 5-8-2013
Location: ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿'̿'̵͇̿̿з=༼ ▀̿̿Ĺ̯̿̿▀̿ ̿ ༽
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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Quote: Originally posted by Pyro  | I don't really have professional saftey setup (no MSDS, no eye wash) but am very anal about the rest being professional!
all the glass has to be spotless, everything needs to be in cabinets, the surfaces have to be clean and free of clutter,... |
For the most part I am the same as you, but I do have an incompatibility chart and a solubility/miscibility chart.
When the police come
\( * O * )/ ̿̿ ̿̿ ̿'̿'̵͇̿̿з=༼ ▀̿̿Ĺ̯̿̿▀̿ ̿ ༽
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Hexavalent
International Hazard
Posts: 1564
Registered: 29-12-2011
Location: Wales, UK
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pericyclic
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I'm generally quite tidy, making sure that all reagents are appropriately stored - segregated by type, properly and fully labelled, and kept in a
locked cabinet. Surfaces are kept clean and free of clutter, and are wiped down with water after each use to ensure no chemical residues are left
behind. Glassware is cleaned and dried thoroughly after each use, and stored securely. Likewise, equipment is also kept safely after use, with the
exception of larger items, such as hotplates, vacuum/inert gas manifolds, and retort stands. Hypodermic needles must have their caps on for storage.
Fire extinguishers are weighed monthly and accurate records kept to ensure they do not leak their propellant over time. Buckets of sand, sodium
carbonate and kitty litter are kept on hand to control and absorb any spills. I do not have a proper eyewash, however I do have an eyewash bottle
filled with saline, which is kept next to the fume hood where most work is performed.
MSDS sheets are not kept on hand, however a digital library is kept available on my PC. I hardly ever use them, because the dangers are usually way
out of proportion for small-scale, amateur-level work, but they are handy to show if the worst happens. COSHH assessments are performed by myself, and
with a colleague, before any lab work is done to identify and minimise risks and hazards. I keep accurate records of all my work in a laboratory
notebook - I am rather stringent about this, and hold the belief that one can never take too many observations; note accurate, descriptive colours,
precipitates, viscosities, relative densities, crystallizations, temperatures, concentrations, volumes and much more.
For most work, I wear safety glasses, a cotton lab coat, and nitrile gloves. If greater hazards are presented, then sealed goggles, face shields,
respirators, speciality gloves and bench blast shields may be employed.
Many people will consider my approach "excessive", but I believe that it allows for organized work with pure, reagents to be carried out in an
environment with minimised risks. Keeping all equipment and reagents safely ensures not only my own safety, but also that of those around me. As far
as PPE goes, I know that a lot of what I do doesn't strictly require it, but the day will come, from following this practice, where I will attempt
something hazardous and will forget to wear it. Hence, I believe it is always good practice to use it, no matter what you're doing in the lab; even if
I'm just pottering around, at the very, very minimum, I'll have safety glasses on. It is better to have it and not need it, than to need it
and not have it.
[Edited on 21-12-2013 by Hexavalent]
"Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." Winston Churchill
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Random
International Hazard
Posts: 1018
Registered: 7-5-2010
Location: In ur closet
Member Is Offline
Mood: Energetic
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I keep it untidy on purpose because if someone comes in and sees green salt in a pickle jar and some colorless solution along with various mechanical
parts they will just think oh thats just blue vitriol for fungicide etc.. It's not that I do anything wrong and I dispose of everything correctly, but
keeping it tidy would probably make someone think that I'm doing something very "professionally".
In my area nobody has a problem with chemicals except if they would be stored in a lab. For example blue vitriol in a pickle jar is a perfectly normal
sight but copper sulphate in lab reagent bottle wouldn't be. But that's just the way I am, I hate to explain unnecessary things and be misubunderstood
in the end. As long as I'm not doing any damage to myself and others, I feel ok and everyone else around me too.
Pdople in my area, especially older people aren't that chemophobic, I mean they alone care less about some things than me. For example spraying
something with insecticides (organophosphorus compounds) and not even caring about avoiding inhalation of it.
[Edited on 21-12-2013 by Random]
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DubaiAmateurRocketry
National Hazard
Posts: 841
Registered: 10-5-2013
Location: LA, CA, USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: In research
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Mine is very small hehe, Im upgrading it to 2 meter tall and 2 meter wide drawer with shelfs, equipments, and a small refrigerator very soon.
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HeYBrO
Hazard to Others
Posts: 289
Registered: 6-12-2013
Location: 'straya
Member Is Offline
Mood: 
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I like to store everything according to what my country's storage guidelines indicate. (https://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/ohs/Guidance...)
That way it conforms to national standards. I have a "safety station" where i keep glasses,gloves face shield, eye wash etc. I also keep relatively
small amounts of chemicals as i do micro and macro experiments so about 200 g of common chemicals like MgSO4, CaCl2, CuSO4 etc all in general storage.
My acids are contained in secondary storage which are taller than the bottles (i only keep 100 ml or less of really dangerous chemicals, like woelen
i have a larger stock that i fill up smaller bottles. the stock bottles are stored safely elsewhere. Solvents and flammables i have a 200 ml and under
limit for safety's sake. By doing smaller scale work most of the chemicals in that class fit into a smaller area and i feel more comfortable in case
of an accident. Everything is labeled with date, molar mass, contents and some cautions ( gonna start putting risk phrases on them too). The joys of
small scale also everything is very tidy.
[Edited on 22-12-2013 by HeYBrO]
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chemrox
International Hazard
Posts: 2961
Registered: 18-1-2007
Location: UTM
Member Is Offline
Mood: LaGrangian
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I am constantly behind on washing up and my framework has oxide on it. All my counters could use attention and my chemical organization is an
experiment in chaos theory.
"When you let the dumbasses vote you end up with populism followed by autocracy and getting back is a bitch." Plato (sort of)
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Zyklon-A
International Hazard
Posts: 1547
Registered: 26-11-2013
Member Is Offline
Mood: Fluorine radical
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I tend to keep my lab clean, got a 4 by 10 table (with my chemicals, some of my glassware, torch, test tubes, ball mill, miss. equipment, ect.) , 3
shelfs, an oven, a hotplate, SO2 generator, ect.
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The_Davster
A pnictogen
Posts: 2861
Registered: 18-11-2003
Member Is Offline
Mood: .
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Tidy lab, lazy chemist.
MSDS's are hardly useful. A chemist should know the properties of what they work with by heart, taking into consideration "worst case scenario" in
the event of unknown compound. I cannot remember seeing useful information in a MSDS. For things that are really dangerous, they do not convey this
accurately relative to the warnings on something like calcium chloride.
[Edited on 22-12-13 by The_Davster]
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plante1999
International Hazard
Posts: 1936
Registered: 27-12-2010
Member Is Offline
Mood: Mad as a hatter
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| Quote: Originally posted by The_Davster | Tidy lab, lazy chemist.
MSDS's are hardly useful. A chemist should know the properties of what they work with by heart, taking into consideration "worst case scenario" in
the event of unknown compound. I cannot remember seeing useful information in a MSDS. For things that are really dangerous, they do not convey this
accurately relative to the warnings on something like calcium chloride.
[Edited on 22-12-13 by The_Davster] |
Totally agree, although I must say that periodic storage and workspace checkup/cleaning is needed to ensure everything is alright.
My workspace is not perfect due to the lack of budget, and or space, but the storage is doing fine (Everything labbeled). Although not in fire cabinet
etc... Some kids around here seams to have much budget he he...
MSDS are only useful to cover your ass with the fireman or the police department, else then that, they as no purpose for a real chemist. If you rely
on MSDS to take the precautions needed for an experiment, you better change of hobby.
I never asked for this.
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Pyro
International Hazard
Posts: 1305
Registered: 6-4-2012
Location: Gent, Belgium
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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I have a 3,5x2m table, a 1x1m table and a 2x1,5m table to work at, they are kept totally clear save for hotplates.then i have 6 cabinets (nubered 0-6
so i know what key opens what cabinet since i always lock them to keep treehuggers from my chemicals) of which 2 are for chemicals. One of those (#0,
yes, a cabinet #0 is original) is for (flammable) liquids which is organized as follows: on the top shelf-solvents (acetone, benzene, DCM, diethyl
ether,...) water would go here too. On the second shelf- alcohols (MeOH, cyclohexanol,...) on the third shelf-liquid acids
in the other cabinet (#1) I keep standard reagents and indicator solutions (all metal salts except oxidizers. On the top two shelves. On the third
shelf there are two small yellow cabinets (50cmx35cmx35cm), one llabelled poison (HgCl2, Hg(NO3)2, strychnine,...) the other flammable (P4, Na, Mg,...
Everything excessivly flammable). Next to those there are bases. On the fourth shelf there are oxidizers (including Br2).
there are many lights a, fridge and an oven. (sink upstairs)
ill post a pic later, it looks really professional)
MSDS's are bogus indeed
all above information is intellectual property of Pyro. |
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Arthur Dent
National Hazard
Posts: 553
Registered: 22-10-2010
Member Is Offline
Mood: entropic
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My lab is quite cluttered, as I have only one room and it is shared with my electronics/computer lab, as well as my storage area. All my labware is
either in drawers or on shelves, covered with some foil to keep the dust from the beakers and flasks. Most of my chems are on two shelving units, one
for inorganic chemicals, the other for food grade stuff. I also have some all-new labware exclusively dedicated to food stuff/brewing/distilling.
I have no running water in the lab itself, but my bathroom is 10 ft away. I use a closed circuit to run water in my graham/leibig condensers (a big
2-gallon thick-walled plastic container filled with ice water and a small water pump).
Aside from some mineral acids and solvents, few chemicals in my lab are either toxic or dangerous.
Robert
--- Art is making something out of nothing and selling it. - Frank Zappa ---
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subsecret
Hazard to Others
Posts: 424
Registered: 8-6-2013
Location: NW SC, USA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Human Sadness - Julian Casablancas & the Voidz
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I have a ~1 x 2 meter table (which has a small lower level where I keep tubing, an aspirator, and a pond pump for condenser cooling), a tall shelf
containing hot plates, a heating mantle, and various other equipment, an acids and flammables cabinet, and a very nice glassware cabinet that was once
used for various electronics parts (a server rack, basically). There's also a fume hood that uses a bathroom exhaust fan. My lab stays pretty messy,
but I try to keep my work area "messily neat." Everything seems to have it's proper place. I've installed a chemical shower (including a pull-cord
near the wall), and there's also a fire extinguisher. My large container of hydrochloric acid (too large for the acids cabinet) is placed in a bucket
with some sodium bicarbonate and paper separation layers.
There's a sink in the adjacent room, which is where I use my aspirator for filtrations. I use an edge of my brother's workbench (our dad built us a
matching pair), as his is beside the sink and usually pretty neat. I regret to say that there are some stains on his table from my filtrations...
Fear is what you get when caution wasn't enough.
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ScienceHideout
Hazard to Others
Posts: 391
Registered: 12-3-2011
Location: In the Source
Member Is Offline
Mood: High Spin
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I am not the least bit tidy, but I am a safety nut!
I would love to explain the ins and outs of my unique storage system, but it would take me all day!
I also have an msds for every chemical I keep in a sizable amount...
I am working on a complete inventory now...
I promised someone (I believe it was Pyro) that I would post a lab tour in that topic... I will sometime next week
hey, if you are reading this, I can't U2U, but you are always welcome to send me an email!
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Pyro
International Hazard
Posts: 1305
Registered: 6-4-2012
Location: Gent, Belgium
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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yay!
you doing a video on it? I am curious about your storage system too now!
all above information is intellectual property of Pyro. |
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thebean
Hazard to Others
Posts: 116
Registered: 26-9-2013
Location: Minnesota
Member Is Offline
Mood: Deprotonated
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I'm guessing I'm more likely to be pinned as a cook than someone interested in science. I'm very messy but like Jöns Jacob Berzelius once said "A
tidy laboratory means a lazy chemist.". So I look pretty unprofessional but I try my best.
"You need a little bit of insanity to do great things."
-Henry Rollins
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Texium
Administrator
Posts: 4508
Registered: 11-1-2014
Location: Salt Lake City
Member Is Offline
Mood: PhD candidate!
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Sorry to bring up this old-ish thread. I was just organizing my workspace to try and set it up in a more professional way. Like many people, my
storage has been limited to a single cabinet in the garage, but recently a separate large shelf has opened up. I was thinking of storing chemicals
there, because I wanted to keep them away from my equipment since some of the volatile substances have been screwing with a lot of my equipment.
Until now, I've had to keep all of my chemicals together on one shelf, so I was wondering what the best way to separate the chemicals is. Acids and
bases? Organics and inorganics? Should oxidizers be completely separate? I could separate them into two or three categories.
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SirViking
Harmless
Posts: 20
Registered: 1-7-2014
Member Is Offline
Mood: No Mood
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The way you separate them might also be dependent upon how high up the shelf is. If it is above your shoulders I would be cautious about placing
acidic or toxic chemicals up there.
If you come upon a fork in the road, take it.
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IrC
International Hazard
Posts: 2710
Registered: 7-3-2005
Location: Eureka
Member Is Offline
Mood: Discovering
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| Quote: Originally posted by plante1999 | | MSDS are only useful to cover your ass with the fireman or the police department, else then that, they as no purpose for a real chemist. If you rely
on MSDS to take the precautions needed for an experiment, you better change of hobby. |
100 % agree. Completely useless unless you need liners for your bird cage. Every lab needs one book I call mandatory; Bretherick's "Handbook of
reactive Chemical hazards". Also before you do something new you know little about, using chemicals you have little or no experience with a quick
search/study through the book can possibly save you from disaster.
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" Richard Feynman
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Texium
Administrator
Posts: 4508
Registered: 11-1-2014
Location: Salt Lake City
Member Is Offline
Mood: PhD candidate!
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I have an MSDS binder simply to look more professional in the event of an emergency. As for the position of the shelf, it's about two and a half feet
off the ground, so nothing to worry about. I have three plastic milk crates that I was planning on using for the different chemical categories. I just
wasn't sure which categories would be the best to sort them by. I'm starting to think that maybe having organics in one, inorganics in another, and
oxidizers in the third would be best. Upon thinking about it a bit, I realized that keeping acids and bases together shouldn't be a huge problem, and
would if anything be good since they would neutralize if they spilled. Besides, I've kept all of my chemicals on one shelf with no separation so far
with very few problems.
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Texium
Administrator
Posts: 4508
Registered: 11-1-2014
Location: Salt Lake City
Member Is Offline
Mood: PhD candidate!
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Well, I just realized that I have way too many inorganics to store in a single milk crate, while my organics take up about half of one. I think I'll
have to go about it a bit differently.
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arkoma
Redneck Overlord
Posts: 1761
Registered: 3-2-2014
Location: On a Big Blue Marble hurtling through space
Member Is Offline
Mood: украї́нська
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safety? organization? what on earth do those words even mean? Must be some language other than English LOL
"We believe the knowledge and cultural heritage of mankind should be accessible to all people around the world, regardless of their wealth, social
status, nationality, citizenship, etc" z-lib
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Zephyr
Hazard to Others
Posts: 341
Registered: 30-8-2013
Location: Seattle, WA
Member Is Offline
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I like to keep my lab space very tidy and professional, and have found that the best why of storing my multitude of reagents is in the large filing
cabinets the can be cheaply bought at good will. I recommend keeping a neat lab because it makes any experiments so much easier to do and because if
in the rare occasion that someone is suspicious of your activities it looks, well, more professional.
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