VSEPR_VOID
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Living the Chemistry Dream
I recently had the privilege to get an short term job at a research institution. Working in an actual laboratory, doing real research, shocked me in a
few ways. There are several things that stood out to me. Does anyone here work in a lab? Do you relate?
The first thing that stood out to me was the vast amount of reagents and equipment. The place where I work has over 50 laboratories, all of which have
thousands of chemicals. Its amazing too see rare and niche chemicals being put to use. The fume hoods have nitrogen and argon lines in addition to
water, gas, and vacuum. Its memorizing just walking around. Sometimes I just stop to watch the gas chromatography machines at work.
Second was the amount of time researchers spend doing paper work and writing. Probably half of the time they are in their office writing up their
results (digital lab books).
Third is laboratory safety. Where I work is more biology focused so for the most part the reagents are harmless I(ex. dilute HCl, ultra pure water,
enzymes, DNA fragments, silica beads). The dirt and oil on your skin is more of a danger to your work than your work is to you. But that being said
well everyone wears gloves very few people use lab coats and eye protection in general. At the same time dilute HCl is treated with a lot of caution.
Even something like 5% HCl has to be collected and neutralized. Someone warned me about it attacking my gloves. Its probably to protect the plumbing
more than anything.
Fourth is the waste. In one day a single person can go through half a litter of isopropyl alcohol for washing easily. All of it is sent down the sink.
Us amateurs in such a situation would collect it and use it for something, or refine it so we can use it again. Lots of glass vials (30 mL or so) are
through away after being used for a few minutes or after holding soap. Its heart braking to watch it happen.
How do you guys feel about working in real laboratories.
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JnPS
Hazard to Self
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I'm at an REU this summer at a university working under a post-doc and grad student. I had pretty much the same reaction as you when I first started.
The arrays of chemicals and glassware that go around willy-nilly as an everyday appearance when some of the stuff I've never seen before. Just today I
shadowed the post-doc perform a "bulb-to-bulb" distillation using a machine that looked like a laser cannon to my untrained eye XD.
The biggest shock to me, again like you said, is their waste and disregard for solvents. At home I only have a sparing amount of homemade chloroform
that I only use when I have to and then try and recycle all I can, both for environmental reasons and economic reasons. But here they have wash
bottles full of the stuff, I did a double-take when I saw that. To be honest I shouldn't have really been surprised given that the lab I'm in is
extremely well-funded.
Working in a "real" lab is akin to feeling like a kid in a candy store again. 
P.S. I also got to use a 4-L separatory funnel!!! :O
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aga
Forum Drunkard
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If I was in a Real Laboratory they would call security 
Dumping used reagents is common, simply because you cannot put the blame on someone else if it is not 'pure'.
If you recycle it, then you have to test for purity etc, which takes time etc and ends up costing more than just buying, PLUS you have to take
responsibility if it ends up being impure and screws up a very expensive experiment.
If you are in a Bio lab that ignores basic bio safety, be Afraid.
In an Amateur lab, always be afraid, but at least you can smoke and have a beer.
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JJay
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I don't usually use isopropanol for washing, but it is not at all unusual to use a liter of acetone a day for cleaning glassware in my tiny amateur
lab... I have used chloroform for cleaning before and would gladly do it again, but it is too expensive and you can't put it down the sink, so I don't
clean with it very often. Brake cleaner probably works....
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arkoma
Redneck Overlord
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Quote: Originally posted by aga  | If I was in a Real Laboratory they would call security
In an Amateur lab, always be afraid, but at least you can smoke and have a beer. |
My still is smack dab in my kitchen
"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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UC235
National Hazard
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I work in biochemistry QC. We use uranyl acetate and perchloric acid, formaldehyde, arsenite, trichloroacetic acid, cyanide, and a handful of other
unpleasant reagents that need to be hazardous waste, but 90% of everything is harmless buffers and goes down the drain. Some of the work I do is
DNase/RNase-free which very much invokes the OP's point about you being a threat to the product much more than vice-versa. I use so much bleach, so
many gloves, and a metric fuckload of kimwipes.
There is a lot of paperwork, but I've always been neurotic about keeping notes anyway. In this case though, we mostly follow set procedures and the
paperwork is reagent preparation notes and data recording.
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Texium
Administrator
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I've been working in a university research lab for the last two years doing small molecule organic synthesis (my favorite area of chemistry- I'm very
lucky). I can agree about the large amounts of solvents that are discarded. Running a large column might go through 3 liters of hexanes in one go. As
far as the reasoning behind not reusing them goes, aga is incorrect. It's not primarily due to concern about contamination, but because it's simply
cheaper to buy more fresh solvent than to spend hours setting up a large still to recycle solvents at that scale. My PI said that larger research labs
will often recycle their solvents, though. My PI is fine with us dumping dilute HCl and similar down the drain, though the university safety
inspectors are not as lenient. They would have you put 1M NaCl in the aqueous waste bucket.
Working in a lab professionally definitely feels different than playing around in my home lab, though. While I enjoy the chemistry I do at work, it
just isn't quite the same. I know I haven't been super active on the home front lately, but I'm looking forward to getting back to it. Chemistry as a
job is not a direct substitute for the hobby.
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VSEPR_VOID
National Hazard
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| Quote: Originally posted by UC235 | I work in biochemistry QC. We use uranyl acetate and perchloric acid, formaldehyde, arsenite, trichloroacetic acid, cyanide, and a handful of other
unpleasant reagents that need to be hazardous waste, but 90% of everything is harmless buffers and goes down the drain. Some of the work I do is
DNase/RNase-free which very much invokes the OP's point about you being a threat to the product much more than vice-versa. I use so much bleach, so
many gloves, and a metric fuckload of kimwipes.
There is a lot of paperwork, but I've always been neurotic about keeping notes anyway. In this case though, we mostly follow set procedures and the
paperwork is reagent preparation notes and data recording. |
God, I forgot about the gloves and kimwipes. They go through them like crazy. Also microtubes, so many microtubes.
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The Volatile Chemist
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I, too, have had a short term (not done yet) paid, full time research position in an analytical-chem lab, though I'm actually paired with the one grad
student in the group that does gas phase catalysis (steam reforming/reductions), which has been pretty cool. We use lots of gloves and kimwipes, but
are actually really reasonable with the solvents even though we have a lot (and many different) of them. The time planning, writing, and working up
data though was quite a surprise. I quite like the research-type job, but I'm not yet sure if I really want to do acadamia for a living, obviously
prep. organic chem would be the best kind of job, at least in my opinion.
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coppercone
Hazard to Others
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In academia I saw what ranged from mildly acceptable organization to serious hazards.
It seemed that areas related to biology were generally cleaner.
Professionally I noticed that employees basically draw straws for cleaning and such. No one likes maintaining order. Same in the engineering field,
you need a manager that everyone hates to maintain a semblance of order.
My spaces were usually cleaner and more organized, relative to money spent. I think its because of sharing and the fact that most people want to leave
at 5 oclock, and personal convictions go out the window as soon as your boss is being a jerk, then you want to do the bare minimum.
It seemed that machine shops were generally well organized, the people working there seem to place a high value on toolboxes, however there was a
serious lack of grime fighting. I noticed that if you talk to the people working there and have a heart to heart you can usually figure out that the
dirt is there because someone is upset with a manager or higher up. It is a general form of protest. As soon as you hear how other places are charging
twice as much for the same jobs, the place suddenly turn into a dilapidated, but well organized, shit hole.
[Edited on 4-7-2018 by coppercone]
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VSEPR_VOID
National Hazard
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Where I am they have people for cleaning glass and taking out trash but everything is still very chaotic. Its difficult to throw things out or clean
when it might be someone else's.
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