Comments on: Chemical Spill or CHEMICAL SPILL!! http://www.chemistry-blog.com/2009/10/17/chemical-spill-or-chemical-spill/ We have technical difficulties, it will take a day or two to get back to normal. Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:53:59 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Chemjobber http://www.chemistry-blog.com/2009/10/17/chemical-spill-or-chemical-spill/comment-page-1/#comment-7657 Chemjobber Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:56:04 +0000 http://www.chemistry-blog.com/?p=2897#comment-7657 The media response in a smaller town may have been much different. Also, maybe a slow news day in LA? The media response in a smaller town may have been much different. Also, maybe a slow news day in LA?

]]> By: Scott Morton http://www.chemistry-blog.com/2009/10/17/chemical-spill-or-chemical-spill/comment-page-1/#comment-7639 Scott Morton Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:53:48 +0000 http://www.chemistry-blog.com/?p=2897#comment-7639 It is foolish for some people to react the way that they do. I understand the concern over such chemicals but the biggest issue was never the safety of the building and the people therein, more the complete overreaction that followed. In America today everything seems to be an emergency and nothing is harmless. Oh 50mL of clear fluid require a massive hazmat response, oh Michael Jackson died, the world's falling apart, not at all. The world will continue to survive. The biggest issue with what happened was that the person in charge of security who contacted the hazmat services didn't know what happened and couldn't react accordingly. This makes me question what would happen if a real situation occued. And more importantly afraid of what the answer to that question is. It is foolish for some people to react the way that they do. I understand the concern over such chemicals but the biggest issue was never the safety of the building and the people therein, more the complete overreaction that followed. In America today everything seems to be an emergency and nothing is harmless. Oh 50mL of clear fluid require a massive hazmat response, oh Michael Jackson died, the world’s falling apart, not at all. The world will continue to survive. The biggest issue with what happened was that the person in charge of security who contacted the hazmat services didn’t know what happened and couldn’t react accordingly. This makes me question what would happen if a real situation occued. And more importantly afraid of what the answer to that question is.

]]> By: Vastib http://www.chemistry-blog.com/2009/10/17/chemical-spill-or-chemical-spill/comment-page-1/#comment-7634 Vastib Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:40:59 +0000 http://www.chemistry-blog.com/?p=2897#comment-7634 It was disingenuous of me to say that lauroyl chloride is entirely inert. It will react with water in the atmosphere to produce the carboxylic acid and HCl vapor potentially causing skin burns and irritation of the respiratory tract. You are correct that it is a dangerous chemical but with similar hazards as the concentrated acids we work with everyday. We would not call the Hazmat team for a minor acid spill (< 50 ml). In this case we were worried about the alkyl tin chloride reagent because it is really bad stuff. It is known to affect many systems of the body including the central nervous system, respiratory and immune functions and can wreak havoc on your liver. In some cases exposure to alkyl tin chlorides can result in a coma. It is long term damage like this that is my primary concern in lab, especially since you may not feel the effects until hours later. Lauroyl chloride is unlikely to react with tributyltin chloride because both primarily undergo nucleophilic substitution when an electrophile is present. Since neither chemical is an electrophile, it is likely a relatively inert mixture. Unless there is some other reaction I am unaware of. It was disingenuous of me to say that lauroyl chloride is entirely inert. It will react with water in the atmosphere to produce the carboxylic acid and HCl vapor potentially causing skin burns and irritation of the respiratory tract. You are correct that it is a dangerous chemical but with similar hazards as the concentrated acids we work with everyday. We would not call the Hazmat team for a minor acid spill (< 50 ml). In this case we were worried about the alkyl tin chloride reagent because it is really bad stuff. It is known to affect many systems of the body including the central nervous system, respiratory and immune functions and can wreak havoc on your liver. In some cases exposure to alkyl tin chlorides can result in a coma. It is long term damage like this that is my primary concern in lab, especially since you may not feel the effects until hours later.

Lauroyl chloride is unlikely to react with tributyltin chloride because both primarily undergo nucleophilic substitution when an electrophile is present. Since neither chemical is an electrophile, it is likely a relatively inert mixture. Unless there is some other reaction I am unaware of.

]]> By: Bobby Baum http://www.chemistry-blog.com/2009/10/17/chemical-spill-or-chemical-spill/comment-page-1/#comment-7608 Bobby Baum Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:35:25 +0000 http://www.chemistry-blog.com/?p=2897#comment-7608 Lauroyl chloride isn't inert. It's an acyl chloride, and acyl chlorides are corrosive. Since it's a large molecule it shouldn't be volatile so, like the tributyltin chloride, it should (this is based on general chemical knowledge, not knowledge of this specific compound, so don't use this as a substitute for professional advice) just be a contact hazard (altho it (as well as the tributyltin chloride) could give off HCl fumes if it reacts with something). I don't know what would happen if lauroyl chloride mixed with tributyltin chloride but I wouldn't want to find out firsthand. Good old baking soda would probably (again, don't use this as a substitute for professional advice) neutralize lauroyl chloride. Lauroyl chloride isn’t inert. It’s an acyl chloride, and acyl chlorides are corrosive. Since it’s a large molecule it shouldn’t be volatile so, like the tributyltin chloride, it should (this is based on general chemical knowledge, not knowledge of this specific compound, so don’t use this as a substitute for professional advice) just be a contact hazard (altho it (as well as the tributyltin chloride) could give off HCl fumes if it reacts with something). I don’t know what would happen if lauroyl chloride mixed with tributyltin chloride but I wouldn’t want to find out firsthand. Good old baking soda would probably (again, don’t use this as a substitute for professional advice) neutralize lauroyl chloride.

]]> By: azmanam http://www.chemistry-blog.com/2009/10/17/chemical-spill-or-chemical-spill/comment-page-1/#comment-7577 azmanam Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:53:46 +0000 http://www.chemistry-blog.com/?p=2897#comment-7577 We had a spill of thiophosgene in our lab a few years ago. It was a relatively small amount, and we pulled the fire alarm and got everyone out. After several hours, the reason cited for not letting us back in was: thiophosgene produces HCl, which can react with metal to produce H2. We couldn't go back in because of an explosion hazard. I respect our FD and EH&S, but I think this speaks to the alarmism of MSDS's read without consideration of the scale of the spill. That said, I probably wouldn't have let us back in either. We had a spill of thiophosgene in our lab a few years ago. It was a relatively small amount, and we pulled the fire alarm and got everyone out. After several hours, the reason cited for not letting us back in was: thiophosgene produces HCl, which can react with metal to produce H2. We couldn’t go back in because of an explosion hazard. I respect our FD and EH&S, but I think this speaks to the alarmism of MSDS’s read without consideration of the scale of the spill. That said, I probably wouldn’t have let us back in either.

]]> By: mitch http://www.chemistry-blog.com/2009/10/17/chemical-spill-or-chemical-spill/comment-page-1/#comment-7558 mitch Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:06:54 +0000 http://www.chemistry-blog.com/?p=2897#comment-7558 A similar thing happened in my lab. We had a spill and the entire EH&S department was in a department wide meeting and didn't pick up their phones. A similar thing happened in my lab. We had a spill and the entire EH&S department was in a department wide meeting and didn’t pick up their phones.

]]>