Lab Safety 3 Hazardous Waste

Summary

The video script emphasizes the importance of laboratory safety, particularly avoiding contact with hazardous chemicals. It highlights the use of fume hoods to manage volatile chemicals and prevent inhalation. The script also discusses proper waste disposal, stressing the need to collect hazardous waste—both liquid and solid—using designated containers. It concludes with a reminder to always follow instructor guidance on waste disposal to minimize environmental impact.

Takeaways

• 🧪 Safety in the laboratory is crucial to avoid contact with hazardous chemicals.
• 👃 Breathing in volatile chemicals is a significant hazard, and fume hoods are used to mitigate this risk.
• 🌪️ Fume hoods maintain negative pressure to draw in air and prevent hazardous gases from escaping into the room.
• 🔬 When working with volatile chemicals, always follow your instructor's guidance on using fume hoods.
• 🧼 Treat the fume hood space with the same respect for cleanliness as you would a lab bench.
• 💨 Closing the fume hood sash is important to conserve energy and prevent unnecessary air loss.
• 🚮 Proper waste disposal is essential; never throw hazardous waste in the garbage or down the sink without instruction.
• 🗑️ Solid waste should be placed in designated containers provided by the instructor.
• 💧 Liquid waste requires careful handling, using containers with locking lids to prevent leaks and spills.
• 🛡️ The instructor will provide guidance on the proper disposal of different types of waste to protect the environment.

Q & A

What is the primary goal of safety in the laboratory?

The primary goal of safety in the laboratory is to avoid contact of hazardous chemicals with one's skin, eyes, or ingestion, and to prevent their release into the environment.

How can breathing in hazardous chemicals be harmful?

Breathing in hazardous chemicals can be harmful as it can lead to health issues due to the inhalation of volatile and toxic substances.

What are fume hoods and what is their purpose?

Fume hoods are safety cabinets designed to protect users from hazardous gases by drawing in air from outside, circulating it, and then exhausting it outside, preventing the release of harmful gases into the laboratory environment.

What is the sash in a fume hood and how does it function?

The sash is the window in a fume hood that can be opened or closed. It is designed to maintain a negative pressure inside the hood, ensuring that air and hazardous gases are drawn in and expelled outside.

Why is it important to keep the fume hood sash closed when not in use?

Keeping the fume hood sash closed when not in use is important to maintain the negative pressure inside the hood and to prevent unnecessary air and heat loss from the laboratory, which can be costly, especially in winter.

How should one prepare and clean a fume hood before and after use?

One should treat the space in a fume hood similarly to a common lab bench, ensuring it is clean before starting work and cleaned thoroughly after use.

What are the two main types of chemical waste that need to be managed in a laboratory?

The two main types of chemical waste that need to be managed are liquid and solid hazardous waste.

How should solid waste be disposed of in a laboratory setting?

Solid waste should be placed in a designated container, similar to a large mason jar, provided by the instructor for the collection of solid hazardous waste.

What is the procedure for handling liquid waste in a fume hood?

Liquid waste should be poured into a container with a locking lid within the fume hood, ensuring the lid is open and locked while pouring, and then closed securely after use.

Who is responsible for collecting and handling hazardous waste in the laboratory?

Hazardous waste is collected by the hazardous waste staff who are responsible for its proper handling and disposal.

What is the most important rule regarding waste disposal in the laboratory as per the script?

The most important rule is to never throw any waste in the garbage or down the sink without being instructed by the instructor that it is safe to do so.

Outlines

00:00

🧪 Laboratory Safety and Chemical Handling

This paragraph emphasizes the importance of safety in the laboratory, particularly the avoidance of contact with hazardous chemicals. It highlights the risks of inhaling volatile chemicals such as concentrated hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, and ammonia. The use of fume hoods is introduced as a safety measure to prevent the inhalation of hazardous gases. Fume hoods are described as safety cabinets that draw in air from outside, circulate it, and then expel it outside, maintaining a negative pressure to prevent the spread of hazardous fumes. The sash of the fume hood is a crucial component that, when opened, allows for the circulation of air but should be closed when not in use to conserve energy and maintain safety. The paragraph also stresses the need to keep the fume hood clean and ready for use, similar to a lab bench. Additionally, it discusses the proper disposal of chemical waste to minimize environmental exposure, detailing the separation of liquid and solid waste into designated containers and the importance of following instructor guidelines for waste disposal.

Keywords

💡Safety

Safety in the context of the video refers to the measures taken to prevent harm or accidents in a laboratory setting. It is crucial to avoid contact with hazardous chemicals, which can be harmful if they come into contact with the skin, eyes, or if ingested. The video emphasizes the importance of safety as a primary concern, especially when handling volatile chemicals.

💡Hazardous Chemicals

Hazardous chemicals are substances that can pose a threat to health or the environment. The video mentions the need to avoid contact with such chemicals, highlighting examples like concentrated hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, and ammonia. These chemicals are volatile and can be inhaled, which is a significant concern in a laboratory environment.

💡Fume Hood

A fume hood is described as a safety cabinet in the video, designed to protect users from inhaling hazardous gases produced by chemical reactions. It operates by drawing air in from outside, circulating it within the cabinet, and then exhausting it outside. The fume hood is a key piece of equipment for ensuring safety when working with volatile chemicals.

💡Volatile

Volatile, in the context of the video, refers to chemicals that readily evaporate at room temperature, producing gases that can be hazardous if inhaled. The script mentions that working with volatile chemicals should be done within a fume hood to minimize the risk of exposure.

💡Negative Pressure

Negative pressure in a fume hood means that the air pressure inside the hood is lower than the air pressure in the surrounding environment. This design ensures that air flows into the hood rather than out, capturing and containing hazardous fumes. The video explains that this feature is essential for the proper functioning of a fume hood.

💡Sash

The sash is the movable front panel of a fume hood that can be opened or closed to control the amount of air entering the hood. The video instructs that the sash should be closed when not in use to maintain the negative pressure and to conserve energy by preventing excessive air from being drawn out of the room.

💡Hazardous Waste

Hazardous waste, as discussed in the video, refers to the leftover chemicals or byproducts from experiments that are dangerous and require proper disposal. The video emphasizes the importance of collecting and segregating liquid and solid hazardous waste to prevent environmental contamination.

💡Waste Disposal

Waste disposal in a laboratory setting involves the proper handling and disposal of hazardous waste to prevent environmental harm. The video provides instructions on how to collect and store both liquid and solid waste, stressing that waste should never be thrown in the garbage or down the sink without specific instructions from an instructor.

💡Instructor

The instructor plays a critical role in the video, providing guidance on when and how to use safety equipment like fume hoods and in instructing proper waste disposal procedures. The video underscores the importance of following the instructor's directions to ensure safety and compliance with environmental regulations.

💡Environmental Protection

Environmental protection is a key theme in the video, focusing on the responsibility to prevent chemical leaks and spills that could harm the environment. The proper collection and disposal of hazardous waste are highlighted as essential practices for protecting the environment from chemical contamination.

💡Energy Conservation

Energy conservation is mentioned in the context of closing the sash on a fume hood when not in use to prevent the loss of heat, especially during winter. This not only saves energy but also reduces costs associated with heating the laboratory.

Highlights

The importance of safety in the laboratory to prevent hazardous chemical contact.

Avoiding inhalation of volatile chemicals as a key safety measure.

Examples of volatile and hazardous chemicals: concentrated hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, and ammonia.

The function and purpose of fume hoods in laboratory safety.

Fume hoods as safety cabinets with negative pressure to prevent chemical exposure.

Instructions on using fume hoods properly during chemical reactions.

Maintaining cleanliness of the fume hood space as part of lab etiquette.

Closing the sash of the fume hood to conserve energy and maintain safety.

Minimizing chemical exposure to the environment by proper waste disposal.

Differentiating between liquid and solid hazardous waste disposal methods.

Proper handling and storage of solid waste in designated containers.

Safe transfer of liquid waste into containers with locking lids.

Never leaving liquid waste containers open to prevent accidents.

Collection and proper handling of hazardous waste by specialized staff.

The critical rule against disposing of waste in regular trash or sinks without instructor permission.

Instructors will guide on proper waste disposal to ensure safety and environmental protection.

Transcripts

so remember the idea of safety in the

laboratory is to avoid contact of

hazardous chemicals with you with your

skin

or your eyes and or ingesting

ingestion for yourself or for others or

the environment and so

one of the worst ways that you can have

uh chemicals come into contact with is

to breathe them

and so now and then you'll be using uh

chemical reactions or chemical reagents

that

are volatile meaning they they make

gases

that escape and that are hazardous

and some examples of this are

concentrated hydrochloric acid a

concentrated

sulfuric acid or a concentrated ammonia

that you want to not breathe and so we

have for that is we have

fume hoods and so fume hoods are

essentially safety cabinets

where air comes in from outside

and circulates in this box and then is

drawn back

back outside and if you open up this

window here it's called a sash

what happens is the safety cabin at the

hood is designed to have a negative

pressure compared to the air in the room

so it

brings air in and there's

a a drawing of air roughly 80

cubic feet per minute that comes from in

here to out there

and so when you're working with um

things that you should not be breathing

your instructor will tell you when

you'll be doing that

you should be doing that in the fume

hood and they'll let you know when you

do that

when you do this you treat this space

as a common lab bench because because

not everybody has their own fume hood

so when you come in make sure it's clean

just like you do for your lab bench and

when you leave

working here you make sure it's clean

just like your lap bench

also when you're done close the sash

because if the sash is open it drags

more air

out out of the room and then out the

roof of the building

which just it's not a safety hazard but

it costs money to

because we lose heat particularly during

the winter on a snowy day like today

now let's talk about minimizing the

exposure of our

chemical compounds that we're using

with the environment we don't want to

have the chemicals that we're using

to be leaked into the environment and so

the main way we do that is by collecting

our hazardous waste our chemical

hazardous waste and there really are two

kinds of those there's liquids and

there's

and there's solids solids will go into a

container it's kind of like a big um

a big main age jar that will be put out

by your instructor

and for you to put any solid waste that

you have a little trickier to handle is

liquid waste so liquid waste goes into a

container and i'll show you how that

works

so in the hood fume hood

there's a bottle like this that has a

locking

lid that you open up and lock it

to hold open while you pour things this

should never be left open

overnight it's okay to leave it open

while you're doing your hazardous waste

transfer into here and then these are

are collected by the hazardous waste

staff

and handled properly

[Applause]

the most important rule for you is that

you should never throw

any waste in the garbage or down the

sink

without being instructed that that's

okay by your instructor

so generally your instructor will tell

you what

waste goes where