I can't function in a lab

[Jfz]

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i dont know why..its a psychological issue when it comes down to it

chemicals which have the potential to be dangerous scare the crap outta me

i did my first chemistry lab today. in high school labs were sort of a joke, people would dick around for the period til time ran out, teacher would eventually do the experiment for the class, you could get data from other people, etc. so when i had to do an individual experiment it was kinda new.

i just get so nervous. my hands get shaky. i spill stuff down the side of my breakers. i get more nervous because now the stuff is on my hands, etc

the fear extends beyond the lab though because pens i used, lab manuals which i spilt on i still have with me and i create dumb little sceanarios in my head of all the ways the chemical could make its way into my body.

its such an illogical fear. i suppose today was because we were working without gloves on 'unknown' chemicals so i had no idea what level of precaution i should take around them. no matter how careful i try to be though, **** happens. i know i got so much stuff on my hands today i just stopped washing it off because i was getting behind. and then washing glassware i get some splashback around my mouth and get worried because now the chemicals are on my lips, etc.

maybe im just safety ignorant. i dont know how much exposure someone actually needs to get poisoned by something. but this irrational fear of chemicals is annoying. advice?

 

[Schemp]

i dont know why..its a psychological issue when it comes down to it

chemicals which have the potential to be dangerous scare the crap outta me

i did my first chemistry lab today. in high school labs were sort of a joke, people would dick around for the period til time ran out, teacher would eventually do the experiment for the class, you could get data from other people, etc. so when i had to do an individual experiment it was kinda new.

i just get so nervous. my hands get shaky. i spill stuff down the side of my breakers. i get more nervous because now the stuff is on my hands, etc

the fear extends beyond the lab though because pens i used, lab manuals which i spilt on i still have with me and i create dumb little sceanarios in my head of all the ways the chemical could make its way into my body.

its such an illogical fear. i suppose today was because we were working without gloves on 'unknown' chemicals so i had no idea what level of precaution i should take around them. no matter how careful i try to be though, **** happens. i know i got so much stuff on my hands today i just stopped washing it off because i was getting behind. and then washing glassware i get some splashback around my mouth and get worried because now the chemicals are on my lips, etc.

maybe im just safety ignorant. i dont know how much exposure someone actually needs to get poisoned by something. but this irrational fear of chemicals extends into my everyday life and i want to stop it. advice?

Well, like you said, it's a psychological issue - see a psychologist? Coming up will all these unreasonable scenarios in your head sounds more than just typical anxiety.

Besides that, if you can't get over this problem I can't imagine you'd be very successful in medicine. It gets dirty, and people's bodies are gross. I don't know who can really help you with this other than a psychologist/psychiatrist if experience isn't diminishing your fear of the lab environment.

 

[schrizto]

I think that is something you'll have to learn to deal with. Wash your hands often. These kind of risks happen in medicine, too. You may have to say, collect bodily fluids from or operate on someone with HIV/AIDS.

 

[Confused2626]

The chemicals in gen chem labs are generally safe. Even spilling acid on your skin...it will be dilute enough or in such small quantities you probably wont notice (based off experience).

Chem instructors/lab coordinators are not going to trust students to work with plutonium or anything like that 😳) They have their own legal woes to worry about. They stress safe lab practice because you need to get in the habit of doing labs safely with proper personal safety precautions

 

[apumic]

Honestly, this sounds a bit atypical. If your anxiety is making it difficult for you to function in any part of your life -- including academics -- it's time to see a mental health professional. Your school's counseling center should be able to refer you to a licensed professional and you could begin therapy shortly. Off the record, I might suggest seeking out someone with a CBT/BT background since this appears to be anxiety-related.

 

[Myuu]

The chemicals in gen chem labs are generally safe. Even spilling acid on your skin...it will be dilute enough or in such small quantities you probably wont notice (based off experience).

I would be careful about saying things like that, as they're not always true--we worked with 10-14M HF from time to time.😱

 

[Jfz]

I would be careful about saying things like that, as they're not always true--we worked with 10-14M HF from time to time.😱

HF? as in hydrofluoric acid? oh god i think i'd be skipping that lab haha. was that in first year chemistry?

as for psychologist, im not sure if im at that point. its not affecting my school really..i just feel uncomfortable being around these things. i usually deal with it though..like today i just sucked it up and went with it, albeit feeling nervous throughout.

 

[schrizto]

idk about saying all chemicals are generally safe in gen chem labs either. My class had to handle sulfuric acid in a dropper with bare hands before. There were probably other dangerous chemicals, sulfuric acid was just one of the ones I knew was nasty.

Didn't the OP say he wanted to do undergraduate research in a thread the other day? I don't think biology labs have as dangerous reagents as chem labs but I'm not sure.

 

[akinetopsia]

Doesn't your lab have gloves and lab coats to use? All the chemistry labs I've been in (2 gen chem labs & 1 organic lab) have latex gloves to use and nitrile gloves for those with latex allergies. Do you get to work with a lab partner? Maybe make a deal with your partner - they do the set-up, pouring/titrations if they have a steady hand and you'll lead the way on the clean-up/"dishwashing" and calculations.

Even using the gloves, wash your hands after the lab for sure. Have confidence in the system. Most labs work on a small scale approach, so you really aren't using that large an amount of chemicals at high concentrations, mainly for budget reasons (budgets are being slashed at a lot of places, and lab fees are rising.. I'm not saying it's cause & effect but it's inevitable).

 

[Jfz]

Doesn't your lab have gloves and lab coats to use? All the chemistry labs I've been in (2 gen chem labs & 1 organic lab) have latex gloves to use and nitrile gloves for those with latex allergies. Do you get to work with a lab partner? Maybe make a deal with your partner - they do the set-up, pouring/titrations if they have a steady hand and you'll lead the way on the clean-up/"dishwashing" and calculations.

Even using the gloves, wash your hands after the lab for sure. Have confidence in the system. Most labs work on a small scale approach, so you really aren't using that a large amount of chemicals at high concentrations, mainly for budget reasons (budgets are being slashed at a lot of places, and lab fees are rising.. I'm not saying it's cause & effect but it's inevitable).

no gloves today at least. and i found out the 4 unknown chemicals were
ethylene glycol
2-propanol
1-butanol
water

im 99% sure i had 2-propanol..which is just rubbing alcohol so my fear was irrational

 

[schrizto]

Doesn't your lab have gloves to use? All the chemistry labs I've been in (2 gen chem labs & 1 organic lab) have latex gloves to use and nitrile gloves for those with latex allergies. Do you get to work with a lab partner? Maybe make a deal with your partner - they do the set-up, pouring/titrations if they have a steady hand and you'll lead the way on the clean-up/"dishwashing" and calculations.

Gloves aren't always available. I have been in 2 college chem classes that did not use gloves. It probably varies from school to school. This isn't a fear that (if serious) can be avoided forever if going into a science related field.

 

[akinetopsia]

I'm kind of surprised a lot of people don't have gloves available. I didn't really consider them a luxury, but most of the experiments you do, you can do bare-handed. You just have to be particularly careful with how you are handling the chemicals, especially highly acidic/caustic ones.

 

[learnmdabc]

I know it's going to take more than words for you to get over your anxiety. But think of it this way. Thousands (upon thousands) of general chemistry students pass the lab portion of the class---without fail, without accidents, without anxiety, without physical damage. So don't think of yourself as an exception -- you are merely a statistic. And I don't say that in a negative way, at all. Pay attention to the safety requirements, ask your GSI if you have any lingering fears, and get on with it. If thousands of other students can do it safely, you can do it also. Heck, your attentiveness and carefulness may even allow you to perform the labs exceptionally well!

 

[Schemp]

as for psychologist, im not sure if im at that point. its not affecting my school really..i just feel uncomfortable being around these things. i usually deal with it though..like today i just sucked it up and went with it, albeit feeling nervous throughout.

I'd agree with this if you weren't posting on a pre-medical forum, which leads me to believe you have an interest in becoming a doctor. I'd say continue as you are and see if your feelings about lab work change and you become more comfortable with them. If they don't improve though, you need to do something to solve the problem or change career paths. It sounds like if you're pushing through you may get to a comfortable point naturally since you already seem to be improving. I am just concerned about anyone who has such strong anxiety about something relatively unthreatening and has plans to become a doctor, you know?

 

[azrael87]

I'm surprised above the gloves thing too. All of my lab classes not only recommended, but required you use gloves and labcoats unless it was a purely simulated lab (in other words, only using computers. No chemicals, etc). Some professors wouldn't even allow you to stay in the room if you didn't have the gloves on.

Anyway, I say just keep at it. When I started college I had very shaky hands (initially I thought no way am I going into surgery), but after a couple of years of having to handle objects and chemicals carefully it got much better. Now I have VERY stable hands. It's both a matter of getting over the irrational fears and training the small muscles of your hand. Practice manipulating small objects to get your hands used to delicate movements and stability.

As for the chemicals, look at the procedure ahead of time so you know what you're working with. Know what they are and what they do. Then just say to yourself that if you follow standard safety protocols, you'll be fine. When pouring, use two hands at first and go very slowly. When cleaning glassware, use a weak stream of water at first to avoid major splashing. Honestly, I'd go in EXPECTING to get a couple of broken glass cuts and hot plate burns. Stuff that stings a little but heals in a like a week. Even those only happen once in a blue moon. Very little in the lab will cause you major damage unless you literally pour the highly concentrated acids/bases on yourself.

 

[Disinence2]

If its freshman Gen Chem lab i agree with everyone else; you don't need to worry about hurting yourself. We never used gloves as the plastic can react with some chemicals making the problem worse. Gloves don't protect against the really bad stuff like organic mercury anyways. Also there was a decent study that showed that using gloves made you more likely to spill something and have something bad happen to you.

Agree with above that you should chat with someone about it. Its normal to be anxious when doing something dangerous, however unreasonable fears that interfere with your daily activities typically warrant some discussion with someone who know what they are talking about. Most colleges give you a few free psych visits anyways that are built into your tuition, no one has to know. (except anyone on here that recognizes your screen name). There are strategies you can use to help "get over it"

This will come up frequently during your clinical years so its best to get it taken care of early!

 

[schrizto]

I'd agree with this if you weren't posting on a pre-medical forum, which leads me to believe you have an interest in becoming a doctor. I'd say continue as you are and see if your feelings about lab work change and you become more comfortable with them. If they don't improve though, you need to do something to solve the problem or change career paths. It sounds like if you're pushing through you may get to a comfortable point naturally since you already seem to be improving. I am just concerned about anyone who has such strong anxiety about something relatively unthreatening and has plans to become a doctor, you know?

Judging from the OP's past threads, he's considered MD/PhD too. Might want to reconsider that since that would involve spending time in labs handling reagents for the rest of one's career.

 

[Tin Man]

I personally have assumed that if something was going to melt my brain if I looked at it that my professor would let me know.

If you have any idea of what chemicals you will be using in the lab, you can take some time to look up the MSDS for each one, which will give you the approximate levels of caution you should take (although don't read too much into them, as almost any chemical, when inhaled, is an irritant).

I never recall having a TRUE unknown chemical to work with in lab. The teacher would always give us a list of chemicals that COULD be in the mixture, but she never told us that it could be any chemical in the whole wide world and we had to find it. If you know what chemicals it could be, you can get a pretty good idea of what you need to watch out for.

In the end, though, it certainly couldn't help bringing up your concerns to the professor. As I said, I highly, highly doubt you would be dealing with anything that would be unsafe if you followed proper laboratory protocol without being told first. No undergraduate lab professor in his right mind would allow a bunch of gen chem students to have an "unknown" that was radioactive or anything.

On a side note, while getting the lab to adapt to you is a temporary fix, you really should try to conquer this phobia as early as possible. I don't know you, but I wouldn't imagine a fear of dangerous chemicals is too far off from a fear of disease, and that might make things difficult for you in terms of volunteering and what I assume to be your future career.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

I personally have assumed that if something was going to melt my brain if I looked at it that my professor would let me know.

If you have any idea of what chemicals you will be using in the lab, you can take some time to look up the MSDS for each one, which will give you the approximate levels of caution you should take (although don't read too much into them, as almost any chemical, when inhaled, is an irritant).

I never recall having a TRUE unknown chemical to work with in lab. The teacher would always give us a list of chemicals that COULD be in the mixture, but she never told us that it could be any chemical in the whole wide world and we had to find it. If you know what chemicals it could be, you can get a pretty good idea of what you need to watch out for.

In the end, though, it certainly couldn't help bringing up your concerns to the professor. As I said, I highly, highly doubt you would be dealing with anything that would be unsafe if you followed proper laboratory protocol without being told first. No undergraduate lab professor in his right mind would allow a bunch of gen chem students to have an "unknown" that was radioactive or anything.

On a side note, while getting the lab to adapt to you is a temporary fix, you really should try to conquer this phobia as early as possible. I don't know you, but I wouldn't imagine a fear of dangerous chemicals is too far off from a fear of disease, and that might make things difficult for you in terms of volunteering and what I assume to be your future career.

👍 yup. chemicals like water even.

 

[wanderer]

You did not use HF. That thing is so incredibly toxic and corrosive, that they would never let a college freshman touch it.

nm: I see that someone other than the OP mentioned the HF. Still, why would you use HF?

 

[makeshift123]

I have permanent scars all across my right arm from lab (orgo lab, not gen, but nonetheless). Not scars, but just really dark spots. I had to up the amount of reagent I used for some reason, and the TA "forgot" the reaction was extremely exothermic and must be done in an icebath. Needless to say, acid burns all over my arm when it exploded everywhere. Thank god I was behind a hood and wearing goggles or else I probably would be blind now.

Wear your goggles people. The TAs and prof don't say it 50 times a day for nothing.

 

[calnation]

If I were you I would make sure I read all my labs thoroughly before coming to class. That way I wouldn't feel rushed and could take my time handing the chemicals. I would also always wear gloves and safety glasses regardless of the need or availability. Just bring your own always.

 

[Tin Man]

I have permanent scars all across my right arm from lab (orgo lab, not gen, but nonetheless). Not scars, but just really dark spots. I had to up the amount of reagent I used for some reason, and the TA "forgot" the reaction was extremely exothermic and must be done in an icebath. Needless to say, acid burns all over my arm when it exploded everywhere. Thank god I was behind a hood and wearing goggles or else I probably would be blind now.

Wear your goggles people. The TAs and prof don't say it 50 times a day for nothing.

Of course, hopefully the point is that if you had expressly asked the TA about it, it probably would have been avoided.

Not blaming you or calling you stupid. I would have done just the same thing you did, and ended up the same way. But if someone was terrified of this happening to them, and worked zealously to avoid such an incident, it could be done with all but the most incompetent of instructors (in which case, you go to the next level up...). For instance, sacrificing your image as just another chem student and wearing a lab coat probably would have prevented the burns.

Which is why I usually wear long sleeves in the lab, regardless of requirement or probability of working with exploding chemicals. Since I'm not nor ever plan on being a chemistry expert, I don't pretend to know what happens if I heat that mixture up five kJ hotter during the experiment...

 

[makeshift123]

Of course, hopefully the point is that if you had expressly asked the TA about it, it probably would have been avoided.

Not blaming you or calling you stupid. I would have done just the same thing you did, and ended up the same way. But if someone was terrified of this happening to them, and worked zealously to avoid such an incident, it could be done with all but the most incompetent of instructors (in which case, you go to the next level up...). For instance, sacrificing your image as just another chem student and wearing a lab coat probably would have prevented the burns.

Which is why I usually wear long sleeves in the lab, regardless of requirement or probability of working with exploding chemicals. Since I'm not nor ever plan on being a chemistry expert, I don't pretend to know what happens if I heat that mixture up five kJ hotter during the experiment...

oh no, it was the TA who told me to add more reagent. i added a solvent too early in the process or something like that (it was a few years back), and the TA told me to salvage the reaction by adding more of the reagent which then proceeded to blow up. the prof and our other TA gave him a piece of their mind and he was moved to freshman chem. I honestly felt bad, but really, would you go get three TAs opinion and the professors before moving to the next step? He told me so nonchalantly, and he was an "organic grad student TA, he had to know what he was talking about, right?".

Honestly, I don't like the way they "hire" TAs. They're mostly 1st/2nd year grad students who dont want to be there as much as the students and are forced into it. If I had to TA next year and a student came up to me with a problem, I also wouldn't know everything bad that might happen. I havent memorized every acid/base interaction and harmful effects and which reactions are really endo or exo? I did TA a lab, but I always reassured myself with the professot before saying anything I didnt have an idea on.

ANYWAY, back to the topic at hand...

 

[schrizto]

I have permanent scars all across my right arm from lab (orgo lab, not gen, but nonetheless). Not scars, but just really dark spots. I had to up the amount of reagent I used for some reason, and the TA "forgot" the reaction was extremely exothermic and must be done in an icebath. Needless to say, acid burns all over my arm when it exploded everywhere. Thank god I was behind a hood and wearing goggles or else I probably would be blind now.

Wear your goggles people. The TAs and prof don't say it 50 times a day for nothing.

Scary.

Which is why I usually wear long sleeves in the lab, regardless of requirement or probability of working with exploding chemicals.

I would think wearing a short sleeved shirt or rolled up sleeves would be safer than having long sleeves. If a dangerous chemical gets on a sleeve it might soak through the fabric and onto the skin, at which point you'll have to take the shirt off and the skin could get ripped off along with the shirt. If the chemical gets directly on the skin you could immediately put your skin under running water. Thus if you're wearing a long sleeved shirt and get chemicals on your sleeve it would increase the length of time you are exposed to the chemical compared to a sleeveless/rolled up shirt. Does this seem reasonable? I'm not an expert on chemicals.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

I would think wearing a short sleeved shirt or rolled up sleeves would be safer than having long sleeves. If a dangerous chemical gets on a sleeve it might soak through the fabric and onto the skin, at which point you'll have to take the shirt off and the skin could get ripped off along with the shirt. If the chemical gets directly on the skin you could immediately put your skin under running water. Thus if you're wearing a long sleeved shirt and get chemicals on your sleeve it would increase the length of time you are exposed to the chemical compared to a sleeveless/rolled up shirt. Does this seem reasonable? I'm not an expert on chemicals.

excellent point. in fact, in some of our more advanced labs in chem, we didn't wear gloves so that we knew immediately if we got the nasties on our hands and didn't spread it around

 

[greatnt249]

You did not use HF. That thing is so incredibly toxic and corrosive, that they would never let a college freshman touch it.

nm: I see that someone other than the OP mentioned the HF. Still, why would you use HF?

Etching glass?

 

[loveoforganic]

What stupid ass uni would have freshman using concentrated HF? God, I'd isolate myself fifty feet away from everyone else in the room.

You can etch glass with hydroxide, which is about a thousand times safer than conc HF. Weak HF etches glass too. No reason to need to use conc. solution.

Edit: During quant lab, our hoods were malfunctioning while we boiled probably about two liters total of conc. nitric acid spread out over 20 beakers. NO2 spurting out all the hoods, was great!

 

[wanderer]

Etching glass?

[YOUTUBE]Lf4vq2UU9hk[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Myuu]

You did not use HF. That thing is so incredibly toxic and corrosive, that they would never let a college freshman touch it.

nm: I see that someone other than the OP mentioned the HF. Still, why would you use HF?

That was me. You'd be surprised...

 

[Gabby]

To the original poster -- I can relate because I'm a huge klutz in lab. My first day of Gen Chem I lab, I burned myself with the burner and cut myself on glass (we were bending glass tubes). In Organic lab a year later, I spilled sulfuric acid on my arm. It burned, but fortunately, it was only a drop or two so it blistered then went away.

I'm in med school now and I don't have time to think of all the disasters that could happen. It gets easier over time, trust me.

 

[Jfz]

That was me. You'd be surprised...

that just sounds unsafe, you'd have to learn all the first aid treatments for HF and whatnot, in first year chem?

also whats up with that youtube video lol, shouldn't that be under a fumehood and not just out the window...and his arms are completely exposed...looks like he brought 70% HF home from wherever he works

also thanks for the responses guys.

 

[Myuu]

To the original poster -- I can relate because I'm a huge klutz in lab. My first day of Gen Chem I lab, I burned myself with the burner and cut myself on glass (we were bending glass tubes). In Organic lab a year later, I spilled sulfuric acid on my arm. It burned, but fortunately, it was only a drop or two so it blistered then went away.

I'm in med school now and I don't have time to think of all the disasters that could happen. It gets easier over time, trust me.

Passed a slide across the table through a burner once.


Ahh, undergrad.😍

 

[niblet]

Funny, I just had my first Chemistry lab today, too. Everyone got a small bottle of unknown solution and had to run different tests to determine its identity. My lab partner, for some reason, wanted to waft mine and in doing so accidentally hit the bottle, splashing a little solution around. I got some on my elbow and of course ran it under water for a little bit. After I ran my tests, I determined it to be NaOH (aka caustic soda). 😡

Just thought I'd add my story. I was a little nervous around the chemicals, too. Although it seems like one of those things that's cured with more experience. I don't think you should use this experience to judge whether or not you can function in a lab or whether or not you'd be comfortable in this setting as a career.

 

[physicsnerd42]

i dont know why..its a psychological issue when it comes down to it

chemicals which have the potential to be dangerous scare the crap outta me

i did my first chemistry lab today. in high school labs were sort of a joke, people would dick around for the period til time ran out, teacher would eventually do the experiment for the class, you could get data from other people, etc. so when i had to do an individual experiment it was kinda new.

i just get so nervous. my hands get shaky. i spill stuff down the side of my breakers. i get more nervous because now the stuff is on my hands, etc

the fear extends beyond the lab though because pens i used, lab manuals which i spilt on i still have with me and i create dumb little sceanarios in my head of all the ways the chemical could make its way into my body.

its such an illogical fear. i suppose today was because we were working without gloves on 'unknown' chemicals so i had no idea what level of precaution i should take around them. no matter how careful i try to be though, **** happens. i know i got so much stuff on my hands today i just stopped washing it off because i was getting behind. and then washing glassware i get some splashback around my mouth and get worried because now the chemicals are on my lips, etc.

maybe im just safety ignorant. i dont know how much exposure someone actually needs to get poisoned by something. but this irrational fear of chemicals extends into my everyday life and i want to stop it. advice?

Yes, the chemicals in chem lab can kill you, but so can the chemicals under your sink (or even in your Tylenol bottle) at home. It sounds like this fear is both illogical and serious enough to affect your ability to function in lab. You seem to know the fear is illogical and yet you still suffer from a lot of anxiety. If you want to go to medical school, you'll have to work with dangerous substances a lot (if you're this afraid of chem lab, how are you going to feel doing surgery or a blood draw/IV on someone with Hep C or HIV?) Thus, it's really important for you to deal with this, even if that requires medical intervention/a SSRI. If I were you, I would definitely go see a mental health professional/primary care doc.

Good luck. You'll get through this if you seek the necessary assistance. 👍

 

[TooMuchResearch]

i dont know why..its a psychological issue when it comes down to it

chemicals which have the potential to be dangerous scare the crap outta me

i did my first chemistry lab today. in high school labs were sort of a joke, people would dick around for the period til time ran out, teacher would eventually do the experiment for the class, you could get data from other people, etc. so when i had to do an individual experiment it was kinda new.

i just get so nervous. my hands get shaky. i spill stuff down the side of my breakers. i get more nervous because now the stuff is on my hands, etc

the fear extends beyond the lab though because pens i used, lab manuals which i spilt on i still have with me and i create dumb little sceanarios in my head of all the ways the chemical could make its way into my body.

its such an illogical fear. i suppose today was because we were working without gloves on 'unknown' chemicals so i had no idea what level of precaution i should take around them. no matter how careful i try to be though, **** happens. i know i got so much stuff on my hands today i just stopped washing it off because i was getting behind. and then washing glassware i get some splashback around my mouth and get worried because now the chemicals are on my lips, etc.

maybe im just safety ignorant. i dont know how much exposure someone actually needs to get poisoned by something. but this irrational fear of chemicals extends into my everyday life and i want to stop it. advice?

You have to try a lot harder than that to hurt yourself in a gen chem lab. The most dangerous thing I remember from gen chem is mercury...and you have to be exposed to a lot of it (much more than you are given). Spills happen. Don't worry about it.

 

[Beta Cell]

The chemicals in gen chem labs are generally safe. Even spilling acid on your skin...it will be dilute enough or in such small quantities you probably wont notice (based off experience).

Chem instructors/lab coordinators are not going to trust students to work with plutonium or anything like that 😳) They have their own legal woes to worry about. They stress safe lab practice because you need to get in the habit of doing labs safely with proper personal safety precautions

A guy in lab bumped into me as I was holding 16M H2SO4. That's not dilute and not safe, lol. I thought someone had poured boiling water on my hand at first. It left no mark at all, my hand was fine other than the initial burning sensation.

 

[schrizto]

I think I have the opposite of what the OP has. The other day we were in lab and there was a solution that was the color of cranberry juice. I was thirsty and started having crazy ideas of drinking it.

 

[Handinhand]

OCD much?

 

[Jfz]

haha, perhaps i overestimated my anxiety in my original post, i really don't think i'm at the point where i want prescription drugs...

because no matter how nervous i am, my desire to not look weird in front of my peers will always overpower my irrational fears 😛 (not intended to rhyme)

also this thread has made me feel a lot more confident about my next few labs. might as well get used to it now because im sure things will get a lot more dangerous in ochem next year. but srsly if i have an HF lab freshman year im sleeping in that day

 

[CoolWhipp]

Honestly, you probably aren't working with anything that dangerous exposed only for a short period of time. I've spilled so many things on myself in o-chem lab, that my skin started peeling, but seriously. They don't give you stock solutions of 12M HCl. Even in the lab I work in now, drugs fall on my skin all the time. In general, chemicals have to be a certain concentration to do damage over a given time period. You'll be fine.

 

[dingyibvs]

Honestly, you probably aren't working with anything that dangerous exposed only for a short period of time. I've spilled so many things on myself in o-chem lab, that my skin started peeling, but seriously. They don't give you stock solutions of 12M HCl. Even in the lab I work in now, drugs fall on my skin all the time. In general, chemicals have to be a certain concentration to do damage over a given time period. You'll be fine.

That depends, in my freshman lab they had stock of 99.8% HSO4 and 14M HCl. You open it up and "vapor" start to come out. I've accidentally spilled some HSO4 and H2NO3 on my hand and clothes before, it burns a hole straight through my clothes and wherever it touches my skin turns yellow and peels off(doesn't really hurt though, stings a little at first).

 

[CoolWhipp]

That depends, in my freshman lab they had stock of 99.8% HSO4 and 14M HCl. You open it up and "vapor" start to come out. I've accidentally spilled some HSO4 and H2NO3 on my hand and clothes before, it burns a hole straight through my clothes and wherever it touches my skin turns yellow and peels off(doesn't really hurt though, stings a little at first).

Well, if you have that kind of stock open for your use, you better be damn sure you are wearing eye protection. Maybe you won't have an accident, but the idiot next to you might.

 

[loveoforganic]

In my research lab's fridge, we've got a couple bottles of phosgene that have been in there FOREVER, and the fridge just reeks of chemicals (it's such a plethora of odors, god knows what you're actually breathing in). But getting smacked in the nose with that odor everytime you open it then seeing "PHOSGENE" written on tape on a nalgene holding container is a sucky feeling every time.

 

[dingyibvs]

Well, if you have that kind of stock open for your use, you better be damn sure you are wearing eye protection. Maybe you won't have an accident, but the idiot next to you might.

Oh yea, goggles are required, of course. In orgo lab they wouldn't even let us in without our goggles.

EDIT: And I just now realized I completely screwed up the molecular formulas of sulfuric and nitric acid, lol.

 

[greatnt249]

OCD much?

Not at all, actually.

 

[greatnt249]

Additionally, beware of anything dissolved in DMSO, as whatever is in it will get carried right into your skin on exposure.

 

[MedicFL]

I'm kind of surprised a lot of people don't have gloves available. I didn't really consider them a luxury, but most of the experiments you do, you can do bare-handed. You just have to be particularly careful with how you are handling the chemicals, especially highly acidic/caustic ones.

Gloves can actually make a chemical burn worse. Latex and Nitrile can actually burning into your skin and provide no protection aganist acids or bases... Its a false sense of security...

 

[MsKrispyKreme]

If chemicals scare you, then how are you going to feel about slicing into dead bodies one day?

 

[shiftingmirage]

Because of OSHA requirements, labs are required to have Material Safety Data Sheets for all chemials in the lab. If you are concerned about the safety of what you will be working with, you have the right to look at them, and they include exposure hazards. I would ask the instructor or a lab manager to see them for the labs you are doing. If they refuse, you can actually report them. Also, if you go to chemical distributers websites, lots give MSDS of the chemicals they sell. Wiki probably has it too. Check out the websites of places like Fisher Scientific, VWR, there's another big one I'm forgetting. Even in the case of an 'unknown' the school has to tell you the safety info. And if they don't provide gloves, go to a medical supply store and buy some. You may feel like a bit of nerd/tool/dork when you come to school with them, but if that's what you need to feel safe, then do it. You will encounter some nasty stuff eventually, as a jr, we used carbon tetrachloride as a solvent. You do not want to get that **** on ya. Even in gen chem, we used concentrated acids and bases.