4 Students Burned at Junior High

By: CBS Minnesota

My Fox 9

MAPLE GROVE, Minn. (WCCO) — Four students were transported to the Hennepin County Medical Center for burns after a methanol experiment blew up at Maple Grove Junior High. All the students, ninth graders, are currently in satisfactory condition. The experiment was being conducted by their ninth grade science teacher. Authorities say he was performing an experiment with a flammable liquid when the accident happened. It is not clear if the students suffered chemical burns or were burned by fire.

A fifteen-year-old got the worst of it and was still being treated at HCMC Thursday afternoon. “My face was actually on fire,” he said. 

Picric Acid Leads to Evacuation at School

By: Hilary Lane WKTV

Photo Credit HERE.

WATERVILLE, N.Y. (WKTV) - Students and staff members at Waterville Junior and Senior High School were evacuated a little after Noon on Thursday the New York State Police Bomb Disposal Unit out of Albany was called in to assess and dispose of some potentially hazardous chemicals.

"We are concerned about one of the chemicals that is possibly dangerous and could call an explosion," says Gary Lonczak, superintendent of schools. The main issue is a bottle of picric acid which is over 25 years old.

Teen Hospitalized from Science Explosion

By: Meg Alexander KFOR-TV

KFOR-TV

DEL CITY, Okla. -- An eighth grader has burns on her face, neck and hands after a school scientific demonstration went wrong at Kerr Middle School. "We were watching and she put the chemicals in and it exploded and hit me. I remember seeing the fire and I went on the ground and my friends were putting me out."

She's worried about long-term scarring and discoloration. The pain, especially at night, is hard to withstand. Her parents say they don't understand how this happened. Ashley told them they weren't wearing goggles.

Students Poisoned by Pesticides

By: eNews Park Forest!

Greg Lynch, Dayton Daily News

Washington, DC--(ENEWSPF)--October 27, 2011.  Forty-seven students from Edgewood Middle School in St. Clair Township, Ohio, reportedly fell ill after the school’s hired pest control company sprayed the herbicide Momentum, which contains the toxic ingredients 2,4-D, triclopyr and clopyralid, on nearby playing fields to treat for clover and other weeds. The incident and others like it demonstrate the need for a comprehensive national policy to protect children from harmful and unnecessary exposure to toxic chemicals. Six students were taken to nearby hospitals and twenty-one students total were treated for symptoms, including headaches, breathing difficulties, nausea and dizziness.

Texas Tech Building Evacuated After 2nd Explosion

By: Adam D. Young; Lubbock Avalanche-Journal 

Stephen Spillman

The second chemical explosion in two weeks at Texas Tech prompted campus officials to evacuate an engineering building late Thursday.

Nobody was injured or contaminated after what Tech spokesman Chris Cook called a small explosion about 7:15 p.m. in a laboratory in the Engineering and Technology Lab off the school’s engineering key at Canton Avenue and Glenna Goodacre Boulevard.

6 Students Injured in Chemistry Lab

By: Nancy McCleary

Staff photo by Amanda Berg

Six students were treated for injuries after a chemistry experiment at E.E. Smith High School went awry Tuesday afternoon, officials said. Three of the students were taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, said Theresa Perry, a school system spokeswoman. Two were being treated for minor burns, she said. The third student and three others who were tended to at the school had respiratory-related issues, said Ron Lewis, a battalion commander with the Fayetteville Fire Department.

Academic Lab Safety Under Examination

Chemical safety board report probes academic research practices, identifies role for American Chemical Society (ACS )

From: Chemical & Engineering News

By: Jeff Johnson And Jyllian Kemsley

Source:Texas Tech University

A fire at one university that led to a researcher’s death and an explosion at another that seriously injured a graduate student are among several incidents in the past few years that have turned a spotlight on safety practices in academic chemistry laboratories. 

Since 2001, more than 120 university lab accidents have caused injuries, millions of dollars in damages, and one death, according to the federal Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB).

OSHA Releases New Lab Safety Materials

From: Occupational Health and Safety Online

OSHA recently published new educational materials for laboratory managers on protecting their workers from exposure to chemical, biological, and physical hazards on the OSHA laboratory safety website.

The new materials include the Laboratory Safety Guidance document, which describes how electrical, fire, explosions, and falls, among other hazards, can be minimized or eliminated if employers use safety plans, worker training, engineering controls, and personal protective equipment. New laboratory safety materials also include fact sheets that each focus on a specific hazard related to laboratory environments. Practices and precautions to protect laboratory personnel include safety guidance for using autoclaves, use of chemical fume hoods, labeling and transferring chemicals, and latex exposure.

NH High School Evacuated After Chemical Spill

From: Associated Press

Photo: AP

EXETER, N.H. -- A New Hampshire high school had to be evacuated after a chemical spill that sent three staff members to the hospital. No students were injured. Classes were cancelled at the Exeter High School at about noon on Tuesday after the chemical was discovered near the school's loading dock.

Two Injured in University of Maryland Chemistry Lab Explosion

By: Andrea Noble
The Washington Times

Associated Press

Two University of Maryland students were injured Monday in the College Park campus’s Chemistry Building when a chemical reaction caused an explosion and small fire in the lab where they were working.

The two women were taken to a hospital with first-degree chemical burns and minor lacerations but were in good condition, Prince George’s County fire department spokesman Mark Brady said. The explosion occurred during an afternoon chemistry class as students were working with nitric and sulfuric acid.

Student Loses Eye in Chemistry Explosion

By: Michael Kaplan & Natalie Martinez
NBCChicago.com

A 16-year-old-boy lost his left eye Tuesday after a plastic bottle containing dry ice and water exploded during a chemistry class at a southwest suburban high school, a suit filed Friday claims.

Dillon Mantia was taking part in a chemistry experiment at Harold L. Richards High School in Oak Lawn when the teacher combined dry ice and water in a plastic water bottle and sealed it tightly with a cap, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

School Lab Made Safe by Bomb Team

from: Irish Examiner

An Army bomb disposal team made safe a quantity of unstable chemical at Ashbourne Community College, Co Meath this morning.

The Defence Forces deployed the team to Ashbourne Community College where the unstable chemical 2,4-Dinitrophenylhydrazine had been found during a routine audit of chemicals in the school laboratory.

Chemical Safety Incidents and Fatalities

For those looking for a compilation of chemical safety incidents and fatalities check out the two sites below.

The AIHA Laboratory Health and Safety Committee tracks laboratory safety incidents HERE. A variety of information can be found on their website HERE.

The Laboratory Safety Institute tracks laboratory fatalities on its Memorial Wall, which can be found HERE.

These two resources are useful for emphasizing the impacts of poor planning and unsafe conditions.

Jewelry Studio Incident Sends Student to Hospital

LONGMONT, Colo. -- Authorities say a Front Range Community College student has been taken to a hospital after she suffered burns while diluting a chemical in a jewelry studio classroom.

Longmont emergency manager Dan Eamon tells the Daily Times-Call the woman was injured Saturday by a chemical reaction while she was diluting ferric chloride. The chemical is often used for water treatment and to etch metal.

Itching Powder Causes Scare at School

By: news-press.com
Apr. 8, 2011

The Fort Myers Fire Department is at Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School responding to a possible hazmat situation.

Firetrucks and ambulances are on scene and the school is currently on lockdown. The nature of the incident is unknown at this time.

UPDATE:
The school is no longer on lockdown.

Lee County EMS Chief of Operations Scott Tuttle said a student brought itching powder into the school. Twelve students and 11 cafeteria workers were affected by the powder.

Lab Fire Washington University, St. Louis

By: Michael Tabb 
Student Life, March 30, 2011

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

Three fire departments and at least nine fire trucks respond to a lab mishap with a reaction experiment in an environmental nanochemistry laboratory of Brauer Hall brought at least nine fire trucks to the northeast of campus Tuesday afternoon. No one was injured and, according to fire department officials at the scene, damage was negligible.

UMass: Chemical Spill Shuts Down Goessman Building

By: Jeff Bernstein/Collegian
Collegian News Staff
March 23, 2011

By: Jeff Bernstein

At around 4:00 p.m., Goessman was all cleared by the hazardous materials team, said Thomas O’Regan, emergency management and business continuity manager. The dean and provost will work to finalize the rescheduling of classes in Goessman.

The Goessman laboratory building has been shut down and evacuated after a chemistry department faculty member found a leaking ammonia tank at 10 a.m. this morning, said Daniel Fitzgibbons, associate director of news and media relations at the University of Massachusetts.

Students Mistake Poison for Candy

Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, January 14, 2011

Seven San Francisco middle school students were taken to hospitals Thursday after ingesting small amounts of rat poison they found on top of a classroom filing cabinet, thinking the single blue cube was candy, fire officials said.

The Martin Luther King Jr. students, who showed no symptoms other than fear, were transported to three local hospitals, but were not expected to suffer any harmful consequences, said Fire Department spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge.

Talmadge said one of the students found the small cube and took a little nibble and told classmates it tasted like a cookie. Six others, boys and girls ranging in age from 10 to 12, then licked or bit pieces of the 1.5-inch cube of poison and either swallowed or spit it out.

Chemical Spill at High School

January 13, 2011

Fire and Hazmat crews were called Thursday morning to Poland Seminary High School for a chemical spill.

Township Police Chief Brian Goodin said someone in a biology lab accidentally spilled a solvent on the floor as they were moving some chemicals around. Around 8:30 a.m., someone was cleaning and knocked over a bottle of Xylene, a clear, colorless liquid that can be very flammable. Students were asked to leave the classroom where the spill was contained, but the building was not evacuated, said township Police Chief Brian Goodin.