Most of the acid reagents are strongly corrosive and volatile, and there will be acid steam or mixed acid mist during the experiment, endangering the health of the experimenter.
Chemical inhalation risk
Acid fog refers to a kind of fog-like acid substance. Usually, in the air, the particles of acid fog are microscopic, the particle size is between 0.1~10 μm, and cannot be detected by the naked eye, with strong corrosion.
Frequent inhalation of acid vapor or acid mist can cause respiratory tract or bronchitis, especially hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, and other acids.
An overview of the dangers of acid chemicals (MSDS)
Safe use of scientific precautions
| PC-TWA values and hazards of acid chemicals | ||
| Chemical reagent name | PC-TWA(mg/m3) | Harm |
| Nitric acid | 5 | corrosive stomatitis and gastroenteritis as well as pneumonia |
| sulfuric acid | 1 | conjunctivitis/ conjunctival edema/corneal confusion/ resulting in blindness |
| hydrochloric acid (35%) | 5 | chronic rhinitis/ chronic bronchitis/dental acidosis and skin damage |
PC-TWA: The average acceptable exposure concentration for working days (8 hours) and working weeks(40 hours) with time as the weight.
Operation precautions:
1. Be familiar with the characteristics of the operating acid.
2. The operator must be specially trained and strictly abide by the operating procedures.
3. Enclosed operation, mechanization, and automation as far as possible;
Use fully automatic sealing instruments, such as digester, bottle mouth separator……
4. Pay attention to ventilation.
The operation needs to be performed inside the fume hood
5. It is recommended that operators wear filter gas masks, acid and alkali resistant rubber suits, and rubber gloves during operation and transfer.
Erlab ductless filtering fume hood
The filtration system installed on the top of the Erlab ductless filtering fume hood uses the BE+ filter specifically for acids to capture the acid vapor and acid mist generated from the source so that the chemical concentration of the experimenters is close to 0 ppm. The maximum is not more than 1% of its PC-TWA value which is far lower than the occupational health standards. At the same time, the filtration efficiency is also higher than the standard.
Safety is no small matter. The experimental work must be correctly operated and stored according to the characteristics of acid chemicals. The waste acid after the experiment is collected (the waste liquid after collection can be treated according to the principle of acid-base neutralization reaction) to reduce unnecessary damage.
