Chemical laboratory technicians

Chemical Engineer B.S. in chemical engineering Chemical Laboratory Technician Two-year training program... 

Chemical laboratory technicians and associate laboratory workers are exposed to a great number of chemicals that cause irritant or allergic contact dermatitis, contact urticaria or skin burns. Laboratories that deal with biological specimens or laboratory animals, e.g., in hospitals, university clinical departments and pharmaceutical companies, share the hazards of chemistry laboratories however, human and animal tissue specimens, and laboratory animals contribute additional risks of contact urticaria and skin infections. Laboratory assistants are at greater risk of sensitization than workers in general. Also, the risk of skin infections is increased (Karjalainen et al. 1997)-... 

According to the ACS, more than 240,000 chemical laboratory technicians and 500,000 plant technical operators are employed in the United States. This group makes up the fourth largest U.S. manufacturing industry. Studies of workforce development indicate that much of the existing... 

The careers of chemists and chemical laboratory technicians consist of the study of the composition, structure, properties, and changes of material substances. The fruits of their labor are many. The following items are just a few that have resulted from chemists and laboratory technicians studying chemistry batteries, plastics and clothing fibers, pharmaceuticals and medicines, pesticides and herbicides, clean water and air, fertilizers, soaps and shampoos, and perfumes and deodorants. How do we begin a study of chemistry We begin by understanding what is meant by each item in the definition. 

Some of the challenges facing the industrial laboratory are limited resources, cost containment, productivity, timeliness of test results, chemical safety, spent chemicals disposal, technician capability, analytical capability, disappearing skills, and reliability of test results. The present R D climate in the chemical industry is one of downsizing at corporate level (lean and mean), erosion of boundaries between basic and applied science, and polymer science and analytical chemistry as Cinderella subjects. Difficult chemical analyses are often run by insufficiently skilled workers (a managerial issue). 

Chemical plant, construction, agricultural workers Chemical plant workers, laboratory technicians Plumbers, outdoor sculpture artists, copper foundry workers Chemical plant workers, laboratory technicians Horticulturists... 

Chemical plant workers, agricultural workers, laboratory technicians... 

One very important resource has been the Voluntary Industry Skill Standards for entry-level chemistry laboratory technicians published by the American Chemical Society in 1997. These standards consist of a large number of competencies that such technicians should acquire in their educational program prior to employment as technicians. While many of these competencies were fortuitously addressed in previous editions, many others were not. It was a resource that I consulted time and time again as the writing proceeded. 

The age of chivalry may be dead, but the age of craftsmanship is still with us. Any artisan worth his salt - whether he be a lathe operator turning out metal pieces, a laboratory technician performing chemical analyses, an analytical or physical chemist developing methods for others to use - is interested in improving and perfecting his work. But some of our people are so skilled, some of their methods so good, that it is sometimes hard to tell whether an improvement has been made or not. 

This book is intended for chemists, toxicologists, laboratory technicians, manufacturers, safety professionals and government personnel involved in environmental and industrial safety and health matters. The ability to identify the actual manufacturers of hazardous materials is important where detailed background information is required when investigating chemical accidents, exposures, product contamination, faulty labeling and other incidents involving chemicals and their effect on workers or the environment. 

Doctors and medical laboratory technicians rely on the chemical reactions between a persons blood and chemicals added to their blood sample to detect, diagnose, and treat diseases. Medical lab technicians, for example, use a chemical reaction to match blood types for blood transfusions. They also use chemical reactions to test for drug levels in the blood to show how a patient is responding to treatment. 

Test procedures are written procedures that provide the step-by-step details of how to perform the tests indicated in specifications or SOPs. They indicate the reagents to be used, sources of the chemicals, how the reagents are to be prepared, and the shelf life of the reagents. Also described are the apparatus to be used and special handling and precautions to be followed. At times a compendial test procedure is not in sufficient detail for a laboratory technician to follow exactly. In such a case, the procedure should be written in the necessary detail. A laboratory technician should not run a test without having the proper written procedure. 

Chemical plant workers, agricultural workers, laboratory technicians Printers, dye workers, cleaners, laboratory technicians Plastics plant workers also found as a river pollutant... 

Arsenic Carbon tetrachloride Copper Dimethylforamide 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid Eluorine Toluene Trichloroethylene Vinyl chloride Chemical plant, construction, agricultural workers Chemical plant workers, laboratory technicians Plumbers, outdoor sculpture artists, copper foundry workers Chemical plant workers, laboratory technicians Horticulturists Chemical plant workers, laboratory technicians Chemical plant, agricultural workers, laboratory technicians Printers, dye workers, cleaners, laboratory technicians Plastics plant workers, also found as a river pollutant... 

According to the National Occupational Exposure Study (NOES) conducted by NIOSH from 1981 to 1983, the following estimated number of workers were potentially exposed to Aroclors in the workplace 2,214 to Aroclor 1242 3,702 to Aroclor 1254 991 to Aroclor 1260 and 1,558 to Aroclor 1016 (NIOSH 1989). Occupational exposure to Aroclors occurs in miscellaneous workers in the transformer industry, noncellulose fiber industry, semiconductor and related industries, and in sawmills and planing mills. It also occurs in clinical laboratory technicians and technologists of general medical and surgical hospitals. The NOES database does not contain information on the frequency, concentration, or duration of occupational exposure to any of the chemicals listed. The survey provides estimations of the numbers of workers for whom potential exposure in the worlq)lace is an issue. Since this study was conducted from 1981 to 1983, it does not accurately represent current worlq)lace exposure to PCBs. 

Microbalances used to be very tridqr instruments and only very skilled workers could hope to obtain reproducible results. The basic principle of most types is the torsion of a fiber (steel or quartz), its deflection being read with special optics. Cefola (C5) described a fish-pole balance which has been used in the isolation of plutonium. (A great number of ultramicro techniques now generally known originate from research on radioactive chemicals.) The development of these balances and the use of new principles (electric balances) bring the possibility of accurate weighing to the level of the laboratory technician. 

Animal fat and oil processors Animal manure removers Artificial-flavour makers Asphalt storage workers Barium carbonate makers Blast furnace workers Brewery workers Bromide-brine workers Cable splicers Caisson workers Carbon disulphide workers Cellophane producers Chemical laboratory workers (lecturers, students, technicians) Cistern cleaners Citrus root fumigators Coal gasification workers Coke oven workers Copper-ore sulphidisers Depilatory makers Dye-makers Excavators Felt makers... 

In Pease v. Sinclair Refinery Co., a manufacturer of chemistry teachers demonstration kits offered one kit which contained sample tubes of different liquids, one of which was supposed to be kerosene. Unfortunately, since kerosene has the same physical appearance as water, the manufacturer substituted water for kerosene in the tube, perhaps in an effort to save costs. A severe injury occurred when the water was inadvertently mixed with a chemical which was explosive in the presence of water. The court held that the manufacturer should have foreseen that, in a chemistry classroom setting, a number of chemicals might come in contact with each other, most certainly with water. The court balanced the gravity of the possible harm - explosion, against what it viewed as the ease with which the manufacturer could have provided a warning. Compare the results in that case, however, with the Croteau v. Borden Co.f where a chemical manufacturer was held not liable to a laboratory technician for a failure to warn that if one of its chemicals was mixed with a wide variety of other chemicals an explosion might be produced. 

Thus piperazine citrate used for the treatment of pinworms (threadworms) can produce an allergic drug eruption in ethylenediamine-sensitive individuals (Burry 1978). Cross-reactions can occur in chemists and laboratory technicians who handle both of these chemicals (Calnan 1975). 

This appears to be relatively straightforward, but in fact can be rather complicated. In a large academic institution, the actual duties associated with a given job classification often become blurred over a period of time. For example, a job title of laboratory technician might appear to logically relate to chemical exposure, but the duties of the individual may have changed so that the job may never bring the individual into contact with chemicals at all. It is not possible to simply have the persoimel department list all persons in specific job classifications as professional staff or faculty in research areas. 

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