Hazards glassware

In terms of exposure to a wide variety of laboratory hazards, glassware washing personnel have the greatest exposure to injury of any laboratory worker. They are exposed to biological and chemical agents, chemical disinfectants, detergents, heat, steam, broken glass, chemical... 

Chemical reaction hazards must be considered in assessing whether a process can be operated safely on the manufacturing scale. Furthermore, the effect of scale-up is particularly important. A reaction, which is innocuous on the laboratory or pilot plant scale, can be disastrous in a full-scale manufacturing plant. For example, the heat release from a highly exothermic process, such as the reduction of an aromatic nitro compound, can be easily controlled in laboratory glassware. Flowever,... 

Normal laboratory glassware must first be washed and cleaned. It has to be rinsed with deionised water. The clean glassware is sterilised in an oven set at 200 °C for 1 1 hours. It is suitable to cover glassware with aluminum foil to maintain aseptic conditions after removing the glassware from the oven. If aluminum foil is not available, special heat-resistant wrap paper can be used. The sterile glassware must be protected from the air, which has micro-flora, or any contaminants. Avoid the use of any plastic caps and papers. Detach any labelling tape or other flammable materials, as they are fire hazards. 

However, there are disadvantages to the base bath. First, it has some safety hazards. The alcohol is a potential fire hazard, and the bath s alkalinity is caustic to skin. The base bath is also a mild glass stripper. That is, instead of cleaning the glassware, it actually removes layers of glass (and any adjoining contamination). 

Bacteriological Material. Soak the glassware in a weak Lysol solution, or autoclave in steam. A number of sources recommend soaking the glassware in a 2% to 4% cresol solution. However, the EPA has recently identified cresol as a hazardous material. Because other options are readily available (see Sec. 4.1.1 through Sec. 4.1.9), there is no reason to use the material. If you have any cresol, contact a hazardous materials disposal firm in your area for removal. 

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