Laboratory safety organic solvents

Safety glasses must be worn in the laboratory at all times. Material safety and data sheets should be read prior to the start of the experiment. All chemicals should be considered hazardous from a standpoint of flammability and toxicity. Appropriate safety gloves must be worn when using organic solvents so that no skin contact is permitted. Care must be taken to use organic solvents either in a well-ventilated area or in a hood. Avoid breathing the fumes or sources of electrical sparks. The GPC instrument, including solvent reservoir and waste container, should be vented to a fume hood or other exhaust system. 

The handling of solid sorbents, often used in pre-packed tubes, is more convenient than the use of organic solvents to trap VOCs from the air, especially for sampling in the field. The typical laboratory safety procedures required for the handling of organic solvents are not required for solid sorbent samples. 

Note Moderately polar solvent, ethereal odor soluble in water and most organic solvents flammable moderately toxic incompatible with strong oxidizers can form potentially explosive peroxides upon long standing in air see the relevant tables in the chapter on laboratory safety commercially, it is often stabilized against peroxidation with 0.5 to 1.0% (mass/mass) p-cresol, 05 to 1.0% (mass/mass) hydroquinone, or 0.01% (mass/mass) 4,4 -thiobis(6-ferf-butyl-m-cresol) can polymerize in the presence of cationic initiators such as Lewis acids or strong proton acids. Synonyms THF, tet-ramethylene oxide, diethylene oxide, 1,4-epoxybutane, oxolane, oxacyclopentane. 

Safety Most of the organic solvents used in the laboratory today are associated with risks flammables, explosives, carcinogens, etc. 

Safety note Always dispose of organic solvent waste in accordance with laboratory procedure (never down the sink). 

The hazards associated with organic solvents you are likely to encounter in the organic laboratory are discussed in detail in section 1.3. If you use proper safety precautions, your exposure to harmful organic vapors will be minimized and should present no health risk. 

Organic solvents must be handled safely. Always remember that organic solvents are all at least mildly toxic and that many are flammable. You should become thoroughly familiar with laboratory safety (see Technique 1). 

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