• Question: What is the nastiest chemical you have ever handled?

    Asked by pandaboy to MarkF, Mark, Michael, Panos, Sarah on 15 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Michael Loughlin

      Michael Loughlin answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      lets see

      acrylamide is a neurotixn that in pwder and liquid for can paralyse you

      Crystal violet causes cancer and we use that lot

      plenty of flammable stuff..
      DMSO absorbs through the skin which means anything dissolved in it will go through too

      but two spring to mind one had the safety warning STENCH in big letters and yes it did smell

      the other to quote ” may affect mating performance in rats” which was quite scary not only because of the danger but who decided that the mating performace was worse or better in these rats

    • Photo: Panos Soultanas

      Panos Soultanas answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      Hello pandaboy,

      I have handled many nasty chemicals. Strong acids or bases for example are dangerous if you spill them on bare skin. Ethidium bromide is also a dye that goes into your DNA and can cause harmful mutations in your DNA causing cancer. Acrylamide is another chemical that, when it accumulates in your body, can cause nerve damage. Also, certain radioactive compounds need to be handled carefully to avoid unnecessary exposure to harmfull radiation.

    • Photo: Mark Travis

      Mark Travis answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      There are a lot of nasty chemicals about in the lab that you have to be careful of. Ethidum Bromide is a chemcial we use for visualising DNA as it binds to it and can be seen under a UV lamp. But it also binds to our DNA and is a carcinogen so you need to be careful! Also things like sodium azide are very toxic so you don’t want to spill any on yourself- concentrated hydorchloric acid is very corrosive as well so you don’t want to spill that on your hand.

      You also have to be careful of bleach- if you spill that on your jeans it makes them goes a funny colour and ruins them. Which is nasty.

    • Photo: Mark Fogg

      Mark Fogg answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      Take your pick.

      I’ve used arsenic, some radioacative elements and a chemical called ‘acrylamide’ that can fry your brain. My lab technician has used something called Ricin, it’s extracted from a Castor Beans (where we get Castor Oil), an amount smaller than half a grain of sand will kill a human if it’s injected or inhaled. Pretty horrible stuff.

    • Photo: Sarah Burl

      Sarah Burl answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      I think it would have to be phenol and chloroform which we used to use for extracting DNA. One lab I was in someone spilt phenol on their legs and it burnt right through their tights and burnt their skin – not nice stuff and should be used in the hood. Nowadays there are lots of kits with buffers already made up and so I don’t have to use dangerous chemicals very often.

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