[lilystein]

Hi there! I am a recently retired NMR tech. I've done NMR for years. I've spent a considerable portion of my life in front of the magnet, preparing solvents, and, to my embarassment, breaking sample tubes and spilling deuterated solvents and potentially toxic samples everywhere.  I realize that there may be risks with both RM radiation and radioactive solvents for pregnant women, but are there any long-term effects on women who will try to become pregnant? IE, will my past life come back to haunt me?

Thanks,
Lily

[jdurg]

Not unless you were sleeping by the NMR while it was operating for weeks at a time while taking baths and ingesting every solvent there is.  An NMR is just a specialized MRI, so to speak.  The same risks you have when you get an MRI are there when you perform an NMR analysis.  I.E. nothing.  The 'radiation' given off by an NMR is not ionizing radiation so the propensity for it to be damaging is virtually nill.  You're more at risk from the solvents than you are the machine itself.

Now as for the solvents, typically speaking NMRs go along with organic compounds.  Organic solvents aren't really the best for you which is why exposure is typically limited.  Deuterated compounds aren't nearly as toxic as some may think.  You generally need to ingest a LOT of deuterium before any toxic effects begin to show.  Spilling a few mL of deuterium oxide on your skin isn't going to do anything.

So to answer your main question; no.  You really have nothing to worry about.  

[Mitch]

There is nothing radioactive about NMRs or deuterated solvents!

[jdurg]

There is nothing radioactive about NMRs or deuterated solvents!

Radioactive in the sense of ionizing radiation, that is.  (EM Radiation is still radiation).  Deuterated solvents could be radioactive if they are using radioactive carbon tracers, but I see no reason why that would be helpful to an NMR analysis.

[Mitch]

C¹⁴ wouldn't be NMR active.