[Cgd1287]

Hello all,

I'm not stranger to an organic chemistry laboratroy but I've recently started working in a new laboratory with some new chemicals, and I wanted to get some opinions from more of the seasoned/veteran chemists here about what I should be doing concerning chemical safety. Safety practices in my current lab are not highly stressed as in the past, but even so, I take my safety in the laboratory seriously. Here are some of the chemicals/solvents that myself and others in the lab work with on a daily basis,

DMSO, DMF, Formamide, THF, Acetone, Ethanol, Chloroform, Hexane, Methanol, Isopropanol

I personally use all of these in the fume hood, with the exception of having small amounts in glass cuvettes for characterization. I’m particularly concerned about using formamide and DMF, even in small amounts, outside of the hood since they are known teratogens. Others in the lab use some solvents outside of the hood (hexane) and even wear their lab coats and gloves out of the lab, so I try to just keep my distance. As for dust/fine particulates in the lab, no one really uses a respirator and I have not used one except in a few cases in the past, so I wanted to try and get a feel of how necessary this is/how many of us who work in labs actually use respirators on a daily basis when the MSDS sheets and safety materials specify their use. Thanks! 

[discodermolide]

Certainly you need to take safety seriously and have respect for the things you work with but don't be afraid of them.Working in a hood is good as is wearing gloves. As for a respirator I never used one on a daily basis, only in cases of emergency. A lot of the MSDS are generic and for most chemicals very little is known about their biological hazards.
If you are concerned about dust then a surgical mask should be sufficient and more comfortable to use on a daily basis.

[DrCMS]

An MSDS is really designed to give information to non-chemists who are using large amounts of materials kg or T amounts not for lab chemist using a few g.

[Cgd1287]

Thanks for the replies! I agree with both assessments of MSDS sheets, they are all mostly vague and the safety precautions listed are almost always the same for most chemicals.