From: Ralph B Stuart <rstuart**At_Symbol_Here**CORNELL.EDU>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Toxic dust handling
Date: June 26, 2012 12:41:35 PM EDT
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: <1B4D1665F78352429F7714A6540EB0362942614D**At_Symbol_Here**MBXE-01.exchange.cornell.edu>

A question has arisen here about the best practices for handling dusts known to be unusually toxic, such as teratogens or mutagens. It appears from google searches that many academic Standard Operating Procedures recommend using these dusts in a fume hood. This seems counter-intuitive to me, as strong air flows around these dusts would seem to create a housekeeping challenge by dispersing the dust around the use area. This could lead to unnecessary contamination of someone's hands as they work with the material. In addition, the ergonomics of performing delicate operations, such as handling dusts, in a hood can be a challenge due to their one size fits all nature.

Prudent Practices indicates that highly toxic dusts should be used in a hood, but that seems to be rolled up in the same recommendation as for handling gases and vapors. It seems to me that dusts present distinct hygiene challenges from gases and vapors. I wonder if anyone has addressed this issue with specific rules that distinguish between these kinds of chemicals?

Thanks for any information about this.

- Ralph

Ralph Stuart CIH
Laboratory Ventilation Specialist
Department of Environmental Health and Safety
Cornell University

rstuart**At_Symbol_Here**cornell.edu

Previous post   |  Top of Page   |   Next post



The content of this page reflects the personal opinion(s) of the author(s) only, not the American Chemical Society, ILPI, Safety Emporium, or any other party. Use of any information on this page is at the reader's own risk. Unauthorized reproduction of these materials is prohibited. Send questions/comments about the archive to secretary@dchas.org.
The maintenance and hosting of the DCHAS-L archive is provided through the generous support of Safety Emporium.