From: Dr Bob <drbob**At_Symbol_Here**FLOWSCIENCES.COM>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] A Safe Return (after Covid)
Date: Mon, 11 May 2020 14:57:59 +0000
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: d374d9e6271544babb0b68f73fb1301b**At_Symbol_Here**flowsciences.com
In-Reply-To <4F6DD134-6F26-4549-83A5-5A88E1744191**At_Symbol_Here**depauw.edu>


Hello all!

The issue of contamination of viruses depends on the virus and the conditions in the room where activity is taking place. Covid 19 and its propagation patterns inside a lab with make-up air and operating fume hoods has internal room issues plus the issue of how to stop any viruses inside the make-up air ductwork from entering the lab. Theories cannot even propose answers to your issues using aerodynamic models that do not reflect accurate longevity calculations for the virus itself in moving air.

Good luck with all of this!

Dr. Bob Haugen

-----Original Message-----
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety On Behalf Of David Roberts
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2020 9:39 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] A Safe Return (after Covid)

With fume hoods operating in a given room. Let‰??s say you have 8 hoods in a space that is approx. 40 ft x 40 ft (I‰??m guessing, but it‰??s not far from that). 4 hoods on two opposite outer walls. Hoods draw air towards them, I believe fresh 1x use air comes down in the middle of the rooms - so I imagine air flow is middle to edge. Does that mean that all protected people need to be towards the center of the room - facing the hoods? Do the hoods extend the 6‰?? required distance (as they are giving velocity to the air in the room)? Would face shields help here at all? I have a lot more here but I‰??ll stop at that and see where this goes. Didn‰??t mean to pirate this thread - but it‰??s about safety and reopening so just thought I‰??d add some questions.

Along these same lines, is anybody thinking about public bathrooms? That to me is one of the biggest worries when re-opening. How do you keep those spaces with dead air and lots of multi touch surfaces clean. I know you are only there for a small amount of time (no lingering allowed during pandemics) but it‰??s still worrisome. And throughout a day you may visit more than once. Just saying

Dave

> On May 11, 2020, at 9:14 AM, Ralph Stuart wrote:
>
> FYI, there's a good editorial, excerpted below, in the ACS journal
> Inorganic Chemistry at
> https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c01253
> about rethinking the way we approach lab safety as activity in academic organizations picks up again. In my opinion, it's worth sharing widely in the chemistry community.
>
> - Ralph
>
>
> A Safe Return
>
> One of the difficult aspects of sheltered life during the coronavirus pandemic has been our inability to make plans. It is hard to plan when there is so much we just do not know, such as when we can next travel on a plane, when we can start seeing friends and extended family in person again, and if and when an event still on the calendar will occur. We also do not know yet when we can restart research in our laboratories.
> ...
> In developing these plans, we are thinking hard about the way the laboratories operate, how people work, how they navigate and travel to and from the buildings, etc., and we are being purposeful about designing plans that will enable research to be performed and, at the same time, ensure everyone‰??s health and well-being. As we do this, it struck me: This is the perfect time and opportunity for all PIs to take a careful look at how they operate their laboratory and to ask, is this the safest way? Might not this, the key moment when a careful process of laboratory reopening is being developed to deal with the pandemic, be the best opportunity to improve the broader culture of safety in our laboratories?
>
>
> Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
> Chair
> American Chemical Society Committee on Chemical Safety
> ralph**At_Symbol_Here**rstuartcih.org
>
> ---
> For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the
> Divisional membership chair at membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org Follow us on
> Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas

---
For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional membership chair at membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas

---
For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional membership chair at membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas

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.