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Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] [External] Re: [DCHAS-L] [External] Re: [DCHAS-L] Qiagen kits incident report
Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:33:40 PM
Author: Shannon Nephew <millersc**At_Symbol_Here**PLATTSBURGH.EDU> 		Next by Date:
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Opinion: What I learned from my lab accident
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2022 03:12:02 +0000
Author: "Schroeder, Imke"

From: Ernest Lippert <ernielippert**At_Symbol_Here**TOAST.NET>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] [External] Re: [DCHAS-L] [External] Re: [DCHAS-L] Qiagen kits incident report
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2022 21:26:09 -0400
Reply-To: ernielippert**At_Symbol_Here**TOAST.NET
Message-ID: 5393375fbbdc4db9b5a9dd6030284f2a**At_Symbol_Here**toast.net
In-Reply-To


Fifteen years ago, I used the following in a safety meeting - Ernest Lippert
 
Bleach and Ammonia
 
Some possible reactions between bleach (Hypochlorous acid, HOCl) with Ammonia (NH3) that may produce monochloramine NH2Cl
 
  1. HOCl + NH3 → NH2Cl + H2O
  2. 3HOCl + NH3 → 3H2O + NCl3
  3. NH3 + NH2Cl + NaOH → N2H4 + NaCl + H2O
  4. 2NH2Cl + N2H4 → 2NH4Cl + N2
 
Web sites: http://hazmap.nlm.nih.gov       http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov
 
Places to look:
  1. HSDB (Hazardous Substances Data Bank, part of toxnet)
  2. DART (this is inside toxnet and leads you to original literature). Searching for monochloramine gave 22 references some of which are abstracted below,
 
 
Some references found for NH2Cl (monochloramine or chloramine) in toxnet:
  1. Insufficient evidence for carcinogenicity in humans.
  2. Acute eye and upper respiratory irritation
    1. Why are enclosed swimming pools so irritating to the eyes?
      Urea (urine) + H2O + bacterial action → NH3 which then reacts with bleach:
      HOCl + NH3 → NH2Cl + H2O
  3. A woman with an undiagnosed oligodendroglioma (a brain tumor) mixed bleach and ammonia died while cleaning the bathroom.
  4. Acute lung injury that progressed to severe pneumonitis, caused by the use of combined hypochlorite and ammonia for cleaning in an occupational setting. A tracheostomy was necessary, but the patient recovered in 7 days.
  5. Erythropoietin resistance was linked to chloramine exposure.
  6. Acute eye and upper respiratory irritation were reported at an industrial facility that processes green salads in water containing hypochlorite. The irritant agents were chloramines resulting from the reaction of hypochlorite and nitrogen compounds coming from the sap proteins released when the vegetables were cut.
  7. A 21-year-old /phase/ G1 P0 presented at 37 weeks for her routine prenatal visit complaining of abruptly decreased fetal movement over the past 2 days. On the day fetal movements were lost; she inhaled a combination of chlorine bleach and ammonia while doing laundry. Afterwards, the patient felt frequent abdominal cramps and lightheadedness. The baby was delivered by C-section. At discharge on day 8, the infant was still jittery, with increased tone in the extremities, but truncal and neck hypotonia. It was unclear of the extent that exposure to chloramine contributed to the insult.
 
Though it might not kill you, it is not a good idea to mix ammonia and chlorine bleach.
 
 
Bleach and Ammonia R01                                                                                                     7/11/2007
 
 
 
From: "Shannon Nephew" <millersc**At_Symbol_Here**PLATTSBURGH.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2022 7:42 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] [External] Re: [DCHAS-L] [External] Re: [DCHAS-L] Qiagen kits incident report
 
Hi Ralph, 
 
There is a comment in the enclosed booklet with the kit that has bulleted warning labels, but this is the only one I could find online at the moment...I show the actual booklet we used, when I talk about this in training.  I ask if anyone knows what is generated if you mix ethanol (which is in the sample prep waste) with bleach?  We then discuss chloroform...
"Do not add bleach or acidic solutions directly to the sample preparation waste. CAUTION: The sample preparation waste contains guanidinium hydrochloride from Buffer BG3, which can form highly reactive compounds when combined with bleach. For more information please consult the appropriate material safety data sheets (MSDS)."
 
SHANNON C. NEPHEW, 
MS, CSM, CCHO
Chemical Hygiene Officer, Hudson Hall Science Complex Building Manager
Science Programs and Facilities Support Professional
Hudson Hall 317
101 Broad Street
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
plattsburgh.edu
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SUNY Plattsburgh Logo
 
On Tue, Jun 21, 2022 at 5:38 PM Ralph Stuart <ralph**At_Symbol_Here**rstuartcih.org> wrote:
> we flicked the waste tubes into a disposal beaker containing bleach and very shortly, my postdoc and myself felt very lightheaded and dizzy.  Once one of us mentioned it and realized we both felt this way, we immediately left the lab and mentally retraced our steps to determine what was going on. 

Not a chlorine exposure then?

- Ralph

Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
ralph**At_Symbol_Here**rstuartcih.org

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