Like Ralph Stuart said. Any EHS personnel who are long time in lab service have experienced probably more than one building evacuation due to concern about a gas release. Hunting the culprit down can be a chore while those evacuated wait outside until it is determined safe to re-enter.

Good containment and exhaust is deserved.

Ken

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 26, 2019, at 2:10 PM, Stuart, Ralph <Ralph.Stuart**At_Symbol_Here**KEENE.EDU> wrote:

>> Not pleasant, but was it a hazard?
>
> The odor of BME beyond "not pleasant" - it's disruptive. I had an experience at a previous institution where fugitive BME odors led to 3 building-wide fire alarms in a year as people thought the smells were related to natural gas leaks. People who don't use BME in the hood to control fugitive odors risk having their (and others') work interrupted for significant amounts of time while the fire department investigates these calls.
>
> This is a case when looking at the properties of a chemical in isolation leads to missing key aspects of the situation.
>
> - Ralph
>
> Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
> Environmental Safety Manager
> Keene State College
> 603 358-2859
>
> ralph.stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu
>
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