Thanks to Marta for starting this topic. I thought I would share my story because it is a little different from what has been posted so far.

I taught chemistry/chemical technology for 33 years at a 2-year technical college in Texas. One of the expectations for the chemistry department was that we would do "shows" that might help students get excited about science and industrial chemical applications and maybe even continue their education with our institution. My demo shows in the 80s and early 90s were fairly standard chem demo stuff - color change reactions,elephant toothpaste, liquid nitrogen, flame tests, whoosh bottle, hydrogen balloons, methanol cannons, etc. 

But it was the flames and explosions that got the attention. That reinforcing audience feedback led me to do bigger and more spectacular demos. One that got quite a bit bigger was the methanol cannon.  I started out with a small cannon made with a 250ml plastic bottle and a cork projectile. On ignition, it would pop and the cork would go across the room - maybe 15 feet. Bigger?  I used a 6 foot section of 4 inch PVC sewer pipe, a screw-on cap on one end and a 10 inch nerf ball to stuff in the muzzle. The igniter was a piezo sparker placed through a hole near the end just before the cap.With the sewer pipe, I would take the set up into the hallway and send the nerf ball more than 50 feet. The discussion around the demo was about flammability and explosion limits along with the gaseous expansion of the reaction products. (Yes, I did get the observation: "That's like my Dad's/Uncle/neighbor's potato gun. I tried to ignore the comparison.)

On the Monday morning after doing a Friday afternoon demo show to a group of high school students, I got a call from one of the high school teachers that I had been working with. He told me that two of his students had been seriously injured with burns trying to replicate my cannon and whoosh bottle demos. "Oh, geesh!", I thought! 

This incident totally changed my perspective about demos. I decided that going forward I would not do any demos that involved flammables or pressurized systems. I did not want to give a devious student any ideas nor did I want to contribute to anyone getting injured in what was supposed to be a fun activity. My outreach activities changed completely!

From then on, every public outreach activity that I did going forward centered on water or some other activity that was low hazard and low risk. I put together a 45 minute program that was centered around the wondrous nature of H20. I could involve the audience in a low risk, low hazard activity, engage with them and have fun while teaching some basic principles - observation, investigation, problem-solving, experimenting.

Some of the things I did were demonstrating air pressure (card holding water in an inverted glass), surface tension (screen across a quart mason jar), sodium polyacrylate superabsorbent polymers (diapers), density (floating/sinking bowling balls and soft drink cans), density columns, and refractive index (vanishing glassware). The main thing was that the audience had fun and they came away knowing little more about their world.

When I joined the Committee on Chemical Safety in late 1990s and then DHAS, safety in science demonstrations had become a passion for me. I read news articles about incident after incident that were not too far from my own experience. I realized how lucky I really was! 

Then I met Bob Hill, who was chair when I joined CCS and David Finster, also a CCS member. They had a profound impact on me. Their approach to risk analysis using the concept of RAMP (Recognize risks, Assess Risks, Minimize Risk, Prepare for Emergencies) to risk analysis gave me a way to focus my energy in helping instructors improve their safety programs. 

I was honored to have been asked to lead the team that wrote the two safety booklets that were organized around the RAMP concept, "Guidelines for Chemical Laboratory Safety in Academic Institutions" and "Guidelines for Laboratory Safety in Secondary Schools." These were small, squarish booklets. Why that design? So, it would fit in a lab coat pocket! This resource could be readily accessible.

The success of these publications led to being asked to join a team in writing an on-line laboratory chemical safety course targeting undergraduate and graduate students. The success of this course has been phenomenal! At the end of May 2026 there were nearly 9500 folks registered for the course with over 4100 successfully completed! These students represent US institutions and internal institutions. This is a 43% success rate for an on-line course.

A companion on-line course was created to assist elementary and secondary teachers in managing their chemical stockroom and classroom activities. This course, too, has been quite successful. Both of these courses are available through the ACS.

I want to sincerely thank the ACS for vigorously supporting this chemical safety movement, Marta and her staff for their unwavering energy, the support of CCS and DCHAS for their tireless commitment to making our institutions and industrial workplaces safe.

Kirk Hunter

Retired

Former CCS member and Chair