Laboratory Safety

Policies, safety data

sheet and Waste
Management
 Laboratory Safety Rules and Guidelines
1. Dress appropriately in the laboratory.
2. Wear protective goggles or glasses at all
times in the laboratory.

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 Laboratory Safety Rules and Guidelines
3. Keep your working areas organized and
clean as you work.
4. Keep all chemical reagents (solids and
liquids) in the assigned dispensing area.
5. Keep the balance and weighing area Image Source: Wikipedia

clean.
 Laboratory Safety Rules and Guidelines
6. Check the name on the chemical reagent
bottles before using them.
7. Avoid contaminating chemical reagents.
• Never return unused chemicals to the reagent bottles.
• Use a clean, dry spatula in getting solids out of the reagent
bottle.
• To put solids in a test tube, a folded piece of paper as a funnel.
• The covers of the reagents bottle should not be interchanged.
• To weigh solid reagents, a clean, dry watch glass can be used
as container.
 Laboratory Safety Rules and Guidelines
8. Dispose waste properly.
•Solutions poured in the sink should be washed with plenty of
water.
•Ask your instructor if you are not sure how to properly dispose
your wastes.
•Chemical wastes must be separated into categories and
carefully labelled as to their contents.
Classification of chemical laboratory wastes:
i. General Organic Waste (flammable)
ii. Halogenated Hydrocarbons (nonflammable)
iii. Chromic Acid Solutions (these have been phased out)
iv. Lead
v. Silver
vi. Other Heavy Metals
vii. Waste from specific experiments in some cases
viii. Acids
ix. Bases
x. Broken thermometers.
xi. Broken glass.
 Laboratory Safety Rules and Guidelines
9. Avoid all direct contact with chemicals.
a. Wash your hands immediately anytime you get
chemicals on them and after every laboratory activities.
b. Clean immediately all spillage before it dries up or goes
into your skin and things.
c. Never use your mouth when using a pipet.
d. Never eat or drink in the laboratory.
e. Do not look directly into the open end of a test tube
while a reaction is being conducted. Do not point the
open end of a test tube at someone while heating or
mixing.
f. Inhale odors and chemicals with great caution. To
determine the odor of any chemicals, do not inhale the
fumes directly. Waft vapors with your hand toward your
nose. Use the fume hood for all irritating and toxic
vapors.
 Laboratory Safety Rules and Guidelines
10. Handle glasses with precautions.
a. Do not heat graduated cylinders, burets, pipets or
bottles with a Bunsen burner flame.
b. Do not hold a test tube in your hands during a
chemical reaction.
c. In heating a small amount of solid or liquid in a test
tube, hold the test tube with a test tube holder then
incline it at an angle of 45⁰ while moving it back and
forth over the flame on the Bunsen burner. Avoid
looking at the test tube directly while it is being
heated. Never point the mouth of the test tube
towards anyone while heating.
 Laboratory Safety Rules and Guidelines
11. Handle glasses with precautions.
d. Do not touch glass that has been near a flame.
Use proper holder to handle them. Do not put
directly on the laboratory table any heated
containers.
e. Always fire-polish the ends of freshly cut glass
tubing and NEVER attempt to force glass tubing
through the hole of a stopper.
f. Never use a thermometer as a stirrer!
 Laboratory Safety Rules and Guidelines
12. Learn the location and proper use of safety
equipment (fire extinguisher, eye wash, safety
shower and first aid kits).
a. Fire extinguisher can be used on small or minor fire
or for smothering fires. To use the fire extinguisher:
• Pull the pin.
• Aim the nozzle at the base of the fire
• Squeeze the handle.
• Sweep the fire.
b. Eye Wash Fountain for rinsing chemicals from the
eyes.
c. Safety Shower for rinsing chemicals off the body.
Laboratory Safety Rules and Guidelines

13. Be aware of
Material Safety Data
Sheet (MSDS).

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 Laboratory Safety Rules and Guidelines
14. Never work alone in the laboratory area.
15. Report all accidents to your instructor no
matter how small it may seem.
16. Do not perform unauthorized
experiments.
17. Do not enter the laboratory room
without your instructor.
Common Laboratory Glassware and Materials
Common Laboratory Glassware and Materials
Common Laboratory Glassware and Materials
Common Laboratory Glassware and Materials
Common Laboratory Glassware and Materials
Common Laboratory Glassware and Materials
Common Laboratory Glassware and Materials

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Measurements
Measurements
Basic Types of Quantities
Fundamental Derived
Quantities Quantities
• Length • Area
• Mass • Volume
• Time • Density
Significant Digits

Significant
certain digitsdigits
uncertain digits
 Rules for Counting Significant Figures
1. Non-zero integers. Non-zero integers always count as significant
figures.
1458 = 4 significant figures

2. Zeros. There are three classes of zeros:

a. Leading zeros are zeros that precede all the non-zero digits.
These do not count as significant figures.
= 2 significant figures
0.0025

b. Captive zeros are zeros between non-zero digits. These always

count as significant figures.
= 4 significant figures
1.008

c. Trailing zeros are zeros at the right end of the number. They are
significant only if the number contains a decimal point.
100 = 1 significant figure
1.00 x 102 = 3 significant figures
 Rules for Counting Significant Figures
3. Exact numbers. They can be assumed to have an
infinite number of significant figures. Examples of exact
numbers:
• 2 in 2πr (the circumference of a circle)
• 4/3 in 4/3 πr3 (the volume of a sphere).

Exact numbers also can arise from definitions. For

example, 1 inch is defined as exactly 2.54 centimeters.
Thus, in the statement 1 in 2.54 cm, neither the 2.54
nor the 1 limits the number of significant figures when
used in a calculation.
Rules for Significant Figures in
Mathematical Operations
 Rules for Significant Figures in
Mathematical Operations

The correct result is 41.2, since 17.0 has only one

decimal place.
 Precision and Accuracy

• Accuracy refers to the agreement of a

particular value with the true value.
• Precision refers to the degree of agreement
among several measurements of the same
quantity. Precision reflects the reproducibility
of a given type of measurement.
 Dimensional analysis

𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡
𝐺𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡 ∗ =𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡
𝐺𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡
• Fig. (a) indicates large random errors (poor
technique).
• Fig. (b) indicates small random errors but a
large systematic error
• Fig. (c) indicates small random errors and no
systematic error.
Conversion of units
Conversion of units
Conversion of units
Conversion of units
Conversion of units
Conversion of units
Temperature
References:
This powerpoint material is constructed from the SCI 401 General
Chemistry Module by Macalalad, Bayeta, and Basilan; which has the
following references: