How a Geochemist Really Dresses

clean_lab — Properly dressed for clean lab chemistry, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, 2006.

I am a geochemist. For my PhD thesis, undergraduate, and summer internship research, I have spent thousands of hours in geochemistry labs. I enjoy labwork, and I take laboratory safety seriously. When I work in the laboratory, I usually wear an outfit similar to the above. In the above photograph I am wearing an acid-resistant lab coat, long pants, closed-toed plastic lab clogs (out of the picture, but believe me), gloves, safety glasses, and a hair net to keep my long hair out of my way (and also out of my samples). As much as possible, I keep the chemicals I work with inside fume hoods, which protect me from dangerous acid vapors. When I work with especially dangerous chemicals such as hydrofluoric acid or aqua regia, I usually add a full face shield, an extra pair of gloves, and sometimes an extra labcoat or apron to the above outfit. In some labs I wear a full tyvek jumpsuit rather than a labcoat so that my legs are better protected.

The clothes I wear in geochemistry labs may not always be the most flattering (although, personally, I think I look pretty good in a labcoat), but that’s not the point. The point of these clothes is to protect me from dangerous chemicals. Everyone dresses like this in geochemistry labs (or should), and no one worries over fashion when donning laboratory gear. Why? Because looking fashionable is not particularly important when you are trying to prevent acid exposure. Preventing acid exposure can literally be a matter of life-and-death. Unfortunately, rocks (especially silicate rocks) do not like to dissolve. So, geochemists use a very dangerous acid called hydrofluoric acid to bring them into solution for chemical analysis. Exposure to hydrofluoric acid is initially painless (because it interferes with nerve function), so you often don’t know that you’ve been exposed until hours later, when your flesh and bones have started to dissolve. A large hydrofluoric acid exposure is lethal, so I always, always, always wear my protective laboratory gear when working with hydrofluoric acid and also when working with other, slightly less dangerous acids.

You might be wondering why I’m posting the above photograph and explaining how geochemists generally dress. I am posting this photograph because there has been a disturbing stock photograph titled “lab work” that has been circulating around the science blogosphere recently. Here is the picture:

istockphoto-lab-work — Image taken from here: http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-13771784-lab-work.php

In the above photograph the female chemist is either (1.) naked or (2.) wearing a strapless top or dress. Neither type of attire (or lack thereof) is appropriate for chemistry. There is far too much skin that could be exposed to dangerous acids. Furthermore, if that beaker contains acid, the chemist really should be handling that beaker under a fume hood. Perhaps that is the problem– maybe the acid fumes have dissolved her clothes? In that case, she really should consider wearing a more acid resistant tyvek suit or coat.

Joking aside, the stock photograph really disturbs me. Is this how we want the general public to view lab work? Why does the female chemist look naked? Is it to make her more attractive? Why is it important for her to look attractive? I suppose that I understand that stock photos usually feature more-attractive-than-average people, but does she have to look naked to look attractive?

Even Barbie, who is definitely a fashionista, is smart enough to wear proper laboratory safety clothing when doing geochemistry:

GB_1 — Geochemist Barbie takes safety seriously. Image taken from the "Dress Barbie Like a Geologist" Accretionary Wedge here: https://evelyngeorneys.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/accretionary-wedge-39-geologist-barbie/

Geochemist Barbie and I are appalled at the stock photo of the naked female chemist. I really hope that not too many people actually purchase this stock photo. Rather than use that stock photo, I encourage you to– please– rather use a photograph of a real scientist dressed in real laboratory safety gear. If you’re considering purchasing that stock photo, you’re more than welcome to rather take the picture of me (for free!) or of Geochemist Barbie (also free!) in our more realistic laboratory clothing instead. Also, I have a proposal for other chemists: why not post pictures of you in your laboratory clothing, as I have posted here? If you don’t have a blog, I’d be happy to host your picture here at Georneys. I’ve been really impressed with the recent This is What a Scientist Looks Like effort, which was initiated by Allie Wilkinson. Why not start a similar effort, perhaps titled “This is What a Chemist Looks Like” or “This is What Lab Work Looks Like” ?

Good Hotplate

On Wednesday there was a bad hotplate incident that melted two of my samples. As scary and destructive (for my poor Oman rocks…) as this incident was, I’m happy to report that there is some good resulting. I’ve filed a full safety report, and with the help of a safety person I’ve been in touch with Thermo Scientific, the company that manufactured the defective hotplate. Maybe it’s because Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a big client, but I’ve been very impressed at Thermo Scientific’s response so far. We have a representative working with us on our case, and the company is launching an investigation of the incident to see if there is a problem with this model of hotplate. I really hope the company follows-through with the investigation. Thermo Scientific is also offering to buy me a new hotplate, though I told them I don’t want another Cimarec hotplate since I don’t trust this hotplate. I almost said, “I don’t want your crappy unsafe hotplate,” but I managed to put it a little more tactfully than that on the phone with the representative.

So, you might be wondering, what hotplate do I want? I want a PicoTrace safety hotplate, a geochemist’s dream:

The dreamy PicoTrace hotplates. Image taken from here.

What a gorgeous hotplate…. separate temperature control outside of the corrosive environment, multiple safety features and temperature limits, a maximum temperature of 265 degrees C… I could go on and on about this dreamboat hotplate.

Alas, these beautiful hotplates start at about $3,000. I’m not sure if Thermo Fisher will spring for that, but perhaps they’ll at least refund our money for the two hotplates that malfunctioned, and we can put that money towards the expensive hotplate. Also, I’m pretty sure the hotplate incident has convinced everyone involved in the lab re-design and money budgeting that it’s worth it to pay for the $3,000 model hotplates. Yes, the PicoTrace hotplates are expensive, but they’re worth it for safety.

Bad Hotplate

When it comes to laboratory safety, you should never cut corners to save money.

A few months ago, I had a teflon beaker melt on a yellow hotplate which we had purchased for the lab to replace a hotplate that died. Unfortunately, when inexpensive hotplates “die” they tend to heat up very hot, which can be very dangerous. I’m not sure exactly what happens, but I think that over time acid corrosion affects the thermocouple so that the hotplate can no longer regulate temperature properly.

I use some very strong acids in my chemistry– concentrated nitric acid, hydrofluoric acid, and perchloric acid. I need to use strong acids because I am dissolving rocks. As you can imagine, dissolving rocks is no easy task– those silicate bonds are difficult to break. Because I use such strong, corrosive acids, I think the electronics of an inexpensive hotplate are easily corroded. I wish the hotplate would just switch off or cool down when it becomes corroded. Unfortunately, when this model of hotplate dies because of acid corrosion, it dangerously ramps up in temperature, melting teflon beakers filled with acid and rock powder.

Good hotplate. Note the lack of melted beakers.

Most of the hotplates in lab are home-made with heating tape and will not fail in such a catastrophic way. However, these hotplates do not reach high enough temperatures to dry down perchloric acid, which I must use in my dissolutions. I’m not the only one who uses perchloric acid– there are others in the lab who have used this dangerous acid. To dry down perchloric, we use a special venting system (so we don’t inhale the vapors) and use a store-bought hotplate. We’ve been using the Cimarec hotplate made by ThermoScientific. This is a BAD HOTPLATE. I bought a brand-new Cimarec back in October or so, and it has already failed by overheating. The Cimarec we had before that lasted less than a year before it melted a single teflon beaker.

When the beaker melted on the previous Cimarec hotplate, I was very concerned. I was very sad to lose a sample, of course, as my chemistry takes MONTHS so the loss of even a single sample is very unfortunate. The bigger problem, however, is the possible risk of fire by melting a plastic beaker containing very strong acids and rock powder. I looked into what types of hotplates we could purchase that would not fail in such a catastrophic manner. The problem? The “safe” hotplates cost about $3,000 whereas the “unsafe” Cimarec hotplates cost only about $300. My primary advisor had just left for another institution, so there was no way that he was going to buy a $3,000 hotplate to leave behind. The lab technician advised that I buy another Cimarec since “it was unlikely” that it would fail again before the labwork for my thesis was completed. I listened to the lab technician and my one advisor (I’ve got two actually), which was a mistake. I should have insisted that we purchase the expensive hotplate. Or I should have insisted that I be allowed to dry down my perchloric samples in another lab with safe hotplates.

But I bought the new Cimarec hotplate and the technician helped me install it. I did change my behavior– I didn’t leave the hotplate alone during the day, and I switched it off overnight. However, I didn’t watch it every minute– it’s just not practical to do so.

Today the inevitable happened. I put two 120 mL teflon beakers and their lids on the yellow hotplate to dry down. I went to work on something else in the lab, but after about 30 minutes I smelled some smoke. This is what I found:

Bad hotplate.

Note the lowness of the temperature dial. I had it set to 125 deg C, well below the melting point of teflon plastic.

Only a beaker lid rim remains.

Bad teflon goo.

I immediately unplugged the hotplate and called security. No one was hurt, and there was no fire. But someone could have been hurt, and there could have been a fire. I have already filed an extensive safety report and plan to meet with the safety officers in the near future. Although a new, fancy hotplate may not be installed in time for my thesis work, I plan to do everything possible to make sure that an expensive but safe hotplate is installed. There is a new scientist about to take over the lab (a replacement for my advisor), and he agrees with me. He made a fuss about the hotplate as well, and he’s trying to insist that his start-up allow for the purchase of several of the expensive but safe models of hotplate. I hope that the accident today gives him leverage to insist on the money he needs for the safe hotplates.

This time, I think my advisor and the lab technician will take my request for an expensive hotplate seriously. If not, an accident like this may happen again. After all, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. If any of you use the Cimarec hotplates to dry down acids, please seriously consider abandoning use of this type of hotplate.

As for my chemistry? I’ve already asked the scientist across the hall if he would dry down my samples for me in his expensive dry-down system. He has generously agreed and also offered to help me insist that the lab (which is going to be rebuilt for the new scientist) contain the safe hotplates.

A final note is that I am mourning the loss of the two peridotite samples that melted earlier today. I had been dissolving these samples for several months, so I’ve now lost months of chemistry. Fortunately, I only lost two samples.