In this video, we're going to talk about some of the important safety procedures, as well as labels that are common to any type of analytical lab. Now, we're going to say that this information is crucial information on the proper usage of different types of chemicals and substances within the lab. How do we use them in terms of experiments, their application, and the best way to store them so that they don't degrade over time or even worse explode in some way.
Now we're going to say here that OSHA, which is our Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is part of the Labor Department, has basically established some type of guidelines that we need to follow when it comes to the proper use of any of these chemicals. So here, we've divided it into different types of hazards within 4 quadrants. So we have our health hazards, our fire hazards, our instability hazards, and our specific hazards. So if we take a look here, we're going to say our health hazards, which are labeled by blue, we have basically a number scale, and that's true for all of them. Where 0 is the safest a certain chemical can be, up to 4 where it can be possibly the most dangerous, most corrosive, whatever. So here, for this section in health hazards, we say that if it's 0, it's just normal material. It doesn't cause any type of skin irritation or respiratory problems. As we go up, we see that it gets more and more dangerous. So we have 1 is slightly hazardous, 2 is hazardous, so here this is harmful if inhaled or absorbed through the skin. 3 is extremely dangerous, so for that, you have to make sure you have proper covering on all exposed skin, and then deadly it's basically you wouldn't come into any contact with something in this scale in terms of a typical analytical lab.
Now the fire hazards. Here, we have it of course in red, and we're going to say that again it starts with 0 where something is stable so it has no chance of burning. We're going to say that there are different flash points. These are minimum temperatures which will cause some type of volatile reaction. So as we get to 1 it becomes something that we have to be cautious of. If the temperature is above 200 degrees Fahrenheit, it could pose a problem. Then we're going to say next if we have for the level 2, this is if it's between 102 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Warning, it happens when we're at 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and something that's dangerous it'll be below 73 degrees Fahrenheit. Okay. So pretty easy for it to ignite under very low temperatures.
Now instability hazards are labeled as yellow. So here this has a chance of exploding. So we have detonation requirements. So 0, it's stable, won't detonate. Notice that some of these may need a jolt of electricity, so some type of shock, they may require some heat, or just simply water in order to activate. So caution has to be heated or mixed with water, chemical reaction if mixed with water. 3, it's dangerous because there's a lot of different scenarios that can cause it to ignite and detonate, and then of course 4 is the worst because just simple room temperature causes this to have an explosive scenario.
Then finally we have our white section here, which is just some type of specific hazard. In this section, you won't see numbers. What you'll see is some type of letters, which will help you designate what type of hazard we have. Now if we have an acid present, then we'll see in letters acid. If we have something that's alkali, meaning basic, you'll see ALK. If it's corrosive, COR. And then if it's an oxidizer, OXY. Polymerization is P. Then here, this one you might see it as just, AS. And then realize that we can have radioactivity, and of course W with a cross through would mean, don't have any water come anywhere near this substance. This is pretty common for group 1A metals, and some group 2A metals. They're highly explosive when they come into contact with any form of water. So, just realize that this is an important section to know as you go into any analytical lab. It's also important to know this because you could simply be asked what each color designation means, and then as you go from 0 up to 4 in most cases, what kind of conditions do we need to be mindful of. So just remember, in analytical chemistry, we have to have not only precision and accuracy within the class when we take quizzes and exams, but we have to be even more so accurate and precise when it comes to any type of experiment you'll do this semester.
