Mizzou lab explodes
| 29 June, 2010 | Adie Chan |
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An explosion rocked a biochemistry laboratory at the University of Missouri at Columbia yesterday afternoon, injuring four people working in the lab. The blast was triggered when hydrogen gas, being used for an experiment, reached dangerous levels, reported The Columbia Daily Tribune. “Lab personnel turned on the hydrogen tank supply to an anaerobic hood, and due to not being familiar with the warning systems designed to alert them when the hydrogen level was approaching explosive limits, the gas was left on,” a statement from the Columbia Fire Department said. “Once the gas reached an ignition source, it ignited and the explosion occurred.”
Two postdocs and a graduate student were hurt and one as yet unidentified person suffered life-threatening injuries, according to the Columbia Fire Department. The third story lab, which housed the research of Mizzou biochemist Judy Wall, was gutted by the blast and several windows were blown out showering shards of glass into the courtyard below. Wall was in her office across the hall from the lab when the blast occurred and was unharmed.
The university will be investigating the cause of the explosion and how to avoid similar accidents in the future, according to The Columbia Daily Tribune.
Hat tip to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
– Bob Grant, Associate Editor, The Scientist
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This is another unfortunate example of university laboratories failing to emphasize / train and implement safety rules. Many universities do not understand safety in a lab or are unwilling to spend the money to train their staff and students on the importance of safety and to spend money on safety equipment. Students look to their faculty for guidance and it appears, once again, to be lacking. KAT
I am not sure whether this was intentional or not, but it seems in very poor taste to post this rather unfortunate tragedy under the heading ‘Naturally Selected’. Is this an attempt by The Scientist to copycat the Darwin Awards?
I think “Naturally Selected” is the title of the blog in general.
Indeed. This blog was named a few months ago, in a nod to the entire premise of biology rather than as a snarky comment.
Was it actually the methane that exploded from the anaerobic bacteria that caused such a terrible event. It can be easy to blame something without looking at the whole.
what has happened to the aerosols of the bacteria they were experimenting on? Are they monitoring the environment.
Well, in this case no one was “Naturally Selected” thankfully. However, this incident demonstrates how many life science labs are no longer teaching lab personnel and students how to properly and safely use lab equipment. I used to use CO in experiments and put up warning signs in the lab to alert personnel as these experiments were in lab scale reactors and went on for 24h. I was admonished by an undergrad student for being overly, and in his opinion, unneccesarily, cautious. Teaching people the safe and proper way to use equipment is beneficial for everyone.
Fred, I noticed the same thing, and I appreciated the irony since I don’t think it was intentional to combine this story with the concept of natural selection.. I personally wish there was more “natural selection” for intelligence. Our culture has gone so far to protect the dim-witted and clumsy that it forms a viscious circle, creating a society of people who fear science, detest logic, and actually do need a government to take care of them.
Of course it’s sad what happened in the lab, and I’m sure most of those hurt where in the opposite-of-dim-witted category. Nevertheless, I think a plaque should be affixed to the building in question, underneath the name of the building or its benefactor, reading “Remember the Hindenburg”.
Years ago I witnessed the aftermath of the explosion of a bottle of solvent that was being stored in a non explosion proof refrigerator. Fortunately, the explosion happened around 6:00 on Friday afternoon and no one was in the lab. Otherwise, everyone would have been killed. It is far too easy to become complacent with lab safety.
I personally know the PI of this lab, as well as several students that have gone through the lab. This PI is very thorough and conscientious, as are the members of the lab. It helps to know the whole story before making judgments, and the whole story is not known here. Besides, accidents happen, even huge life-threatening ones, in labs all the time. Scientists are only human after all.