Two Injured In UWF Chemistry Lab Accident

July 12, 2011

Two students were injured in a chemistry lab accident Tuesday afternoon at the University of West Florida.

A male and female student were transported to West Florida Hospital with minor burns. One was burned on the arm, the other on the leg.

There were less than 100 students in the building at the time. They were all evacuated, and university officials closed Building 58. Classes in the science building were canceled for Tuesday night. UWF said the building was cleaned during the night and was ready for operation during normal hours on Wednesday.

Preliminary information indicated that nitric acid was involved in the incident. Officials said the spill did not pose any danger to those outside the building.

Comments

4 Responses to “Two Injured In UWF Chemistry Lab Accident”

  1. David Huie Green on July 14th, 2011 7:43 am

    I remember once when somebody had used a straw broom to sweep up some spilled nitric acid. Only later did the chemistry teacher realize the straws had turned to nitrocellulose, highly explosive gun-cotton.

    Good times

  2. Tisa on July 13th, 2011 8:07 am

    Jane,
    Thats a good question for there teacher/professor! Good news is they’ll have another chance when they repeat the class! I’m glade there ok.

  3. Jane on July 13th, 2011 5:44 am

    By the way, nitric acid is neutralized with baking soda if no help is available.

  4. Jane on July 13th, 2011 5:42 am

    Weren’t they ever told not to put anything into a container of any sort unless you had a clean container or had washed/dried that one out? OSHA has rules on that for a reason! They were lucky all that was in there was aceytone! Some combinations are lethal!

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News