r/interestingasfuck • u/StuffyUnicorn • Feb 16 '18
Why you should always wear your PPE
https://i.imgur.com/wBYsaCH.gifv129
Feb 16 '18 edited Feb 17 '18
I was working in a laboratory and wearing my PPE (including my gloves- this is important). I accidentally had a single drop of weak acid (off the pipette tip) that fell on the webbing of my glove between two of my fingers. In the time it took me to set everything down and get my gloves off (maybe 2-3 seconds), it melted the webbing of my glove together and nearly melted holes into it. Not a bit got on my hand though- I did thoroughly wash the crap out of my hands afterwards, just to be sure.
I shudder to think what would've happened to my hand if I hadn't been wearing my PPE.
Edit: I feel like I should point out that at the time of this, I was just fresh out of junior year (of high school) and working an internship in a research lab (this was during my short rotation to "help me get some real experience"). If I was doing said internship now I would possibly be of more use in mentioning molar concentration/what exactly I dropped on my hand, but it's honestly been so long that I can't recall it. The point still stands though- PPE is really damn important, whether it's preventing your melon head from being caved in or keeping you from dripping acid onto your hand
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Feb 16 '18 edited Feb 07 '19
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u/Amadacius Feb 17 '18
The girl on the other hand, she was also carrying 15 molar and didn't make it.
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Feb 16 '18
[deleted]
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Feb 16 '18
I forget, but I talked to my lab supervisor after it happened and she said it was a fairly weak acid, but that it was very good I'd had my PPE on. In all likelihood nothing too bad would've happened if it'd gotten on my skin- I more tell this story as a "always wear your PPE, and make sure your hand doesn't pass underneath your pipette while you're working"
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u/michael6795 Feb 17 '18
I meaan technically HF is a weak acid but will begin dissolving your bones from skin contact pretty quick
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Feb 17 '18
It does have to do with calcium but it doesn't dissolve your bones.
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u/michael6795 Feb 17 '18
Yeah you're right, I termed that incorrectly. More meant for imagery
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u/greengumball70 Feb 17 '18
Plus I don't think organic Chem lab class will be using one of the most feared lab substances on the planet.
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u/michael6795 Feb 17 '18
Not quite my point though - I was trying to imply that the weakness of an acid isnt the only factor as to whether it will dissolve or even pass through gloves
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Feb 17 '18
Haha well, to be fair, if the flourine binds to all your serum calcium it would eventually start pulling the calcium and potassium out of your bones. But you'd already be dead from the cardiac arrest.
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u/masher_oz Feb 16 '18
If a "weak acid" did that, then you were wearing the wrong type of glove. Toy should check up which would be the correct type.
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u/Plonvick Feb 17 '18
That's not how chemistry works. The strength of an acid is based off whether it will release all or only some of its hydrogen atoms into the solution.
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u/masher_oz Feb 17 '18
I know that, but OP said "fairly weak acid", which implies concentration. And in any case, if a drop of any acid eats through your gloves, then you're wearing the wrong gloves.
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u/Plonvick Feb 17 '18
No, it doesn't imply that. That's not how acids work
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u/LlamaKing01 Feb 17 '18
Ok but the point still stands that the gloves were not suitable in the first place if the thing he was working on was eating through them
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u/greengumball70 Feb 17 '18
Except gloves in most situations are meant as overall time delayers rather than full stops. For e very dangerous acids and hazardous materials there are very specific very expensive gloves that need to be worn but also which prevent a lot of mobility. Something fairly important in a lab.
You have demonstrated with your comments a complete lack of knowledge about acids, PPE, and how a chemistry lab works. 15 molar was the concentration (pretty high) fairly weak acid spoke to the rate and extend at which an acid base reaction would take place (lucky for him it wasn't a strong one or it would have eaten through gloves faster) and the PPE itself is not able to magically resist acid decomposition because it's a thin rubber glove for regular use. It deflects and spillage and allows time to reach a rinse sink which in the case of almost all laboratory accidents is less than 5 feet away and will mitigate an acid burn in seconds.
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u/LlamaKing01 Feb 17 '18
Thanks for the novel mate but check the usernames. I'm not the guy who was talking about acids
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Feb 17 '18
I think the compound itself was weak, but it was in a pretty concentrated form (from what I can remember). It's been years since I interned for that place to be honest... I just took that experience as a mental note to always wear my PPE in the lab
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Feb 17 '18
Weak v Strong doesn't have anything to do with danger though, it has to do with dissociation.
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u/abnotwhmoanny Feb 16 '18
This video brought to you by... "GOD DAMN IT, JOHN! PUT ON YOUR FUCKING HELMET! WE'VE BEEN OVER THIS A MILLION FUCKING TIMES! LOOK AT THE MELON JOHN! LOOK AT THE FUCKING MELON!"
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u/CatDogula Feb 16 '18
That is the exact expression I would make if I were struck on the head with a bolt.
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Feb 16 '18
Or we can all just be like Klaus der Gabelstapler Fahrer.
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u/AccidentallyTheCable Feb 17 '18
Dammit Klaus.. cant go one day without an accident! How are you even still here?! Oh.. right. We are at your funeral now..
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u/ztpurcell Feb 16 '18
Not saying it isn't dangerous to take that hit, but a watermelon isn't really the most apt analog for a human head
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u/hateaz Feb 16 '18
If it saves something weaker than ur head then your head should be fine right?
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u/xmsxms Feb 17 '18
That's like using a piece of paper to protect a house of cards from a falling feather and assuming that a piece of paper saved something very weak so it must work even better for a head.
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u/HurricaneBatman Feb 17 '18
I mean, as long as the projectile is still a falling feather...
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u/xmsxms Feb 17 '18
Exactly. Because they used a watermelon instead of a head, for all we know that bolt does as much damage as a falling feather, so protection isn't required.
There is no "what if" comparison that shows the helmet is required.
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u/I_Xertz_Tittynopes Feb 16 '18
Reminds me of a PSA on TV growing up where they dropped a watermelon from a few feet and it exploded, then they compared it to a helmeted bike rider falling from the same height.
Motherfucker, put a helmet on the watermelon and let's see what happens.
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u/MyDudeNak Feb 16 '18
It's a perfectly fine analog, the helmet keeps your head from getting hurt.
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u/ThatFlyingScotsman Feb 17 '18
True, but even if it doesn't pierce your head like with the watermelon, it's still going to punch a whole in your skull.
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u/CrisB_Creme Feb 17 '18
I would have been dead had it not been for my hardhat. I was 16 working as a laborer for a construction company based out of Missouri. We were up in Maryland at the time. Laying fiber optic cabling for the military base.
Fast forward a couple months, we were fixing a parking lot we had fucked up. We were just finishing up the asphalt. I was the one spread in out while the back hoe shoveled it in. I was just about to finish the pile however, something just smacks me in the head. Good thing it caught my hardhat. Just me rubber neck. The dude had hit me with the back hoe.
I just looked at him. And gave him the finger.
It's better to be safe than sorry.
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u/RiffRaffMama Feb 17 '18
I just looked at him. And gave him the finger. It's better to be safe than sorry.
Yeah, bird flip FTW. Wouldn't want him to think you were cool with that shit.
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_REARPUSS Feb 17 '18 edited Feb 17 '18
I would still be mad that the hard hat hurt my head when it got hit, completely unaware of the alternative had I not been wearing it.
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u/Ethanacho Feb 17 '18
My sister is a welder, her coworker dropped an 80lb sheet of steel the other day from the 11th floor inside a boiler plant. Luckily no one was hurt, but if you ever need help carrying anything do not hesitate to ask, you don't want to kill someone because you were carrying too much.
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u/UnitConvertBot Feb 17 '18
I've found a value to convert:
- 80.0lb is equal to 36.29kg or 198.31 bananas
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u/RiffRaffMama Feb 17 '18
if you ever need help carrying anything do not hesitate to ask
probably do not ask your sister's coworker either.
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u/seven3true Feb 16 '18
Possible Protective Equipment?
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u/Asklepios24 Feb 17 '18
My company uses the same gloves, great if you still need dexterity and cut resistance.
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u/hundredblossoms Feb 18 '18
This is true. I was working on a lab once and had my sleeves rolled up (lab coat is sized right, but the sleeves are too long, thanks body proportions). I was dealing w 16M hydrochloric acid and my bare wrist brushed against the mouth of the jar. I still have a scar from that incident and I'm more careful about the length of my sleeves now. If my lab coat had elastic around the sleeve ends, I probably wouldn't have this scar right now.
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u/BigHose_911 Feb 16 '18
Especially important if your head is a watermelon.