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Chemistry Resources For The Secondary Education Teacher On The WWW

LABORATORY SAFETY

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About Fires and Fire Extinguishers
This site provides good information on fires and fire extinguishers, covering the basics such as fire safety, types of fires and extinguishers, and how to use them.
http://chemlabs.uoregon.edu/Safety/Fire1.html
http://chemlabs.uoregon.edu/Safety/Fire2.html

Chem Info Net
The Chem Info Net is an outreach program of the Maine School of Science and Mathematics, and is designed as a chemical health and safety resource for teachers, administrators, and service personnel. The site was designed to address the issues of laboratory safety and chemical purchase, use, storage and disposal. There is a large amount of information here.
http://www.cheminfonet.org/

Chemical Compatibility Database
Cole-Parmer provides this chemical compatibility database to help determine which materials are best suited for your applications. This might come in handy to find out if a new probe is compatible with certain chemicals you use in a lab activity, or to help you determine which type of plastic bottle you need to purchase for storing a particular chemical.
http://www.coleparmer.com/techinfo/chemcomp.asp

Class Size/Overcrowding in Science Laboratory Classroom
The following pages provides position statements and comments concerning class size in a science classroom and/or lab, along with several references on the subject.

  • Class Size in Science Laboratory Rooms
    This page provides the position statement of the National Science Education Leadership Association concerning class size in a science lab, along with several references on the subject.
    http://www.nsela.org/size.htm
  • NSTA Position Statements
    The National Science Teachers Association has several position papers which discuss class size in the science classroom.
    http://www.nsta.org/position/ Laboratory Science
    This page provides the position statement of the National Science Teachers Association on laboratory science from preschool through college level. Included in this are comments on class size in a science lab and quantity of different preparations (preps) assigned to the teacher.
    http://www.nsta.org/159&id=16
  • Overcrowding in the Science Laboratory
    This page provides guidelines from Flinn Scientific, Inc. on how to help solve the problem of overcrowding in the science laboratory.
    http://www.flinnsci.com/SiteSolution.taf?_UserReference=B29A159C3EAE42D33C6DF035&_pi=987

Fire Safety and Fire Extinguishers
This site provides good information on fire extinguishers, covering the basics such as proper types, how to use them, when and when not to use them, etc.
http://www.ilpi.com/safety/extinguishers.html

Flinn Scientific Safety Page
This part of the Flinn Scientific web site provides a generous amount of information on high school related safety topics.
http://www.flinnsci.com/homepage/sindex.html

Hazardous Material Identification Guide
This site provides good information on the Hazardous Material Identification Guide (HMIG)/Hazardous Material Information System (HMIS), both of which are similar.
http://chemlabs.uoregon.edu/Safety/HMIG.html

Hazardous Waste Removal Program
Most schools have chemicals that should be eliminated. Some of the chemicals are extremely hazardous and others are a nuisance. Discussions with chemistry teachers in Ohio indicated that nearly everyone had unwanted chemicals. It took a decade of committee work, but Ohio has found a solution that could and should be adopted or adapted in every state. With the information provided at this site, other states can make use of Ohio's experience and do it in 2 or 3 years.
http://www.thecatalyst.org/hwrp/

High School Lab Safety
This site provides information and pictures covering a broad scope of lab safety issues.
http://www.chem.unl.edu/safety/

Incompatible Chemicals
This page provides a list of chemicals that should not come in contact with one another. It was created by Santa Barbara Science.
http://www.west.net/~science/incompat.htm

The Laboratory Safety Institute
The Laboratory Safety Institute (LSI) was founded in 1980 to provide safety training for secondary school science teachers.
http://www.labsafety.org/

Laboratory Survival Manual
A web site detailing safe laboratory practices. It is hosted by the University of Virginia.
http://keats.admin.virginia.edu/lsm/home.html

Material Safety Data Sheet Dictionary
This page provides a good dictionary of terms found on a MSDS.
http://www.umt.edu/research/files/environ/appendic.htm

Material Safety Data Sheets
This site provides a good collection of links to MSDS sites on the www. Also includes a bit of history about the MSDS.
http://www.phys.ksu.edu/area/jrm/Safety/msds.html

Mercury In Schools
With the help of a grant from the U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office, the University of Wisconsin's Solid and Hazardous Waste Education Center (SHWEC) has implemented a Mercury in Schools Project to provide school and agency staff with the information and tools needed to reduce or eliminate mercury in schools. Part of their task has been to establish and maintain a clearinghouse for information on where mercury can be found in schools, mercury elimination, and spill incident case studies; and educational materials on mercury and overall pollution prevention for teachers, students and school administrators. Whether or not you are for the total elimination of mercury in the classroom, this site is a good place to begin a search for information on this much maligned element.
http://www.mercuryinschools.uwex.edu/

The MSDS HyperGlossary
This site provides a large collection of information related to the topic of MSDS's.
http://www.ilpi.com/msds/ref/

MSDS Solutions
MSDS Solutions offers a FREE online database of MSDSs, in addition to software and services for managing and distributing Material Safety Data Sheets.
http://www.msdssolutions.com/

MSDSonline
A very comprehensive online MSDS search engine. This site is a pay site with an annual subscription fee.
http://www.msdsonline.com/

NFPA fire diamond
This site provides good information on the NFPA fire diamond and the Hazardous Materials Identification System. It is part of The MSDS HyperGlossary.
http://www.ilpi.com/msds/ref/nfpa.html

NFPA Hazard Identification System
This site provides good information on the NFPA fire diamond and information covered in section 704 of the National Fire Code.
http://chemlabs.uoregon.edu/Safety/NFPA.html

NIOSH Pocket Guide To Chemical Hazards
The NPG provides a quick, convenient source of general information on several hundred chemicals or classes of chemicals found in many work environments. A web version is available and a printed edition can be ordered.
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npg.html

OHS Material Safety Data Sheets Database at Chemweb.com
The "OHS Material Safety Data Sheets database contains almost 56,000 Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) from MDL Information Systems Inc. and covers pure substances and commonly used chemical mixtures."
http://www.chemweb.com/databases/ohsmsds

Starting with Safety
"The highly popular ACS Video Course, Starting with Safety, has been adapted for delivery via the Internet. The Internet version includes all of the materials from the original Video Course including the video scenes and the Teacher's Guide. As an added bonus, the complete ACS Video Course, Seeing the Light--Eye and Face Protection, is also included in this ACS Internet Course." "This program is designed to be used as part of a standard high school or introductory college chemistry curriculum that is taught by an experienced chemistry teacher." This is a subscription service, and there are several subscription options ranging from 30 days to 1 year. The costs are reasonable.
http://aladdin.vcampus.com/0001/0062/000000005446/1_62_5446_1/cospecific/DSN1_62_5446_1co42503/assets/images/demos.htm

2000 Emergency Response Guidebook
This site provides an online version of the 2000 Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG), a downloadable PC version, a user's guide, and information about how to obtain a hardcopy of the guidebook.
http://www.tc.gc.ca/canutec/en/guide/guide.htm
http://hazmat.dot.gov/gydebook.htm

The Vermont SIRI Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) Collection
This site is a very large, freely accessible MSDS archive with links to many new MSDS sites. It includes MSDS's provided by manufacturers concerned about the safe use of their products.
http://hazard.com/msds/
http://siri.uvm.edu/msds/

Where To Find Material Safety Data Sheets On The Internet
This site provides good information on MSDS's, including what are they and where can they be found. Also includes a good list of MSDS sites on the www.
http://www.ilpi.com/msds/

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Exclamation!DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY: This page contains links to sites that provide information about laboratory safety issues. With respect to the links found on this page, The Catalyst assumes no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, usefulness, or misuse of any information.