Laboratory accident is dangerous thing that can even result in death. Here are the top science mishaps that took place till today. So, let’s have a look at them.
Worst laboratory accident in the history
As scientific discoveries advance the field of chemistry, scientists have become more aware of the health risks laboratory work poses to both lab workers and the general public. Safeguards have been put in place to minimize the chance of a laboratory accident or accidental exposure. On a global level, laboratory owners, be it a university or a corporation, and laboratory workers, both understand that lab safeguards exist for the safety of all of the individuals that work in the lab. They also recognize that the safeguards can protect the general population, such as in the case of an airborne virus accident. But understanding the importance of lab safety on a theoretical level does not always translate to following lab safety protocols in actual practice. Lab workers get complacent. The longer a lab goes without an accident, the easier it is to forget that there are safety protocols. Safety becomes an assumed given. Until, in a flash, the unthinkable happens and the issue of laboratory safety is thrust to the forefront. The cases below outline some of the different factors that can coalesce to turn the laboratory from a scientific refuge into a chamber of horrors.
Laboratory accident listed below by date, from most recent to earliest, along with the name of the lab, the location, and a summary of the incident.
Hazardous Laboratory Accident
March, 2016
University of Hawaii
Manoa, HI
Thea Elkins Coward was working in the University of Hawaii lab conducting research for the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute when a charge of static electricity passed between Elkins Coward and a gas storage tank containing hydrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide. The spark cause an explosion in which Elkins Coward lost an arm. The laboratory accident also cost the university about $716,000 in infrastructure damage and $60,000 to $100,000 in equipment losses. An investigation showed that the gases were stored in a steel tank designed for compressed air that was not electrically grounded, thus making it susceptible to static electricity.
June, 2012
McLean Hospital
Belmont, MA
In late May of 2012, a freezer at the Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital failed but did not set off any alarms alerting staff that the freezer was not functioning. The freezer was checked twice a day by lab technicians and was thought to be functioning normally. The contents of the freezer thawed and decayed in the weeks before the malfunction was discovered. The freezer in question contained 147 donated brains for the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center, including brains with diseases such as autism, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, or psychiatric illnesses such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Researchers estimated that the loss could set back autism research by more than a decade.
April, 2011
Yale University
New Haven, CT
Undergraduate student Michele Dufault was killed when her ponytail got caught in a lathe in the Sterling Chemistry Laboratory machine shop. Her body was found at 2:30 a.m. when other students entered the shop and found lights on and music playing. Dufault had been working in the shop alone, in violation of safety protocols. The lathe had no guard and no emergency stop button. In response to the laboratory accident, Yale replaced dozens of large power tools, including the lathe, and upgraded many others. In addition, the Sterling Chemistry Laboratory machine shop is off limits to undergraduate student without a faculty or staff supervisor.
January, 2010
Texas Tech University
Lubbock ,TX
Graduate student Preston Brown and a lab partner mixed up 10 g of what is believed to be nickel hydrazine perchlorate, despite being told by their professor to mix no more than 100 mg. Brown took half of the mixture and placed it into a mortar to make it less lumpy. He added hexane to wet the substance, believing it to be safe when wet. He then used a pestle to gently break up the lumps. He then took off his safety glasses and gave the mixture one last stir. The mortar exploded in his hands. Brown lost three fingers on his right hand. The explosion also perforated his left eye and scratched his right eye. The investigation of the accident revealed a lack of attention to lab safety at the lab, department and university levels.
December, 2008
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
While 23 year old Sheri Sangji was working as a staff scientist in a UCLA chemistry lab, she was transferring the reagent tert-butyllithium (t-BuLi) using a plastic syringe. Tert-butyllithium ignites spontaneously when exposed to air. The plunger on the syringe came out and the t-BuLi ignited, setting Sangji’s clothing on fire with it. Another lab worker tried to douse the fire, but Sangji died as a result of her burns a few weeks later. Her lab supervisor, Patrick Harran, and the University of California system were charged with felony violations of California labor laws as a result of the laboratory accident.
August, 1996
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH
While working with a small amount of dimethylmercury, Karen Wetterhahn accidentally spilled a few drops onto her gloved hand. Wetterhahn was a chemistry professor well-versed in safety protocols. She removed her gloves and washed her hands. Less than a year later, she was dead from mercury poisoning. Scientists realized after Wetterhahn’s death, that latex gloves provide no protection from the effects of dimethylmercury. This realization helped researchers to understand that cause of earlier deaths from dimethylmercury poisoning as well. Wetterhahn’s death helped scientists developed tougher safety protocols when dealing with dimethylmercury, including wearing two pairs of thicker laminate gloves when handling the substance.
August, 1978
Birmingham Medical School
Birmingham, England
Thanks to a global vaccination initiative, smallpox had been considered eradicated in the early 1970s. In 1978, Janet Parker, a medical photographer at Birmingham Medical School, was diagnosed with smallpox. Doctors were at a loss to figure out how she had contracted the disease until they visited the medical school where she worked. Birmingham Medical School also had a smallpox laboratory commissioned by the World Health Organization. A test of the lab determined that the virus had somehow escaped the lab and traveled through the ducting to Janet Parker’s office. Henry Bedson, the scientist in charge of the smallpox lab, was so distraught over the laboratory accident that he took his own life. Five days later, Janet Parker died from smallpox.
August, 1967
Behringwerke
Marburg, Germany
In 1967, a pair of monkeys were being transported from Uganda to Germany for polio research. The monkeys were carrying a virus that had never been seen before. Soon over thirty lab workers had fallen ill with fever, diarrhea, vomiting and internal bleeding. Of these, nine would eventually die from their exposure to the disease. Because the disease had not been seen prior to the Marburg outbreak, it is now called the Marburg Virus. The virus is still active today, with the worst outbreak occurring in Angola in 2005, resulting in 252 cases with a 90% mortality rate.
December, 1958
Los Alamos Laboratory
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Cecil Kelley, a chemical operator at Los Alamos was mixing a tank of what was supposed to be “lean” (less than 0.1 grams of plutonium per liter) plutonium but was actually 200 times higher concentration. When he mixed the tank, the plutonium pooled to the center due to whirlpooling and went critical. Kelley was exposed to a burst of neurons and gamma radiation that lasted less than a second. Thirty-five hours later, after a succession of more severe symptoms, Kelley died as a result of his exposure. The laboratory accident had a silver lining in that it allowed scientists to autopsy Kelley’s body to determine the concentrations of plutonium in the tissues of various organs over the course of Kelley’s 11 years as a lab worker. Results determined that plutonium was retained in the lungs much longer than scientists had previously concluded. The results led to the collection of more tissue samples from other exposed individuals as well as non-exposed individuals, forming the start of the Los Alamos Human Tissue Analysis Program.
