♦Case review：

Recently, a blockbuster news of the “High-Priced Claim for Bottle Washers” has aroused widespread public opinion. The story is as follows:

      Temporary bottle washer Mrs Zhou, female, is over 40 years old. He was hired in May for less than a few months at a laboratory owned by a third-party testing agency in northern China. Mrs Zhou is responsible for the cleaning of glasswares such as test tube, pipette, beaker and measuring cup in the laboratory. In a washing process, due to the residual chemical damage in the glassware, his face, hands and other parts of the body were seriously injured. This case has been accepted by relevant departments.

Mrs Zhou told the media that the internal management system of the newly established laboratory has not been perfect, and he has not received adequate pre-job training. Especially in the treatment of residual chemical substances after the experiment, they were not informed of the hazard degree of reagents, protective equipment and protective methods.

In addition, the workload of cleaning utensils in this laboratory is quite heavy on weekdays, while the cleanliness of glassware in the laboratory is quite high. However, the result of washing by hand often fails to meet the subjective standards of the laboratory, so I have to work overtime for rework.This point will be a separate complaint to the local labor department.

Mrs Zhou through inductrial injury appraisal proved to lose partial labor ability. According to this, I request the laboratory to compensate for the medical expenses, lost work expenses, transportation expenses, etc., a total of more than 1 million yuan.The follow-up to the case is still evolving.

In fact, there are many chemical reagents in the laboratory will cause different degrees of damage to the human body. If the laboratory does not take adequate precautions against personnel and neglects the cleaning of laboratory utensils, it may cause severe consequences such as sensitization, disability and cancer to personnel.Therefore, it is necessary for us to have some basic understanding of the toxic reagents that laboratory personnel are often exposed to.

♦Toxic reagents common in laboratories

Hydrochloric acid. A colorless transparent liquid. The smell is strong and pungent. High corrosive properties. And concentrated hydrochloric acid (fuming hydrochloric acid) still can volatilize acid mist. May irreversibly damage the respiratory organs, eyes, skin and gastrointestinal tract. It can be said that for human tissue, but also to guard against the harm of hydrochloric acid in the form of acid fog. In addition, when hydrochloric acid is mixed with oxidants (such as bleach sodium hypochlorite or potassium permanganate), toxic chlorine gas is produced.

Formaldehyde. In daily life, I often hear about indoor “formaldehyde poisoning”. In the o-phenylphenol detection project, formaldehyde was used as an organic extract; It is often used as mobile phase in high performance liquid chromatography correlation detection.In addition, it is often used when cleaning ion sources by mass spectrometry. The substance has a paralytic effect on the central nervous system.It has special selection effect on optic nerve and retina and causes pathological changes.Can cause metabolic acidosis.

Chloroform (chloroform). It often stimulates the eyes, respiratory tract, skin and mucous membrane of the human body.As a carcinogen, chloroform is deadly to liver and kidney.Wear gloves and goggles and operate in the fume hood.

(4) Acetic anhydride.In laboratory pentachlorophenol detection, acetic anhydride is used as an intermediate reactant.The substance is corrosive to the skin, low toxicity, and accompanied by significant tear.

(5) Toluene. In the laboratory of food and drug testing institutions, toluene is used as an organic extract for the detection of pesticide residues.Long-term contact may cause neurasthenia syndrome, hepatomegaly, dry skin, chapped, dermatitis, etc.High concentrations of gas have a narcotic effect on the central nervous system, and long-term high concentration of its vapor inhalation can cause severe anemia, resulting in blood diseases.

（6) Formic acid: highly toxic and extremely damaging to mucosal tissues, upper respiratory tract, eyes and skin.Inhalation, ingestion and skin absorption can cause damage.

In addition, reagents such as benzoic acid and phenylethanol also have significant irritants.When the human body inhales, ingests, skin absorption can cause damage to the human body exposed parts.

In view of this, toxic laboratory reagents are not the only ones listed above, so their storage and use should strictly follow the relevant regulations.In particular, all laboratory staff, including cleanning workers, should have the awareness of self-protection and protection of others, and implement the basic work of wearing protective equipment such as gloves and goggles.

Of course, it is not difficult to find out from this case that manual cleaning of experimental vessels, especially those glass containers with toxic reagent, will not only threaten the physical safety of relevant personnel, but also increase the cost of the laboratory, cause relevant disputes, and even damage the reputation and image of the laboratory. More importantly, the accuracy of the test results will not be guaranteed if the glassware does not meet the standards of cleanliness.This is also the fundamental reason why automatic Lab Washer and other equipment machines are more and more popular in all kinds of laboratories.

♦Manual cleaning VS Laboratory glassware washer

Manual cleaning status:

The cost of water, electricity and labor has increased；

Many restrictive and uncontrollable factors;

Has a significant impact on the physical and mental health of the human body；

Hangzhou XPZ glassware washer：

Cleanliness is guaranteed；

Intelligent standardized cleaning, easy to operate；

Full process data traceability；

Effectively save resources for the laboratory；

Cleaning is the key step of harmless treatment of residual toxic reagent.The Lab Dishwasher not only can protect the safety and health of experimental personnel to the greatest extent, but also achieve the purpose of its reliable cleaning. For the long-term benefit of the laboratory, it should be as early as possible to acquire a fully automatic glassware washer!