<![CDATA[Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench....]]>Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench....

Here it comes...

With the opened by date from the year "2020"on it!

Fucking bottle stood open in the bench for 6 god damn years.
Salt crust at the top.

I really don't know what the fuck is wrong with people in the lab🤯

]]>https://postcall.pub/topic/0cb15c44-a88f-4f7c-b42f-e7ae40125413/yesterday...-i-found-a-open-bottle-of-old-and-empty-but-with-residue-liquid-60-perchloric-acid-in-the-laminar-flow-bench....RSS for NodeSun, 05 Apr 2026 15:22:21 GMTWed, 11 Mar 2026 04:47:38 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Thu, 12 Mar 2026 04:39:05 GMT]]>@GetzlerChem @titania @SRLevine yes indeed. It's a really strange pattern there though coz other than that the people from the lowest to highest are through the bench actually really really nice, without bullying or other shitty social dynamics🤷

Still hoping www.cymanticmedical.com/ will get a cash infusion after our two main investors jumped off suddenly last summer😔

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116214356094350436https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116214356094350436Thu, 12 Mar 2026 04:39:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Thu, 12 Mar 2026 02:17:50 GMT]]>@Birk_lab @titania @SRLevine I assume you’re looking for other positions? Not that it’s easy to find one, and I don’t know your other circumstances, but sounds like your value is not being appreciated

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://mstdn.science/users/GetzlerChem/statuses/116213800666368241https://postcall.pub/post/https://mstdn.science/users/GetzlerChem/statuses/116213800666368241Thu, 12 Mar 2026 02:17:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 21:21:07 GMT]]>@titania xD whoops.

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116212633895547178https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116212633895547178Wed, 11 Mar 2026 21:21:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 21:20:32 GMT]]>@titania @GetzlerChem @SRLevine well I told QM long ago with increasing ridiculous things like having to witness that the group lead didn't change pipette tips to pipette QC 1-3.
QM always just said this needs to be dealt with inside the group and she didn't even forward it to the prof.

But yes, I need to not care anymore again. We got two new and fresh lab assistants in the group and it made me want to teach them right.

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116212631625246718https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116212631625246718Wed, 11 Mar 2026 21:20:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 21:15:00 GMT]]>@Birk_lab also just like, H2SO4 is also an oxo acid...?

God, I hope these people never work with nitric, having flashbacks to my best friend telling me about one of the physics students accidentally making nitroglycerine...

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://retro.pizza/users/titania/statuses/116212609864229596https://postcall.pub/post/https://retro.pizza/users/titania/statuses/116212609864229596Wed, 11 Mar 2026 21:15:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 21:12:27 GMT]]>@titania @GetzlerChem @SRLevine yes apologies. Canadian universities also came up when I researched it. Not sure why I couldn't find something as clear in the EU 🤷

Yes, yikes^^
Also means that since the bottle was placed in it, nobody cleaned the bench fully.

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116212599840012616https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116212599840012616Wed, 11 Mar 2026 21:12:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 21:12:13 GMT]]>@Birk_lab yeah I saw the line re: pipetting incorrectly. I worked with someone like that once. If they want to keep paying for someone to come out and check the machine, you can't stop them. If you were a postdoc or in a supervisory position I'd tell you to talk to the prof, but it sounds like it's not worth it. @GetzlerChem @SRLevine

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://retro.pizza/users/titania/statuses/116212598956439326https://postcall.pub/post/https://retro.pizza/users/titania/statuses/116212598956439326Wed, 11 Mar 2026 21:12:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 21:09:17 GMT]]>@GetzlerChem @titania @SRLevine like when we have to use a system calibration from 3 weeks ago coz the other 6 done since then don't fit with the latest analysis.

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116212587381029644https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116212587381029644Wed, 11 Mar 2026 21:09:17 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 21:08:02 GMT]]>@GetzlerChem @titania @SRLevine well... It all flared up in January when I basically got blamed for everything going wrong there. I'm just a technical lab assistant there since September last year. I was asked by QM to point out things that go wrong in the lab coz they want to get accredited. Even contacted the workers council to get it recorded that I'm not to blame for any of it. Left me not caring after January but the find of the salty crusty opened bottle is kind of next level shit. Before I joined them they didn't even use the hood or any protection while working with it and they vortexed open vials while pipetting 10% perchloric into it. Sure, safer but still blew my mind.

I think coz with an acid like concentrated sulfuric acid, you'd instantly see the effect and the danger of it while I understand perchloric is more dangerous, you don't instantly see it's effects directly.

So to get them to use the hood I really had to annoy the prof. And QM while instead of being thankful I pointed that stuff out they are annoyed by it. I don't get where my error in my thinking is... Humans are stupid can't be always the answer.

I could even anonymously blow the whistle even though of course it would be obvious it was me. But what should happen other than I piss off the prof?

Same with the LCMS results, we so often are cheating with the QCs so they are below 20% deviation...I can't assess if it's medically problematic but technically my mind screams.

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116212582469701199https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116212582469701199Wed, 11 Mar 2026 21:08:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 20:55:25 GMT]]>@Birk_lab I don't think it's just the US, friends in Canada were also subject to similar rules re: perchloric (well, more like "guidelines", but since they're guidelines to prevent fire...yeah). having washdown capability is a pretty good idea if you're working with any significant amount. 🫠 doesn't sound as though your lab *was*, at least until they left it open to evaporate...? which, uh, yikes. @GetzlerChem @SRLevine

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://retro.pizza/users/titania/statuses/116212532877239382https://postcall.pub/post/https://retro.pizza/users/titania/statuses/116212532877239382Wed, 11 Mar 2026 20:55:25 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 20:51:01 GMT]]>@GetzlerChem @titania @SRLevine well it's curious. While in the USA every university seems to have very strict rules and requirements for perchloric acid, not in Germany though. Or at least I couldn't find any actual solid handling manual besides the standard SDS. But the SDS basically leave the handling open for interpretation. 🤷

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116212515550334899https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116212515550334899Wed, 11 Mar 2026 20:51:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 19:31:59 GMT]]>@titania @Birk_lab @SRLevine oh I've never thought of the particulate control aspect and applications to clean room settings. instantly makes sense, just was so hard-wired to think of laminar flow as control for biological contamination. which is, of course, effectively just particular particulates 😛

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://mstdn.science/users/GetzlerChem/statuses/116212204790982523https://postcall.pub/post/https://mstdn.science/users/GetzlerChem/statuses/116212204790982523Wed, 11 Mar 2026 19:31:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 19:26:40 GMT]]>@Birk_lab I mean, I'm a chemist, was not using it for tissue work. Laminar flow hoods are a specific design that is supposed to reduce particulates on the bench...they're used in bio applications, sure, but the particulate control is important for semicon stuff too. Didn't blow toward my face but it does move air in such a way that I'd be surprised if they're rated for perchloric... 🤔

@SRLevine @GetzlerChem

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://retro.pizza/users/titania/statuses/116212183886838873https://postcall.pub/post/https://retro.pizza/users/titania/statuses/116212183886838873Wed, 11 Mar 2026 19:26:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 18:07:10 GMT]]>@Birk_lab @titania @SRLevine you have my sincere sympathy trying to sort this out. I assume there is not a particularly capable environmental health and safety office that can help out?

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://mstdn.science/users/GetzlerChem/statuses/116211871254687284https://postcall.pub/post/https://mstdn.science/users/GetzlerChem/statuses/116211871254687284Wed, 11 Mar 2026 18:07:10 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 18:04:43 GMT]]>@SRLevine @GetzlerChem @titania no it's a chemistry hood, not a cell culture one.
XD having the 60% blown directly into you face xD

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116211861649317703https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116211861649317703Wed, 11 Mar 2026 18:04:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:40:00 GMT]]>@GetzlerChem @titania @SRLevine of course it's not a perchloric acid rated hood. Don't ask, I have no explanation other than people are stupid. I have been praying it down there for months directly after I started. Maybe it's Corona brain damage🤷

Also been saying for over 6 months that the reason the IS we use for LCMS has often a too high standard deviation from the calibration coz everybody Pipettes differently, of course they also do it wrong. The companies the LCMS are leased from are constantly there not figuring out why our deviation is often so high... But according to the group lead xD it wouldn't matter how you pipette xD

Perchloric acid hoods would use a water spray/ mist system to directly remove any perchlorates from the air I think.

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116211764491737637https://postcall.pub/post/https://fediscience.org/users/Birk_lab/statuses/116211764491737637Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:40:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:39:33 GMT]]>@GetzlerChem @titania @Birk_lab We might also be having a terminology issue, the first time I ever used a tissue culture hood I was appalled because the air was blowing at me! Turns out the word hood covers a large variety of devices that move air in different patterns depending on the experiment, which blew my poor little chemistry brain.

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://neuromatch.social/users/SRLevine/statuses/116211762699960349https://postcall.pub/post/https://neuromatch.social/users/SRLevine/statuses/116211762699960349Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:39:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:26:34 GMT]]>@SRLevine @titania this feels a little like maybe the way chemists get shocked by how geologists handle HF and artists handle paint thinner. I hope it doesn’t feel like a pile on! Just concerned that @Birk_lab stay as safe as possible!

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://mstdn.science/users/GetzlerChem/statuses/116211711609557977https://postcall.pub/post/https://mstdn.science/users/GetzlerChem/statuses/116211711609557977Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:26:34 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:22:47 GMT]]>@titania @GetzlerChem @Birk_lab I was wondering the same thing!

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://neuromatch.social/users/SRLevine/statuses/116211696791932301https://postcall.pub/post/https://neuromatch.social/users/SRLevine/statuses/116211696791932301Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:22:47 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 16:47:19 GMT]]>@titania @Birk_lab I have no idea. I just remember ClO4- salts being something that many pretty otherwise bold synthetic folks would try to avoid due to all the special extra engineering controls and those hoods being limited and in inconvenient locations. Mostly I was encountering it as a potentially non-coordinating anion, not a strong oxidizer, so there was rarely cause to go through the trouble and I didn’t learn beyond that

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://mstdn.science/users/GetzlerChem/statuses/116211557290639126https://postcall.pub/post/https://mstdn.science/users/GetzlerChem/statuses/116211557290639126Wed, 11 Mar 2026 16:47:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 14:40:01 GMT]]>@GetzlerChem considering how laminar flow hoods work, are there any rated as safe for perchloric?? @Birk_lab

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://retro.pizza/users/titania/statuses/116211056739549224https://postcall.pub/post/https://retro.pizza/users/titania/statuses/116211056739549224Wed, 11 Mar 2026 14:40:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 14:38:52 GMT]]>@Birk_lab sounds like you work with the people I used to work with 🫠 once found a bottle of diethyl ether, opened, white crust about the neck, in the back of the storage cabinet. Bright black text: OPENED APRIL 2004.

It was August 2012.

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://retro.pizza/users/titania/statuses/116211052200713320https://postcall.pub/post/https://retro.pizza/users/titania/statuses/116211052200713320Wed, 11 Mar 2026 14:38:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Yesterday... I found a open bottle of old and empty but with residue liquid 60% perchloric acid in the laminar flow bench.... on Wed, 11 Mar 2026 12:38:16 GMT]]>@Birk_lab scratc scary! is it a perchlorate-rated hood? My understanding is that you can also get dangerous accumulation in the ducts.

]]>https://postcall.pub/post/https://mstdn.science/users/GetzlerChem/statuses/116210577970664520https://postcall.pub/post/https://mstdn.science/users/GetzlerChem/statuses/116210577970664520Wed, 11 Mar 2026 12:38:16 GMT