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| A picture of Sheharbano "Sheri" Sangji, who died as a result of bad lab safety. |
t-butyl lithium - t-butyl lithium is a pyrophoric substance with chemical equation (CH3)3CLi
pyrophoric - a pyrophoric substance is one that catches on fire upon contact with air
Summary
Sheharbano "Sheri" Sangji was 23 years old when she died as a result of a lab. While conducting experiments, she did not wear a lab coat, instead choosing to wear a sweatshirt. She was working at UCLA with t-butyl lithium. T-butyl lithium must be handled carefully, because of its chemical property of being pyrophoric. When equipment malfunctioned, the t-butyl lithium got on her sweatshirt, setting it on fire. People nearby rushed to her aid but arrived too late. She was sent to the hospital and spent 18 days there before her death. Sangji's death was called a "tragic accident," yet according to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), it was not just an accident. Cal/OSHA stated that some safety violations were potentially life-threatening. Some of these violations were lack of protective clothing (such as a lab coat) and lack of proper training. Cal/OSHA also realized that another student had a similar past incident but was not killed. UCLA was fined $32,000 for failure to make reforms to improve lab safety.
Discussion
I believe that this incident could have been prevented. Sangji died because of a failure on UCLA's part to enforce lab safety procedures. She failed to wear a lab coat, and was not careful enough while working with dangerous chemicals. One of the safety violations listed by Cal/OSHA included the lack of protective clothing, which was probably Sangji's downfall as her burns were caused by the t-butyl lithium coming in contact with her sweatshirt, which is not an example of protective clothing. If UCLA had made reforms Sangji's death might have been prevented. Some groups such as the American Chemical Society (ACS) plan to gather data of similar events. I hope that this will help prevent failures to enforce lab safety, because it can have drastic consequences such as the death of a person.
Resources
Original Article: Benderly, Beryl Lieff. "Danger in School Labs." Scientific American. Web. 14 Oct. 2010 <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&hid=13&sid=ffe6511e-acfd-461d-81df-7ede22ac662e%40sessionmgr10&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=sch&AN=52111630>
Picture of Sheharbano "Sheri" Sangji: http://sherisangji.com/wp-content/themes/evo/preview.php?src=http://sherisangji.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Bano-Home-Page.JPG&h=291&w=670&zc=1
Your article was really interesting and shocking at the same time!
ReplyDeleteI think that in your summary, it would be better if you included at least one of the quotes mentioned towards the end of the article said by the experts.
Good job on your discussion; it was detailed and clearly showed your thought process after reading the article.
I think you forgot to add a questions section... remember that for next time.
Overall, great job!