[Histonet] picric acid

[WILLIAM DESALVO]

I do not know about a solution, but a REALLY BIG one with a 1 oz bottle of picric acid crystals. When I was in college bottle was vibrated off a shelf by an out of balance centrifuge. It was common for students to work w/ chemicals late at night when taking inorganic chem. The student loaded the centrifuge and left the room (went outside for a smoke), bottle dropped to the floor, exploded and left a 6 ft x 8 ft whole in the counter and wall and pretty much destroyed the 30 ft x 30 ft lab. Very lucky no one was hurt. At the time, i remember thinking, hey we will get a pass on the next assignment, only got two days off.
 
University Safety team had an accurate listing of all chemicals on the shelves and determined it had to be the picric acid. Safety and the Fire marshal did a sweep of the university and found six other bottles in various labs on campus. Never did hear how they disposed and I bet that made a BIB BANG!!   

William DeSalvo, B.S., HTL(ASCP)

 

> From: Margaret.Perry <@t> sdstate.edu
> To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2012 18:50:37 +0000
> Subject: [Histonet] picric acid
> 
> I am curious how big an explosion there would be from 1% picric acid in acetone if a little dried around the cap.
> 
> Margaret Perry HT(ASCP)
> Dept of Veterinary and Biomedical services
> Box 2175
> South Dakota State University
> Brookings SD 57007
> 605-688-5638
> 
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