[Histonet] picric acid

[Julio Benavides]

Thank you so much everybody for your help!!



"Morken, Timothy" <Timothy.Morken at ucsf.edu> escribió:

> Here's another good document on how to handle picric acid powder
>
> www.ehs.wisc.edu/chem/SafeHandlingOfPicricAcid.pdf
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Morken, Timothy via Histonet [mailto:histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu]
> Sent: Friday, May 06, 2016 8:28 AM
> To: Julio Benavides
> Cc: Histonet
> Subject: Re: [Histonet] picric acid
>
> Julio, you can just pour water into the container. We always  
> oversaturated so that a layer of water was on top of the powder.
>
> Look at this explanation
> http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/cci/safety/picric.pdf
>
> or read the text below if you cannot open this.  This contains  
> instructions on how to properly store picric acid powder, and how to  
> deal with dry powder found in the lab.
>
> Long ago I had the pleasure of discovering a batch of six 2kg  
> bottles of dry picric acid in our "bunker" where we stored  
> flammables. Over 10 years old according to dates on the box. We  
> called in the fire department to take care of it. They hosed it  
> down, removed it and disposed of it; how, I don't know.
>
>
> Tim Morken
> Pathology Site Manager, Parnassus
> Supervisor, Electron Microscopy/Neuromuscular Special Studies  
> Department of Pathology UC San Francisco Medical Center
>
>
> +++++++++++++++
> PICRIC ACID HAZARDS
> Mark Cameron, CIH
> Every couple months, an article appears in the local paper about a  
> bomb disposal team removing picric acid that was found in a  
> laboratory. The material is usually taken to be blown up. So why is  
> picric acid considered so dangerous? Well, let’s look at the history  
> of the use of Picric Acid and see what can be done to avoid those  
> types of situations.
>
> Picric Acid (2,4,6 Trinitrophenol) is frequently found in forensic  
> laboratories for use in the Christmas Tree stain (1) and for Urine  
> detection (2). Histology uses include connective tissue stain  
> (Jullien’s picroindogocarmine and Van Gieson’s picro-acid fuchsin),  
> cytoplasmic stain (Van Gieson’s with iron hematoxylin), woody  
> sections (picro aniline blue) and as a fixative agent (3). It was  
> used in medicinal formulations in the treatment of malaria,  
> trichinosis, herpes, smallpox and antiseptics. A one- percent  
> solution was also used in the treatment of burns (4).
> British Chemist Peter Woulfe discovered picric acid in 1771. Picric  
> acid was named from the Greek word pikros, which means “bitter” due  
> to its bitter taste (5). It was used to dye silk and wool yellow.  
> Workers making picric acid during World War I were called “canaries”  
> because their skin was stained yellow (6).
>
> The explosive characteristics of Picric acid were discovered early.  
> In 1885, experiments with picric acid were conducted in Lydd,  
> England and the English adopted it as an explosive material called  
> Lyddite in 1888. It was used extensively in bombs and grenades  
> during World War I (7). Anhydrous Picric acid is similar to TNT. It  
> needs usually needs a “booster” such as a primer to create the  
> explosion. However, as a strong acid, picric acid attacks common  
> metals (except tin and aluminum) creating explosive salts, which are  
> shock-sensitive. Bombs, mines and grenades were coated with tin or  
> ashpatim to prevent the picric acid from contacting the metallic  
> shell (8).
>
> Several catastrophic events involving picric acid have occurred. On  
> December 6, 1917, an ammunition ship in Nova Scotia carrying 2,300  
> tons of picric acid as well as 400,000 pounds of TNT caught fire and  
> exploded. Over 1,900 people were killed immediately and 9,000 were  
> injured (9). Shock-sensitive metal picrates demonstrated their  
> hazardous nature on May 1, 1916 when a fire at a French ammunition  
> factory caused molten picric acid to flow onto the concrete floor.  
> Calcium picrate was formed and detonated, killing 170 people (10).
> 06/18/02
>
> Have there been any explosions in laboratories? There are no  
> documented instances of spontaneous detonation of picric acid in a  
> laboratory (11). The Department of Transportation classifies Picric  
> Acid (Trinitrophenol) with less than 30% water by mass as a Class  
> 1.1D explosive; with greater than 10% water by volume, it is a class  
> 4.1 flammable solid (12). In the wetted state, it is unlikely to be  
> an explosive hazard. If a bomb squad tries to blow it up, the picric  
> acid will not detonate (13) and will just spread picric all over the  
> area!
> The big concern has been with finding dehydrated picric acid. The  
> most dangerous situations is if the bottle is old and has a metal  
> cap. Under these circumstances, shock sensitive metal picrates may  
> have formed on the cap contact area. Explosive experts should be  
> contacted under these situations. Knowledgeable bomb disposal  
> experts will use a robot to pick up the container and place it in  
> water to re-hydrate the material (14) or remove it for detonation  
> elsewhere.
>
> If a plastic cap is present, and the acid inside has dried, some  
> crystals may be on the threads and the friction of removing a  
> plastic cap might be enough to detonate the container. Under these  
> circumstances, the container may be safe enough to place in a pail  
> of water. Submerge the bottle to allow water to enter the cap and  
> threads and dissolve any crystals that might be on the threads. Add  
> ice to cause shrinkage of the bottle to enhance penetration of the  
> water. Leave it like this for several days, until water can be seen  
> inside the bottle. At this point, it is safe to open the cap and  
> re-hydrate the acid inside (15). Whenever in doubt, contact  
> explosives experts.
> Of course, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If you  
> really need to have picric acid in your lab, here’s what you should  
> do:
> 1.
> Make sure that the picric acid is kept wet! Do not open a new bottle  
> until needed. Then date the container to show when it was first used  
> to help you in a routine inspection program. As part of your lab  
> inspection program, check the hydration of your picric acid at least  
> every six months and add distilled water as necessary.
> 2.
> Do not use metal spatulas to remove the material.
> 3.
> Be sure to clean the bottleneck, cap and threads with a wet cloth  
> before resealing (16).
> 4.
> Get rid of old bottles with metal caps
> 5.
> Do not store large amounts of picric acid. Dispose of your picric  
> acid every two years (17).
> 6.
> If possible, eliminate it from your inventory by purchasing premixed  
> stains or a 1% solution for using in stain preparation.
> If you decide to dispose of your wet picric acid, several options  
> are available. First, you could try reducing the picric acid to a  
> non-explosive form using sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide (18).  
> After this treatment, the material will still be toxic and have to be
> disposed of as hazardous waste. Alternatively, it could be  
> manifested as a flammable solid for hazardous waste and disposed of  
> by incineration. DO NOT pour it down the drain; it could react with  
> copper or iron piping to form the explosive salts.
> As a last consideration, Picric Acid is toxic. Ingestion of 1-2  
> grams would cause severe poisoning. The dust is irritating to the  
> skin and eye. A peculiar effect on the eye is “yellow” tainted  
> vision. Systemic poisoning causes headache, vertigo, nausea,  
> vomiting and diarrhea. The skin will turn yellow in severe  
> exposures. Red colored urine may be produced (19). These symptoms  
> would not expected in the laboratory environment under traditional  
> uses.
>
> REFERENCES
> 1.
> Gaensslen, R., Mertens, J., Lee, H., Stolotow, M., “Staining and  
> Extraction Techniques”, Proceeding of a Forensic Science Symposium  
> on the Analysis of Sexual Assault Evidence., FBI Academy, 1983.
> 2.
> Slot C. “Plasma creatinine determination. A new and specific Jaffe  
> reaction method.” Scand J. Clin. Lab. Invest. 1965, 17: 381
> 3.
> Lillie, R.D., “H.J. Conn’s Biological Stains”, Williams & Wilkins  
> Company, 1969, Baltimore, MD, pages 5, 60-61.
> 4.
> Patty’s Toxicology, John Wiley & Sons: New York, 2000, Volume IIB, page 980.
> 5.
> Davis, Tenney, “The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives”, Angriff  
> Press, 1984, page 164.
> 6.
> Hamilton, Alice, “Exploring the Dangerous Trades”, American  
> Industrial Hygiene Association: Fairfax, Virginia, 1995, page 185.
> 7.
> Cooper, Paul, “Explosives Engineering”, Wiley-VCH, 1996, page 33.
> 8.
> Davis, ibid.
> 9.
> Phifer, Russell, “Picric Acid: When is Panic Justified?”, Speaking  
> of Safety, Volume 9, No. 2, 2000, page 1-3.
> 10.
> Medard, Louis, “Accidental Explosions, Volume 2: Types of Explosive  
> Substances”, John Wiley and Sons: New York, 1989, page 739.
> 11.
> Phifer, ibid.
> 12.
> Code of Federal Regulations, Title 49, Section 172.101.
> 13.
> Kraut, Irv, In Handbook of Chemical Health and Safety, Alaimo,  
> Robert J., Ed., Oxford University Press; New York, 2001, page 406.
> 14.
> Personal Communication with Tom Gundlach of RHR Inc., August 23, 2000.
> 15.
> Guidance for the Management of Reactive Chemicals, Picric Acid,  
> http://www.uwsa.edu/oslp/ehs/info/picric.htm , 8/97 revision.
> 16.
> Safe Use and Management of Picric Acid, Safety Net #104,  
> http://wwwehs.ucdavis.edu/sflynet/sn-104.html ,11/21/01
> 17.
> Biological & Chemical Safety Code, Appendix H-3, Handling Procedures  
> for Unstable Agents, University of Saskatchewan, Department of  
> Health and Safety, http://duke.usask.ca/~whiterv/unstable.html,  
> 11/21/01.
> 18.
> Lunn, George and Sansone, Eric B., “Destruction of Hazardous  
> Chemicals in the Laboratory”, John Wiley & Sons: New York, 1990,  
> page 219-221.
> 06/18/02
> 19.
> Documentation of the Threshold Limit Values, American Conference of  
> Governmental Industrial Hygienists, Inc.: Cincinnati, Ohio, 1991,  
> page 1271.
> 06/18/02
>
>
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Julio Benavides via Histonet [mailto:histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu]
> Sent: Friday, May 06, 2016 7:11 AM
> To: histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> Subject: Re: [Histonet] picric acid
>
> Hi,
>
> For how long can you keep it in water? any particular dilution or  
> just keep it humid (saturation)?
>
> We also do have some dry picric acid in the lab and, after reading  
> about the bomb squad, I was begining to get concerned...
>
> Thanks a lot
>
> julio
>
>
> El 06/05/2016 a las 15:30, Rene J Buesa via Histonet escribió:
>> Picric acid is an expensive reagent useful in many histology
>> procedures.The advise you received of adding water is a good one.Humid
>> picric acid will not explode at all. Why waste a good reagent?Keep
>> humid, you will eventually used it.René
>>
>>      On Thursday, May 5, 2016 3:24 PM, Mca Werdler via Histonet  
>> <histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu> wrote:
>>
>>
>>   Dear histonetters,
>>
>> Since a few months, i started working in a histology lab, run only by
>> me ( coworkers are not specialized in histology). There has not worked
>> here a person at histology for about 2 years.
>>
>> After many new protocols, i decided to clear out some chemicals.
>> Now i found around 1 KG of DRY picric acid. I informed my coworkers
>> about this, and they said just to dissolve everything in water.
>>
>> What do you guys think is the best way for handeling with this
>> explosive chemical? Thank you all in advance!
>>
>> Maarten
>> _______________________________________________
>> Histonet mailing list
>> Histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu
>> http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Histonet mailing list
>> Histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu
>> http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Histonet mailing list
> Histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
> _______________________________________________
> Histonet mailing list
> Histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet