Chemicals and Chemical Demonstrations at the 18th BCCE, Iowa State University

Chemical Demonstrations: Paul Hollander, ISU. pholland@iastate.edu

Jim Goll, Edgewood College, Madison, WI. jgoll@edgewood.edu
   
  This page contains a statement regarding the transportation, storage, preparation, presentation, and disposal of chemicals to be used at the 18th BCCE.
     

Chemical demonstrations are an important educational component of every Biennial Conference on Chemical Education. We will work with you so you can present your chemical demonstration in a safe and accessible venue, but you must follow the safety rules and guidelines for doing chemical demonstrations that exist on the Iowa State University campus. At ISU, we strictly follow the EPA, OSHA, RCRA, and State rules.

The following set of guidelines, rules, and policy statements were developed through discussion with the previous two BCCE hosts (University of Michigan and Western Washington University) and the ACS Division of Chemical Education BCCE committee.

Click here to download the ISU Chemical Safety Rules

Click here to download the ACS Division of Chemical Educaiton Chemistry Safety Rules

 
     

Owing to the increased security that characterizes transportation systems within the U. S., the 18th BCCE recommends that participants DO NOT carry chemicals with them or in their luggage while traveling on airlines. Once you have permission from the 18th BCCE to perform a chemical demonstration, you will be sent a form that explains how we are going to deal with chemicals at the 18th BCCE.

Individuals attending the 18th BCCE must understand that the storage of chemicals in automobiles parked on the ISU campus or in ISU residence halls will not be permitted. Participants who bring chemicals with them must make prior arrangements with Mr. Paul Hollander, ISU, Senior Laboratory Technician and Chemistry Lecture Demonstrator, for proper of storage of the chemicals within Gilman Hall.

If you are sending supplies, materials, etc. please use the following address: Iowa State University, 18th BCCE/ (your own name), c/o Chemistry Stores, 1400 Gilman Hall, Ames, IA 50011 USA

Owing to the increase in cost of disposing of waste generated by chemical demonstrations, the Department of Chemistry at ISU reserves the right to say no to certain costly demonstrations. Please realize that there is only a limited amount in the 18th BCCE budget to cover the cost of disposing of waste generated by the chemical demonstrations presented at the 18th BCCE. The Department of Chemistry at ISU does not have additional funds to cover the cost of disposing of potential unauthorized amounts of chemical waste generated by the 18th BCCE.

Individuals preparing, presenting, or involved in the clean-up of chemical demonstrations at the 18th BCCE must be registered participants of the 18th BCCE. Individuals involved with preparing, presenting, or cleaning-up of chemical demonstrations at the 18th BCCE must wear appropriate safety equipment (safety goggles, gloves, lab coat, etc.). Individuals should bring their own safety goggles. Safety goggles may be loaned to individuals, at the pleasure of Mr. Paul Hollander.

You are responsible for the preparation, presentation, and proper disposal of your chemistry demonstration(s) (within the demonstration room or workshop room). Do not expect the 18th BCCE committee or the ISU Department of Chemistry staff or students to prep your demonstration(s). We will provide proper transportation of the demo materials to the room where the presentation will occur. Iowa State University expects you to properly place the waste generated by your demonstration in appropriately labeled waste containers. The Department of Chemistry will deal with waste disposal.

18th BCCE participants doing chemical demonstrations may be required to attend a 50 minute Chemical Safety, Disposal of Chemicals, & Information about ISU rules and regulations session on Saturday evening.

The Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University will supply basic reagents for the preparation of "normal chemistry lecture demonstrations". For example, the reagents that will be available are: 6M HCl, 6M HNO3, 6M NaOH, 95% Ethanol, Acetone, NaCl(s), KOH(s), D.I. water, sucrose(s). Available gases: H2, O2, N2, He.

Chemistry Stores will be open on Saturday and Sunday, July 17 and July 18, from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

The Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University will provide demonstrators access to a chemistry lecture demonstration preparation area (reasonable hours), access to deionized water, access and use of normal glassware and measurement devices (balances, graduated cylinders, etc.), labels for use on all containers, access to safety equipment (gloves, lab apron or lab coat) while preparing and presenting chemical demonstrations. There will ber a secure room for you to store your prepared chemicals.

The Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University will NOT supply individuals with chemicals from the Department of Chemistry's research laboratories that have not been approved by June 8, 2004 (see below).

Only neutral salts or neutralized acid-base demonstrations that have a measured pH between 6.1 and 8.5 can be disposed of in an expedient manner.
If you generate chemical waste other than in Gilman Hall, you must follow ISU's procedures for the proper disposal of your waste. Chemical waste is NOT transported between buildings by individuals. We will need to negotiate with Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) ahead of time for them to designate a room in that building as a waste disposal area and EH&S would need to come and pick-up the waste.

If you have unused chemical reagents, you cannot leave these chemicals in our department without written permission to do so. Our department must track all chemicals from the time it enters the building through the amounts that are used in any reactions.

All chemical demonstrations presented at the 18th BCCE MUST have the following documents on file in our department by June 8, 2004:

  • prior approval from the General Chair, Program Chair, ISU Department of Chemistry Safety Committee, and Chemical Demonstration Chair
  • abstract of the chemical demonstration submitted and accepted
  • a list of the chemicals to be used accompanied by MSDS for all chemicals. If you check our list of MSD sheets on our web site and we have the MSD sheet for your chemical(s), then you do not need to provide the MSD sheets. The UL for our safety web site is: http://avogadro.chem.iastate.edu/MSDS/
  • a written statement of the known potential hazards, handling problems, etc. for each demonstration
  • a written list of the safety equipment needed to be present during the preparation, presentation, and clean-up of the demonstration
  • a written plan for disposing of all wastes generated by each demonstration
  • a written estimate of the quantity of waste to be generated and a list of the chemicals in the waste, including the approximate percentages of each one
  • a written statement about how you plan to deal with unused chemicals (excess supplies of chemicals) - you can't just leave unused chemicals in our department without permission to do so
  • a written outline of the procedure for preparing the demonstration
  • a signed form - ACS Division of Chemical Education Guidelines for Presenting Chemical Demonstrations - stating that you agree to these procedures.

 

I agree to abide by these rules & guidelines:

___________________________________________ (print name)

___________________________________________ (signed name)

_________________________________________ (date)
 
This web page was up-dated on May 26, 2004 by Tom Greenbowe, Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University (bcce@iastate.edu) and Mr. Paul Hollander, Senior Laboratory Technician, Department of Chemistry, Gilman Hall, Iowa State University, Room 0635 Gilman Hall, Ames, IA 50011-3111 (515)-294-0950 pholland@iastate.edu.