Sequagel Concentrate(23.75% Acrylamide1.25% Bisacrylamide8.3M Urea)

Diluent ( 8.3M Urea)

Hazardous Substances Policy - Assessment

CHEMICAL HAZARD AND RISK ASSESSMENT

School of Biosciences

Name of supervisor / Dr S. Minchin / Assessment Number* / 1529
Signature
Assessor / Rita Godfrey / Date of Assessment / 15 / 6 / 01

Signature

NotesA School COSHH form in Word is available on the School Server.

Available from the Health and Safety Unit.

Guidance on making an assessment is given in Making a Chemical Hazard and Risk Assessment.

Guidance is also available from Guidance on Completing the Chemical Hazard and Risk Assessment Form.

Use a continuation sheet to expand any section of this form in hard copy version.

1 / LOCATION OF THE WORK ACTIVITY / Lab G10 and G4
2 / PERSONS WHO MAY BE AT RISK
List names where possible / All occupants of the lab (Laura Tate, Jo Field, Dong Ling Zeng, Rita Godfrey)
3 / ACTIVITY ASSESSED / Preparation and running of sequencing type gels.
4 / MATERIALS INVOLVED / Attach copies of data sheet(s)
NAME / AMOUNT
max/stored / HAZARD / RISK PHRASES / HAZDAT NO*** / BIOSCIENCESNO***
Sequagel Concentrate
(23.75% Acrylamide
1.25% Bisacrylamide
8.3M Urea) / 1 litre / TOXIC / R45 May cause cancer
R46 May cause heritable genetic damage
R24/25 Toxic in contact with skin and if swallowed.
R48/23/24/25 Toxic: danger of serious damage to health by prolonged exposure through inhalation, in contact with skin and if swallowed. / 307
Diluent ( 8.3M Urea) / 1 litre / HARMFUL
IRRITANT / R40 Possible risk of irreversible effects.
R36/37/38 Irritating to eyes, respiratory system and skin
Buffer (8.3M Urea, 1M Tris-borate-20mM EDTA pH8.3) / 200ml / HARMFUL
IRRITANT / R40 Possible risk of irreversible effects.
R36/37/38 Irritating to eyes, respiratory system and skin.
6% diluted acrylamide mix / 70ml / TOXIC / R45 May cause cancer
R46 May cause heritable genetic damage
R48/23/24/25 Toxic: danger of serious damage to health by prolonged exposure through inhalation, in contact with skin and if swallowed.
R21/22 Also harmful in contact with skin and if swallowed
TEMED / 50ml / HIGHLY FLAMMABLE
CORROSIVE
HARMFUL / R11 Highly flammable
R34 Causes burns
R20/22 Harmful by inhalation and if swallowed / 1176
Ammonium Persulphate (solid) / 100g / OXIDISING
HARMFUL
IRRITANT / R8 Contact with combustible material may cause fire.
R22 Harmful if swallowed
R36/37/38 Irritating to eyes, respiratory system and skin.
R42/43 May cause sensitisation by inhalation and skin contact. / 1165
10% Ammonium persulphate / 10ml / IRRITANT / R36/37/38 Irritating to eyes, respiratory system and skin.
R42/43 May cause sensitisation by inhalation and skin contact.
5 x TBE / 5 litres / IRRITANT / R36/37/38 Irritating to eyes, respiratory system and skin.
1 x TBE / 2 litres / IRRITANT / R36/37/38 Irritating to eyes, respiratory system and skin.
Glacial Acetic acid / 2.5 litres / CORROSIVE
FLAMMABLE / R35 Causes severe burns
R10 Flammable / 2
Methanol / 2.5 litres / TOXIC
FLAMMABLE / R23/24/25 Toxic by inhalation, in contact with skin and if swallowed.
R39/23/24/25 Toxic: danger of very serious irreversible effects through inhalation, in contact with skin and if swallowed
R11 Highly flammable / 136
Gel fix: 10% acetic acid, 10% methanol / 2 litres / TOXIC / R39/23/24/25 Toxic: danger of very serious irreversible effects through inhalation, in contact with skin and if swallowed.
R36/38 Also irritating to eyes and skin.
Dilute detergent for cleaning glass plates(2 drops of Q3000/500ml) / 200ml / NSH
Ethanol / 2.5 litres / HIGHLY FLAMMABLE / R11 Highly flammable
Gel Repel cloths (Sigma Z37,624-8) / 25 cloths / NSH
Gel samples / max 768ul / RADIO-ACTIVE
5 / INTENDED USE**
Give brief details and attach protocol/instructions / Preparation of sequencing type acrylamide gels and the running of
samples on it, usually, [32P] labelled footprinting samples. This is followed by the fixing and drying of the gel and its exposure to x-ray film. See attached sheet for details.
6 / RISKS to HEALTH and SAFETY from INTENDED USE
From personal exposure or hazardous reactions. Refer to OELs, flash points, etc., as appropriate. Are pregnant women, breast-feeding mothers especially at risk?
There is a fire risk from the ethanol, methanol, acetic acid and TEMED.
There is a risk of contact with the stock acrylamide solution as well as the diluted.
There is a risk of splashing acetic acid, methanol, TEMED, gel fix, stock acrylamide and dilute acrylamide on the skin.
There is a risk from inhaling TEMED and solid ammonium persulphate.
There is a risk of exposure to radiation from the samples that are run on the gel.
There is a risk of splashing the TBE solutions whilst pouring them.
7 / CONCLUSIONS ABOUT RISKS
Is level of risk acceptable? Can risk be prevented or reduced by change of substance/procedure? Are control measures necessary?
There are many risks involved here and they need to be controlled.
Latex and pvc gloves are said to offer no protection against acrylamide, consequently there will always be a risk of skin contact even when wearing these gloves.
8 / CONTROL MEASURES
Additional to Good Chemical Practice
All sources of ignition should be switched off when using ethanol, methanol, acetic acid, gel fix and TEMED.
After pouring the gel wash gloves then remove, discard and wash hands
Avoid handling unpolymerised acrylamide where possible.
Avoid inhalation of methanol, acetic acid and fix. Keep containers closed or covered and use in a well ventilated room. Empty tray of fixer as soon as possible.
Wear protective clothing and gloves for all stages of the procedure and wear goggles when handling acetic acid and fixer.
Follow approved scheme number1/P when handling the radioactive samples.
Do not allow 10% ammonium persulphate to dry out.
9 / INSTRUCTION/TRAINING
Specify course(s) and/or special arrangements.
University radiation safety course
10 / MONITORING
Performance of control measures,
Check integrity of gloves
Personal exposure / Health Surveillance
11 / WASTE DISPOSAL PROCEDURE
See School Server for Approved Procedure Document on specific Chemical Waste Disposal.
Small amounts of waste unpolymerised acrylamide should be polymerised before being disposed of. Gels and gloves should be washed free of any contaminating unpolymerised acylamide before being bagged
along with tissues, paper towels etc and then disposed of.
Used gel fixer may be reused up to three times and then carefully poured into the non-halogenated waste solvent bottle which is taken to Stores when full.
Small amounts of waste 10% ammonium persulphate can be disposed of down the sink after diluting with water first.
Used buffer should be carefully poured down a sink that is designated for radioactive disposal and an estimate of the amount of radioactivity disposed of noted.
When no longer required the dried gel is put in the appropriate low level waste bin in G4 and an estimate of the amount of radioactivity on it is recorded.
12 / REVIEW
Enter the date or circumstances for review of assessment (maximum review interval 5 years)
June 2006
13 / EMERGENCY ACTION
TO CONTROL HAZARDS / To stabilize situation eg spread absorbant on liquid spill; eliminate sources of ignition, etc.
Turn off all sources of ignition. Mop up small spills with paper towels, large spills may require the spill kit.
The paper towels used to mop up 10% ammonium persulphate spills should be rinsed well with water before putting them in the bin. The solution should not be allowed to dry out on them.
TO PROTECT PERSONNEL / Evacuation, protection for personnel involved in clean-up, Special First Aid
Protective clothing, gloves and goggles should be worn for all spillages covered here. Solvent spills would require the evacuation of the lab and the room to be well ventilated until all fumes have gone.
TO RENDER SITE OF EMERGENCY SAFE / Clean-up/decontamination
TEMED- small spills can be neutralized by carefully adding sodium bisulphate solution or 5%sulphuric acid solution. Other sites can be washed with plenty of water.
CONTACT PHONE

10.10.00

* Prefix T is used for Teaching Assessment Number.

** Please include amount of chemicals used and how.

***Hazdat No is the UNICOSHH datasheet report number.

Biosciences No is the Biosciences data sheet number.

UNICOSHH IS A CHEMICAL DATABASE ON THE HEALTH AND SAFETY UNIT SERVER.

BIOSCIENCES DATA SHEETS ARE AVAILABLE IN THE SCHOOL SAFETY OFFICE.