Fun With Chemicals at Work...

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No, if there are only two sigdigs allowed, 17.501 has to be rounded up to 18...

Well, you would know better (even though we are reviewing them right now), so I'll defer to your Chemical Wisdom.

 

The most entertaining chemicals that I get to work with are hydroflourocarbons. All types, the best thing about them is that they kill you be suffocation.

 

Let's see...

Ethidium Bromide: mutagen, carcinogen, poison, toxic... what more could you ask?

Phenol: toxic, poison, very VERY nasty. Drop a few milliliters of this stuff on your skin and you're dead within an hour. It stinks worse than (almost) anything else I've handled (and I've handled lots of stinky things). Along with Ethidium Bromide, this is the only chemical I religiously follow procedure when using. Not for the faint of heart.

Acetic acid: stinks, and burns like hell. Though I once spilled half a bottle on my hand, cursed my clumsiness, and nonchalantly went to the sink to wash my hands. Needless to say that wasn't very professional.

Cyanide: I absolutely love the smell (think of concentrated almonds). Very highly toxic though

H2S: rotten eggs

SDS: it's supposed to be toxic/irritant, but frankly I've never felt any irritation when inhaling the dust (which is probably not a good sign)

Deoxycholate: nasty. Not very toxic, but VERY irritating. It's very dusty, and can quickly spread everywhere if you're not careful. Inhaling the dust is NOT fun (trust me, I've tried it. It went THROUGH the breathing mask as if it wasn't there)

NaOH: the same stuff you use to clean your sink pipes, except at higher concentrations (10M and up). Very nasty, and more dangerous than HCl. With an acid you KNOW it's dangerous when you see it (lots of fumes!). NaOH is crystal-clear water in looks. Until you dip your hand in it. I've seen other people's burns - they're not pretty.

Methanol: stinks, carcinogen, and toxic. Some people I knew though that just because it looked like "ethanol" they could just pour it over their un-gloved hands without suffering any side effect. Not a good idea. Nasty stuff if not handled properly.

Mercaptoethanol: THE stinkiest chemical in the world, bar none. Take a small (20ml) bottle, open it for a second, and close it again. The room will stink for the rest of the day, no matter how well you ventilate. The other day some random idiot dropped the whole bottle and BROKE it. I'll let you imagine the rest.

There's loads of others, but those are the most memorable. Of course no coktail in the world beats a 3:7 mix of de-ionized H2O and CH3CH2OH

(For the uninitiated, that was 70% ethanol, your absolute best friend in any microbiology laboratory)

 

It is really weak, though, and unless in great concentrations, it isn't that bad. I mean, its vinegar...

 

@Saber Ziad is probably talking Glacial Acetic Acid which is a lot stronger then vinegar, the vapour is an irritant to the synovial membranes (imagine the smell of vinegar then multiply that by about 200 times) and eyes; and it can burn but not as abdly as HCl, H2SO4 or HNO3.