Question: do you work with acids?

Rebecca Roddan answered on 4 Nov 2018:

Yes, I do.

Some are dangerous and you can give yourself really bad burns. One bad one that we use a lot is called trifluroacetic acid. We add it to different solvents when we purify small molecules. It’s added so that it’s at a really low concentration in the end, but when you have to use it on it’s own to make up those solutions, you have to be really careful.

It’s okay though because we have lots of safety measures in place. We wear gloves, lab coats and safety goggles at all times and make sure we wear shoes that completely cover our feet, just incase you spill something on you. We also do all experiments in a fume hood which is a kind of cabinet which sucks all the fumes out of it, which also helps keep you safe.