Using Material Safety Data Sheets To Teach Laboratory Safety

Modern life thrives on, but is also threatened by, the constant development and use of chemical concoctions. Many are benign. Some are very dangerous. A few are deadly. But more dangerous than the chemicals we contact every day is the rampant ignorance of their hazards. It seems to be a firmly entrenched trait of human nature to ignore the risks involved in substances to which we are in constant contact, especially if those substances are provided for us by others. The millions of dollars spent to remove asbestos from our living and working environments, is evidence of what ignorance can lead to. How true it is that "Near acquaintance doth diminish reverent fear." In the face of strong evidence, we ignore obvious connections between illness and even death and unprotected use of chemicals. "There is nothing more terrible than ignorance in action"