Ways to work with extremely toxic substances in the lab as safely as possible

Toxic substances require caution, but when dealing with extremely toxic substances the bar is much higher. TNO Defense and Security works with, among other things, extremely potent drugs, pesticides and substances that fall under the Chemical Weapons Convention. During the webinar 'working with extremely toxic substances: 'do's and don'ts', part of the online knowledge week LabSafety, Jeroen van der Meer and Jan Langenberg talk about dealing with such chemicals.

By: Dimitri Reijerman

Jan Langenberg is Senior Consultant CBRN & Toxicology at TNO Defense, Security and Safety. He has to deal with chemicals with a high level of toxicity on a daily basis: “Consider substances that are used as chemical weapons, that is one of the things we work with,” says Langenberg. “We protect soldiers and civilians against extremely toxic substances that can be used by malicious parties. At TNO in Rijswijk we work with a range of toxic compounds, of course in a very safe manner.”

He continues: “We have a 'high toxic lab' for this purpose, a laboratory that is equipped for working with highly toxic compounds. For example, there are fume cupboards with a very high degree of ventilation. But ultimately the most important factor for safety is people. We attach great importance to properly training and educating people to handle these substances. They must feel good about it and have the self-confidence to dare to work with it. Then you have already come a long way.”

Careful preliminary work

To keep the risk of incidents as low as possible, a lot of preparatory work is done, says Langenberg: “We try to prevent incidents especially at the front end by creating a reporting form when people start doing experiments. This describes exactly what they will do and in detail what steps will be taken. For example, consideration is given to which dangerous aspects are involved in the work and how they can be mitigated. The reporting form is assessed by people who know this. After approval, the experiment may continue.”

Jeroen van der Meer, project manager at TNO, adds to Langenberg: “The basis is that you are not allowed to start work before you receive approval from the management layer. The department manager checks whether that part of the process has been completed correctly and whether the right people have looked at the file.”

Once the preliminary process has been completed and the form has been approved, the work with the highly toxic substances in the lab begins. That always happens with two pairs of eyes, says Langenberg: “There are always two of us in our lab. One person performs the test and the other watches. That second person could also intervene or possibly raise the alarm. During this corona time, they must now keep a distance of 1.5 meters from each other or use additional protective equipment.”

During Langenberg and Van der Meer's presentation, tips are given on how work can be carried out more safely in environments with less hazardous substances. Van der Meer says: “People should think carefully in advance about what they are going to do. This is in the back of the mind of many laboratory employees because of their training, but it is about going that extra mile. Even in a normal laboratory where you work with normal chemicals, you have many advantages if you prepare your work well. A lot of simple incidents happen that can be prevented in advance.”

He gives an example: “You often see materials being knocked over. But you can simply secure a jar in a fume hood to prevent it from falling over. There's often not much to worry about when that happens, but it wasn't necessary either. What we also emphasize: also think about what you are going to do with the waste. For example, we cannot simply remove chemicals from the fume hood in our lab.”

Hazardous waste

Langenberg also emphasizes proper handling of waste: “Many people do not realize that waste can also be dangerous. If you just think about the experiment, there are also risks. We have to think about it all the way to the recycling center on the TNO site.”

Looking to the future, there are developments that make Langenberg and Van der Meer optimistic about an even higher level of safety in the lab. “Think of robotization,” says Langenberg, “where you try to exclude humans. But you can also reduce the quantities of substance because the measuring methods are becoming increasingly sensitive. You have to keep a close eye on these kinds of developments.”

Would you like to watch this webinar? Which can here.