Im doing chemistry as a hobby, and understand the risk involved (or try to learn the risks involved) - sometimes you learn as you do.
I do not consider myself a reckless person, but as my tagline says, "stupidity and bad luck exist".
Stupidity in the sense that sometimes you dont know what the outcome could be, or if poisonous or explosive mixtures could be made (because of lack of
information or simple because I dont know what will happen).
I do not own a special place to make chemistry (by special place, mean fumehood or specialy prepared place for chemistry only) - I use the laundry
room-this is my place - or outside when toxic fumes are generated (that I know will be produced).
My family does know that Im doing chemistry, but they do not know the risk it involves. (the only claims my wife told me, was "Dont set the home on
fire" when she saw me heating a test tube in an alchohol burner...)
and "Are you insane, dont ever do that again", when was preparing H2S water outside.
My fear is that, If they really know that dangerous substances are stored inside our house (like concentrated acids, stong alkalines, cancerigenous
salts - nickel, cobalt, etc) its bye bye chemistry hobby.
How do you cope with this situation?
Thanks
Sir_Gawain - 24-10-2023 at 07:46
I also started out in the laundry room before graduating to the basement; I currently have a room in an outdoor workshop. I can definitely say it's
not very safe to store chemicals and work in an area where other people live, as things could get knocked over and any accidents are much more
dangerous. You at least need a separate room, though an outdoor area separate from the house is best. RU_KLO - 24-10-2023 at 10:27
I understand.
But do you have informed your family about the dangers of chemistry?
or what they should do in case of an accident?
or to proper read hazzard pictograms on bottles?
B(a)P - 24-10-2023 at 11:56
Absolutely they need to know. It is their home.
You should always have your bottles labelled correctly. What if you leave something out and they need to move it? What if a vessel leaks? What if they
find one of your unlabelled chemicals, mistake it for something else and use it in a dangerous way? You should ask yourself why you have not been
honest about this to date.
If it is because your other household members would be uncomfortable with it, then that is even more reason that they should know.Texium - 24-10-2023 at 12:20
I agree with B(a)P 100%. It is reckless and irresponsible to lie to your family about your hobby. I have always held that being open and honest about
your home chemistry will save you a lot of trouble in the long run (so long as you are doing legitimate chemistry and not cookery/kewl-bombz) even if
it means you have to have some uncomfortable conversations up front.
If you were a teen with overprotective parents, it might be understandable for you to downplay hazards to an extent, since they would have the
ultimate authority on what you’re allowed to do, and you’d have no recourse if they refuse to listen to reason. But in your situation, as a
married adult, you should be able to reason with your wife and come to an arrangement that is agreeable to both of you. If you feel you can’t be
honest with your spouse, that’s rather concerning…knowledgevschaos - 24-10-2023 at 17:34
Why was she so against you preparing your hydrogen sulfide solution?
Did she hate the smell? If so, it may be a simple issue of her taking offense to the smell, and not about the risks of chemistry. Either way, you
should at the very least label your chemicals carefully and store them properly, otherwise you are putting your family in needless danger. Johanson - 24-10-2023 at 18:13
Q: How do you cope with this situation?
All your wife said was, "Don't set the house on fire". So.... don't set it on fire!
My wife told me I had to get rid of my drum kit, it was driving her crazy. Since my marriage took priority, I got an electronic drum kit. You always
have to prioritize.
Here's a suggestion: Get your kids involved in your (safe) chemistry experiments. Then your wife will adore you...
[Edited on 25-10-2023 by Johanson]Rainwater - 24-10-2023 at 19:08
It's about balance. Me and the miss's had this same conversation before we decided to start a family.
Her point of views where iron clad and reasonable. She worded it something along the line of
Its not a matter of, if the kid gets into your stuff, but when they get into your stuff.
So what are they going into, dirty bottles and beakers, unlabeled liquids, and powders.
crates, secured shelfing and cabnets. Dangerous stuff in double containers and behind lock&key
Don't be afraid to share your love of chemistry with your family. Talk through reactions and procedures, get into the details, dig deep and them kids
will be asleep in no time. Just make sure the subject matter is age appropriate. Nothing like getting that knock on the door because you 3d printed a
lego out of pvc, and the kid tells everyone at school how daddy makes legos out of pcp.Sir_Gawain - 24-10-2023 at 19:16
I agree, proper storage is very important. Store your stuff around where your family lives and something's going to leak, off-gas or be spilled. For
example, the most dangerous chemical I own is sodium azide and that is kept in a bottle inside another bottle in an ammo can stored in an outdoor
shed.EF2000 - 25-10-2023 at 03:29
But do you have informed your family about the dangers of chemistry?
or what they should do in case of an accident?
or to proper read hazzard pictograms on bottles?
Pictograms and fire diamonds are cool, but not everybody can recognize them.
Better idea is to label everything with clear recognizable warnings, like "Highly Flammable"/"Inflamable", "Poison"/"Veneno", "Explosive"/"Explosivo"
and short instructions like "LiALH4, 10 g, Flammable, Keep away from water"/"LiAlH4, 10 gramos, Inflamable, Mantener alejado del
agua". (Sorry if translations suck)
So that everyone would know what to do even if they forgot what you told them RU_KLO - 25-10-2023 at 04:26
thanks for the suggestions,
First, I do not do energetics/drugs chemistry. Im more on analytical inorganic chemistry.
Proper lablel is done, with hazzard pictograms and NFPA diammond on reagents.
but I like more the idea of "Better idea is to label everything with clear recognizable warnings".
I started a year ago, and learn as I go. Mainly of 1900 chemistry books where it seems there was no hazzard information nor idea of hazzards involved.
Most "hazzard learning" is from this forum (in the posts, wiki or pointing where to get the information MSDS, web pages, etc.)
I do understand the risk, because I inform myself. The more information I get, the more concern I feel. I dont want to injure myself or injure others
(obviously).
Regretfully the space I have, is small, so special cabinets is difficult to place. I try to separate acids/base, oxidizers as best I could.
Analytical chemistry requires concentrated acid, small portions - drops, but I have a stock (for example still got 950 ml of concentrated mineral
acids bought a year ago) These are my worst concerns (stock pile of reagents).
If I cannot keep these reagents, should I quit pursuing chemistry? Because whats drives me into chemistry is the "whats inside" idea and to "see how
things changes" (color, precipitation, etc) (thats why analytical chemistry).clearly_not_atara - 25-10-2023 at 13:14
Any adults living in your unit should definitely know. If you are using anything flammable, best to avoid doing anything in a building where units are
stacked, or adjoining units are not separated by fireproof walls. Any significant volatile carcinogens should be separated from any civilians by at
minimum ten meters with fume traps etc.
Obviously these rules are not always followed, but represent ideals. The interpretation of "significant carcinogens" is difficult; many common
cleaning sprays cause lung cancer but maintenance will come into your unit and use them if you live in an apartment. Eg:
If I cannot keep these reagents, should I quit pursuing chemistry?
Hell no dude. .....slap..... wakeup your having a nightmare.
If space is limited, then think small.
If your doing test tube scale(10ml), then a liter of anything will last a long time.
Imagine if you do 3ml scale, smaller quantities of reagents will last even longer.
Freeing more space.
Do you need that much stock?
Can it be stored safer, in a different form to be recovered later?
Like anything, prioritize space. Cost and time.
If you ditch the big bottle for a smaller one,
what can you fit in the newly available area
Lets say you want to safely store you H2SO4, ok.
Make CuSO4.
Nice dry powder.
When you need to reup on h2so4,
run a reaction and make some more out of the copper sulfate.
Inconvenien yes. Or maybe not.
Maybe you want to run a reaction just to feel the joy of doing a procedure.
Im sure there is a simular process for any inoraginic compount you have concerns about.akmetal - 24-11-2023 at 12:43
I built a 8'x16' insulated building near the house with a 2' blow down fan. You dont want these chemicals in the house. I tested my NO2 reactor in
the house and you could smell the NO2 but shut it down once I proved i could make nitric and the solution was strongly reacting with baking soda.
Since its close to the property line I notified my closest neighbor as well. Notify who you have to but nothing more, I got lucky that everyone was
cool with it but some people just suck so make sure only people close to the source know.bnull - 1-2-2024 at 03:49
Buy a notebook (one of those that resemble a book, with glued sheets and all) and write the name of each substance you have, what are the common uses
you make of it, what risks it poses, instructions in case of accident (like spilling or contact with skin), and leave the notebook, properly labeled,
perhaps with "Emergencia Quimica" and the danger pictogram on the cover, in a visible place inside your lab.
Go through it with her so she can see exactly what you are doing all that time in the laundry. Also, print a sheet with what you're going to do and
leave next to the notebook. Or give it to her. She may even get interested in it (and you gain an occasional lab assistant).
[Edited on 1-2-2024 by bnull]charley1957 - 1-2-2024 at 05:34
I’ve been doing chemistry for a while now, and my wife knows absolutely everything I’m doing, she knows the dangers and the risks. But one day
she came into the lab and saw a wide-mouth screw-top jar labeled in big black letters POISON. This is an insect-killing jar which has ethyl acetate
absorbed into the plaster in the bottom of it. I labeled it like this as it is out in the public when I’m out collecting insects for my collection,
and it’s possible a member of the general public could come across it, and I thought it was a good idea to label it as such. Well, even though she
knows what I do and the risks, she just about had a cow when she saw that label, and proceeded to question me like a cop about it. So even though
they know all about it, I think sometimes they just push it to the back of their minds because they’re not really interested, but they are. So
yeah, absolutely be forthcoming and above board about what you’re doing. It’s absolutely not fair to them if they don’t know, as you are a
loved one to them, and you’re doing it under their roof. They deserve to know. Be thoughtful as you proceed, clean and organized in your lab.
This will ad to the idea that this is a safe and non—threatening hobby that they shouldn’t have to fear.
Family
MadHatter - 1-2-2024 at 20:42
My family has always known my passion for energetic materials. The only thing my parents
ever said about it: Don't blow up the house ! I never did but on occasion I scared the hell
out of my siblings. Worse thing that ever happened(age 16) was blowing off my eyebrows
with Armstrong's Mixture. Mom laughed her ass off and said: You'll learn.
At least my family is supportive although at times they got nervous. No more incidents
like that occurred. My sister doesn't like me firing salutes close to the house because it
scares the shit out of dogs. The 1st time quite literally ! So I respectfully don't do tests
near the house.
To me it's a matter of knowing the limits. Sis's dogs don't even like Phantom fireworks !
And they're legal and I buy them down the road.
