Question: what is the most toxic thing you have worked with?

Ashleigh Barron answered on 22 Sep 2020:

When I was doing my PhD we used Hydrofluoric acid to etch glass, I went through all the training as we were going to use it to removed certain bits of glass on a fibre optic to make it into a probe but we ended up deciding it was too dangerous to try as just an experiment so didn’t do it in the end. What we would have needed to do for the experiment was to use a type of gel that would sit on top of the acid to stop the acid going up too far on the fibre but using this would mean we end up sealing the acid into the container and it was more worry in how to dispose of it safely as you couldn’t wash it out. Some of my colleagues used it to etch other pieces of glass all the time, they had to work in a cabinet that only gloved hands could fit through, they wore heavy suits, glasses and 2 pairs of rubber gloves under the heavy chemical gloves. Its really dangerous because your body treats it like water molecules and lets it in easily, even small splashes can burn through your skin and into your bones.