A student’s experiment caused fumes from hazardous chemicals to leak into the air in Sisler Hall on Thursday night.
The student, who did not want to identify himself, was conducting an experiment alone on the third floor of the building when fumes started to rise from a 6-inch flask, said Gainesville Fire Rescue Lt. Gary Law.
Although GFR called the incident a chemical spill, only fumes leaked from the beaker. Sisler Hall was kept open while GFR inspected the lab where the incident happened.
The student told firefighters he was not hurt, but GFR insisted he go to the hospital as a precautionary measure for fear of inhalation hazards, said GFR Lt. Steve Mueller.
The student was working with a 100 mL mixture of carbon tetrachloride, hexane, triphenylphosphine and water.
The experiment was conducted on a countertop under a hood, which prevented the fumes from being released into surrounding air.
Law said if it had not been for the hood, the situation could have been a lot worse.
This was at least the third incident involving hazardous chemical reactions in Sisler Hall throughout the past year. The first occurred Oct. 11 when a student’s vial exploded as he transferred it to a scale. The second was on Jan. 11 when a student’s chemical mixture exploded under a protective hood.
GFR would not comment as to why chemical-related accidents keep happening in Sisler Hall.
“But it’s something that should be asked,” Mueller said.
Contact Adrianna Paidas at apaidas@alligator.org. Chris Alcantara contributed to this report.
A Gainesville Fire Rescue worker walks in front of Leigh Hall on Thursday evening. A small chemical spill was reported on the third floor of Sisler Hall.
