Re: haunted VDB

[Judy Seigel <jseigel@panix.com>]

On Fri, 2 Oct 2009, Dan Corsillo wrote:

> I'd recommend doing a google search for Material Safety Data Sheets for any 
> element or compound whose of handling you are not certain. Just google: msds 
> (whatever chemical your interested in) and you will get a good number of 
> hits. Some will not have exactly the same info as others for the same 
> chemical. My practice in this case is to err on the side of safety and use 
> the stricter recommendations for handling.
Not to tempt fate, but my experience of those "material safety sheets" is 
that if you take them seriously you'll just go into a clean room and wash 
your hands like Lady McBeth until the end of time. I think they're all 
written by lawyers who expect a mass suit at any minute because somebody 
got a hangnail... At the very least (& this came up on the list years 
ago) they refer to full industrial-strength use for 40 hours a week, not 
the few grams for an hour or two we'd use.  That is, they're a crock.

I also have the "Overexposure" book of photo hazards... also written by a 
team of lawyers no matter who has the byline. That babe makes gelatin and 
gum arabic sound like the atomic bomb.

Feh !

Judy