What we need to know to make our labs safer

Academic chemistry is, by its very nature, a risky activity. When we create new molecules and ask new questions, there is always the possibility that things could go wrong in unexpected and dangerous ways. This inherent risk is nothing new. In the 1840s, when August Kekulé began his studies in Justus von Liebig’s laboratory, he was supposedly told: ‘If you want to become a chemist … you have to ruin your health. Who does not ruin his health by his studies, nowadays will not get anywhere in chemistry.’

In the years since then, our methods, facilities and lab equipment have evolved. However, attitudes towards safety sometimes seem to be stuck in the 19th century. Despite the regular occurrence of major incidents resulting in significant damage to people and property, little is known about why these happen in academic labs. We don’t even have an answer to the basic question of how big a problem they are.