[sdiy] chemical stuff (OT)

[Seb Carr]

Hi all,

What we were taught in school generally seemed like a good rule- if you
don't know what it is or specifically what is does, don't play with it.
Things that the teacher said they used to use all the time back in school
(i.e. benzene) are now banned in the UK in schools, but we still had some
fun stuff to play with.  I remember once not long ago i had wet hands, and
spilt a pot of what i think was phosphorous pentachloride on my
hand-Suddenly i'm running around class with my hand on fire, but unable to
do anything because running it under the tap would make it burn more. Still,
made everyone laugh though. That'll probably be banned by the time i have
kids.

Seriously though, the thing to remeber is ANY chemicals can be seriously
harmful if use incorectly, or if spilt/ splashed/ ignited etc. Just be
vaguely sensible and remebergoggles, overall, ventilation etc.

Seb Carr