Chemical Booby Traps

Duration:

Creator: General Electric Educational Films

Complete Record: From can insert: Chemical Booby-Traps begins by showing a glass container of gasoline being dropped near an open flame with the subsequent explosion and fire. Gasoline in an approved safety container is then placed on an open fire and although the vented vapors burn, there is no explosion. An approved metal container is always preferable to glass for explosive liquids. White phosphorous, alkyl zincs, and tri-ethyl borate are given as three examples of chemicals igniting spontaneously in air. The viewer sees a typical borane fire and the extreme difficulty in extinguishing it. Good safety practice in handling a hydrogen oxygen torch requires that not only must the valves at the torch be closed, but also service valves at the source. Results of an almost invisible hydrogen flame burning through an oxygen hose demonstrate the possible consequences. Oxygen combined in salts in oxidizing substances such as sodium chlorate solution present a personal hazard in event of spillage on clothing and other combustibles and allowed to dry. Two dolls, one soaked in a sodium chlorate solution, are burned and the doll soaked in the chlorate solution graphically illustrates the danger. Nitric acid is both an oxidizing agent and a nitrating agent. The effect of a spill is demonstrated by pouring the acid on sawdust. The acid is decomposed by the reaction and the gaseous oxides of nitrogen released are extremely toxic. Nitric acid spilled on organic materials and metals will decompose producing these dangerous gasses. The film shows bleaching powder or calcium hypochlorite reacting with glycerin, phenol and methyl carbitol. The reaction speed and the irritating gasses produced show the danger of mixing, indiscriminately, even supposedly harmless materials. Benzoyl peroxide, containing both fuel and oxygen, in the molecule, is used to show the unpredictability of all peroxides. Heat ignited this peroxide, but many can be reacted through shock and their general reaction to heat varies considerably. Liquefied gasses such as nitrogen, oxygen, LP gas, helium, and hydrogen not only may be flammable, but the expansion of the liquid will produce a volume of gas several hundred times the volume of the liquid shown in the bottle. Extreme care is required to prevent explosions. Potassium superoxide reacts violently with air, producing carbonates and hydroxides. This is an example of a one-time-use container. Dispose of such chemicals and their containers as directed on the container. Always check instructions for possible hazardous conditions arising merely from opening the container. Sodium metal and water combine on contact yielding sodium hydroxide and explosive hydrogen gas. The explosions are sure--- the time when is completely unpredictable. Safe disposal is illustrated where sodium is sealed in metal cans and taken 200 miles out to sea where the resulting explosion allows for the products to be expended safely. An explosion within a laboratory oven shows the need for caution in the use of ovens. Both the substance placed in the oven and the temperature of the oven must be observed carefully to prevent...