Laboratory Use

Lab practices and things to keep in mind when working in the lab:

• If there is a medical or fire emergency; remember that from Y2E2 you need to dial 9-911 (think nine-nine-one-one). The best thing to tell them for our location is; "We are located in room B61 in the basement of the Y2E2 building at 473 Via Ortega, cross of Panama Street.
  
  
• The lab is a multi-user environment. Always assume someone else is waiting to use the facilities and space. Clean off counter tops, balances etc... before leaving. If you must leave items out, make sure they have your name on them.
  
  
• Please avoid moving balances and other equipment from their current locations.
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• If you are not a Vitousek Lab member, you should plan on bringing your own consumable items or replacing those you use.
  
  
• Room B63 is an Isotopically Clean Lab. Do not bring any labelled compounds, chemicals or samples into this room, and avoid use of the door between B61 and B63. No Labware from B61 should be brought into B63.
  
  
• DI and E-Pure Water; The Lab DI faucets and the E-Pure on/off valve are made of plastic. Please use care in using them, they only need very light pressure to operate and can be easily damaged. To save electricity and motor life, the E-Pure should be turned off at night and on weekends. After using the remote dispenser on the E-Pure, especially if you were just doing digests, be sure and rinse the exterior of the handle.
  
  
• Safety: wear protective gear and follow safe laboratory practice.
  
  
• Label all chemical containers correctly; ie, 2M Potassium Chloride, not 2M KCL.
  
  
• Chemicals have their proper place in the lab. Example; nitric acid should not be placed in the secondary container with sulfuric acid. What can happen if you don't follow Safety Rules.
  
  
• Ovens; during times of heavy use, please remove your samples from the drying ovens as soon as possible. If when you remove your items an oven is empty, please turn it off.
  
  
• Pipets; if a guard filter has somehow become wet, please remove it before returning pipets.
  
  
• Hazardous Waste; The Hazardous Waste area is under the table opposite the digest room.
  
  
• If you use up a chemical, especially one from a routine lab procedure, replace it from BioStores or let me know. If you add a new chemical to the lab, let me know that too so I can add it to our inventory.
  
  
• If the Lab is unoccupied, all exterior doors should be locked.
  
  
• Cold Room; Samples and coolers in the cold room often reside there for extended periods of time. Please label your items with a minimum of your name. All foreign soils in the cold room need to visibly have the origin, date and person's name on them.
  
  
• All foreign soils coming into the lab must be registered on the soils log sheet.
  
  
• Glassware; if you have a project that requires a separate set of glassware (plasticware or crucibles), please do not adopt the general lab supplies as your own.