Safety - Field Sampling: Principles and Practices in Environmental Analysis - page 98

however. This is similar to the prudent use comments below. Once washed a protective
covering can be applied.
A first aid kit is an essential piece of safety equipment. While safety kits contain a
large variety of high-quality bandages and other medical supplies, I would highly
recommend making sure that they contain at least one liquid bandage kit. This is a
Superglue-type material that is spread on a wound. It holds the sides of the cut together,
seals the wound, and sterilizes it—all without pain. This type of bandage can keep cuts
stabilized and in good condition until proper medical help can be arranged.
4.6.8. No Food or Drink
No food or drink should ever be allowed in the field to be sampled, in storage areas, or in
the laboratory. This is to make sure that no one ingests an injurious component. It is all
too easy to lay a sandwich on a contaminated counter and then pick it up and eat it or to
drink out of a container thinking it contains water only to find that it contains or
previously contained arsenic solutions. Do not allow even unopened food or drinks in any
of these areas. Also, do not allow empty food containers to be brought into these areas.
Seeing a food container in an area is tacit approval for eating in that area.
In addition to preventing contamination of food with the sample, contamination of the
sample with food is prevented. Food contamination of field samples can cause a lot of
confusion in the laboratory and in the interpretation of laboratory analytical results.
4.6.9. Toxic Fumes
Toxic fumes can be encountered in any situation. Most often, however, of primary
concern is a person being caught in a confined space and overcome by fumes. This could
happen in the bottom of a soil pit as well as a closed room. Even if the top is open, any
confined space is of concern. It is also possible to become exposed to toxic fumes when
opening a well casing or by hitting a pocket of gas trapped in soil. All wells should be
suspect in terms of containing toxic gases.
The first thing to do if a person is exposed to any fumes is to remove the person to
fresh air. This means outside the building or enclosure and away from the source of the
fumes. If the person continues to show signs of exposure, he or she should be taken to a
hospital.
4.6.10. Prudent Use
All chemicals (and some things not thought of as being chemicals, such as water) can be
dangerous if used inappropriately. A person can die from drinking too much water. Also,
many people drown each year. Observing prudent use and proper safety precautions—not
swimming alone, for instance—should always be followed.
Prudent Use of Chemicals in the Laboratory
At the beginning of a laboratory exercise I was telling my students that the