Australia's Science Forum

I just use the one from the Laboratory, which is listed above.
Incidentally, Riskassess has upgraded their labelling and you can now create your own labels.

I had some that had faded, not yellowed, although they were stored in a box in a cupboard. I think they were about 10 years old.

I think the law requires the supplier to provide a SDS to a customer on the first occasion they purchase the chemical within a certain time period (it may be 12 months). They may get around this by having them available on their website, but I'm not sure.

Can you PM me the company name? Rather curious.

Lyn wrote:....and just how long has it been sitting in your Chem store with you wondering what the devil it's used for?

I've worked in two different schools prior to this one and never opened the HUGE container of glass wool in either of them. Never knew what it was used for until now!

For chemicals, it is pretty straight forward to substitute a SDS from another supplier if the original supplier is no longer trading - hydrochloric acid is hydrochloric acid. It becomes a problem when you have, for example, a cleaning product, that has a specific formulation. In that situation, if y...

Hello Donna. Glad you've crossed to the "light" side. Seems like you are already well supported, you're very fortunate as for most of us we can live a hermit-like existence. Chemtalk is a great place to get help, other people's opinions or just to not feel lonely. I've be doing the labbie ...

Try contacting some of the horticultural research bodies. I knew of Horticultural Innovation Australia which covers horticultural crops both amenity (ornamental) and production (fruit and vegies) horticultural. This group does have government funding but I don't think it is government run. I also fo...

J wrote:I have a stash of slightly blue slides that I reuse.

I do the same thing. From experience they develop a blue tinge, rather than a full on stain, so just re-use them. If I can't get them cleaned easily, I throw them away. They aren't worth too much trouble.

Depends on the school, David. Some schools have a shortage of classrooms so need to use all available space. This was the case at my last school. The size of the school, number of teachers and number of classrooms meant that the labs were always in use. It also meant that the science teachers weren'...

How did finishing up feel? I do hope that you have lots of good plans of all the things you have probably not had time for. Enjoy the freedom!

Thanks Kathryn. Don't think anything is made like it used to. Pleased to hear that you have found the digital one okay. Looks like these days there is no option anyway but still good to get feedback before spending the money.

Ours is definitely a gas smell. But, we also have new gauze mats, might check those out. As an aside, I just bought new ones, paid the premium for the "better" quality but am disappointed to find the quality is not what I expected. Looks like I'll be buying more in 12 months time, but they...

I haven't bought one but Logical Interface sell an eye piece that fits into most microscopes. This then connects to your computer. Worth having a look at as they are a cheap option.

Our's do - just bought new ones. Still leaves the mystery of the gas smell.

Funnily enough, I have just moved to a new school (and new building - just to brag!) and noticed the same thing. I've only ever worked at schools with LP gas and the new building is connected to town gas. After the students had used the bunsens for the first time, I went into the classroom afterward...

See the teachers, they often get brochures from companies that make "fun" science posters. Bright Education is one company. I've just started at a new school and the teacher here was talking about looking at Dominie. I've found it depends on the teachers how well things like posters, plant...

What type is your new one? Was it the digital type?

We need to buy a CRO and it seems that the only type commonly available are the very slim line digital versions. Just wondering if anyone has purchased one and what they think of them. ie how do they compare to the old clunky looking machine -easier/harder to use, reliable etc etc.

Are these the ones from Westlab? I know the standard bulb type pH meter are really sensitive. ie as soon as you tells students to not touch the bulb, guess what they do? We are looking for equipment for Chemistry so hoping the older students will be more respectful.