Australia's Science Forum

We store our test tubes in the lids of cardboard paper boxes (A4 size) in drawers in the labs. These lids can easily be cut down and made smaller if you find the test tubes are rolling around too much and getting broken. Periodically I do the rounds and collect them all and replace with spare sets w...

Julie and Gwen,

Many thanks. Your blood's worth bottling!!

Robbie

Greetings all,

Can anyone tell me how to make up solutions of the above two chemicals. Both are used to stain lignin. We have always purchased solutions already made up, however, unable to source solutions we now have only solid chemicals and I cannot find recipes for either.

Thanks,

Robbie

Thanks Rhonda,

Yes, I heard on the grapevine.

Where do we come? I know my way to the hall but that is about all.

Robyn

Hi Annette, We don't have a breakages register like you are referring to, however, we display a list of the common glassware and what each piece costs. If a student breaks something through carelessness she is expected to pay whatever it would cost to replace. This definitely cuts down on silly beha...

Hi Ian,

There is also a recipe for phloroglucinol given in the CSIS Manual, Appendix D page 253 (listed under 1,3,5-trihydroxy-benzene). This recipe is similar to Judy's recipe, i.e. it is dissolved in ethanol and then combined with conc HCl. We have found this works well.

Robbie

Greetings all, I was not able to attend this conference as the Science Department had a big event on and it was all hands on deck. Can anyone fill me in on what Glen Sawle said about the latest requirements of the CSIS package? This was scheduled for the Friday morning. I have just about finished pr...

Greetings, The simplest form of protein I have used is gelatin and we have had no failures. Weigh out 10 g gelatin. Gradually add this to 500 ml of boiling water, stirring continuously as you do so. Make up to 1 litre. We previously used peptone but it does not store well and starts to smell - stink...

Hi Jazz,

It was me, not Gayle, who could not find the Mini MSDS.

Thank you very much!! I did not have it in academic mode before!

Robbie

Hi Gayle, I understand what you are going through. I was audited last term...and did not not pass their standards! I am in the process of printing out our MSDS right now. I have filled three arch lever files and I am still going. I also have to print off single page info sheets about first aid for t...

Hi Robyn,

Would rubber stoppers be suitable? Serrata at Galston stock rubber stoppers 20x15x26 - with or without a centre hole.

Hope this helps,

I agree this website is brilliant!!! I have learned so much (and I hope helped a little).

Regards,

Robbie

Greetings all, Can anyone walk me through how to find and print out the one page summary MSDSs? Our admin. manager needs these to keep in the school clinic. She does not want the full MSDSs which can be anything up to 10 pages in length. By the way, I have found it quicker and easier to go direct to...

The one way I have had success in unjamming blocked glassware like this is to soak it overnight or over the weekend in honey. Yes honey!! My husband who grew up as a farmer's son in northern Europe - Latvia - told me that was the method they had used for generations in his family. If something on th...

Robb,

Thanks for the fax, I received it with no problem.

Robbie

Greetings all, I have had all the problems you have mentioned but using the methods I now use I have no problems at all. I set the agar in 3 litre (yellow) plastic ice cream containers. They have sharp sides and angles - not curved - which helps when cutting it up. To make up 2 litres of gel, weigh ...

Hi Julie,

Many thanks for your help. I really do appreciate it!

However, I do think it is a failing of the programme that you cannot easily print out a simple alpha list of just the chemicals you have in a particular store location.

Thanks again!

Robbie

Robb, The last (yellow) icon on our disk says Produce and Print a Sorted List of All Items. (Nothing about a Shorthand List.) The sort options are: (none) Chemical Synonyms Pack Size % Full Quantity Class PG Haz Subst DG Class & PG Sort. The other icons are: Enter Details of a Chemical Store Loc...

Since my last post on this topic I have established that what the office/auditors need/meant was the MSDS info. That I can handle! Problem No 2: Is there any way of printing out an alpha list with only the chemicals we have, not the whole 1500 or so listed? We tried sorting by pack size and then che...

I have been compiling the chemical register which was never done properly before and I am battling... The auditors require the first aid information to be shown for each chemical in the register. I have been using the inventory files (C1/C2) for establishing the register on the CSIS disk and have pr...

It would be interesting to know who is planning to go to the SASS Conference at St Marys Senior High on 23 and 24 November.

We could plan to meet together and put some faces to the Nicknames and comments.

Robbie