liquid nitrogen

[Rita]

Hi

What protection do you need for handling liquid nitrogen? I have variety of gloves but not suitable for this job.

Would dry ice need the same protection?

Thanks
Rita

[RosalieM]

There are 2 opinions on liquid nitrogen. One is that it is safer to not wear gloves because if it spills inside the glove it can cause serious burns and the other is that you should wear leather gloves. If you are not wearing gloves and it spills on your skin it will evaporate off before it can do any real damage. I don't use it though... so I can't give an opinion. I don't think I've ever seen the teacher use gloves yet though... and when someone came to the school to do fun science stuff with the little kids (K-4) they didn't use gloves either.

[RosalieM]

PS as for dry ice, i never use gloves. Just don't hold it for too long! I (or the teacher) scoop it out with a measuring cup into the beakers for the kids.