Cleanup and PPE Habits

Your alarm goes off and, after hitting âsnoozeâ once or twice, you pry yourself out of bed. You make a cup of coffee to help you get going, and then you shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, and check your phone for messages. On your way to school, you stop to fill your carâs gas tank, almost making you late for the first day of chemistry class. As you find a seat in the classroom, you read the question projected on the screen: âWelcome to class! Why should we study chemistryâ

Figures (8)

NFPA diamond shown on ethanol and acetone bottles

A scientist wearing gloves and a lab coat, weighing a sample under a fume hood, which protects the scientist by removing potentially harmful vapors and dusts from the laboratory

Compressed gas cylinders.mapp and oxygen.triddle

Figure 1.1 Chemical substances and processes are essential for our existence, providing sustenance, keeping us clean and healthy, fabricating electronic devices, enabling transportation, and much more. (credit âleftâ: modification of work by âvxlaâ/Flickr; credit âleft middleâ: modification of work by âthe Italian voiceâ/Flickr; credit âright middleâ: modification of work by Jason Trim; credit ârightâ: modification of work by âgoshesheâ/Flickr)

Key Points

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection.
For sports and other recreational activities, many different gloves are used for protection, generally against mechanical trauma.
In work environments, respirators are relied upon when adequate ventilation is not available or other engineering control systems are not feasible or inadequate.
For example, PTFE tape, bands, and fluoroether-based grease or oils may emit toxic perfluoroisobutylene fumes if the rated temperature limits are exceed.

Terms

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Sources & licensing(4)

OpenStax — openstax.org/books/chemistry-2e/pages/1-introduction (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0)
Wikipedia contributors — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_protective_equipment (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0)
Wikipedia contributors — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_safety (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0)
Wikipedia contributors — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laboratory_safety (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0)