March 5, 2001
Explosion shakes chemistry lab; safety gear protects student from serious injuries
By Jim Burns
An explosion on Thursday sent broken glass flying throughout a UCSC chemistry laboratory,
injuring a graduate student but serving as a reminder about the importance of wearing
safety glasses.
Zia Thale, who was heating laboratory glassware at the time of the blast, was taken
by ambulance from Sinsheimer Laboratories to Dominican Hospital, where she was treated
for numerous lacerations to her face, neck, and hands.
Thale is a graduate student working with professor of chemistry Phil Crews. The incident,
however, occurred in professor of chemistry Glenn Millhauser's first-floor lab in
Sinsheimer, at approximately 3:30 p.m.
Resting in her on-campus residence on Friday, Thale said the explosion occurred as
she was heating the outer piece of a "trap," glassware that collects organic
liquids that might otherwise enter a vacuum pump. "The pieces of the trap were
stuck together, and I was trying to take it apart by expanding the outer piece with
heat." Thale could only speculate that oxygen inside the trap ignited, causing
the glass to explode.
While she was fuzzy about some details of the accident, Thale was absolutely certain
about the role that safety glasses--she was wearing them at the time of the blast--played
in protecting her from further injury.
"The safety glasses saved my eyesight," she said. "I really didn't
think that what I was doing at the time of the accident was at all dangerous. This
accident has really taught me to wear them all of the time."
Thale's assessment was echoed by Environmental Health & Safety's Buddy Morris,
who said the incident should serve as a reminder to all about the value of protective
eyewear. "The glass exploded with such power that it actually broke a window
in the room; glass shards were stuck in the ceiling. Thankfully, she had her safety
glasses on."
Officers from UCSC's Fire, Police, and EH&S Departments were called to the scene,
and Thale expressed thanks to safety personnel as well as to the many students, staff,
and faculty who cared for her in the frightening moments that followed the explosion.
