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Safety and Facility Rules

Links to subsections of this document:

  1. General Laboratory Safety
  2. COVID Safety
  3. NMR-Specific Hazards
  4. Facility Rules
  5. Dealing With Broken Tubes

General Laboratory Safety

Our instrument rooms are classified as wet labs and therefore you must follow all general laboratory safety rules.

  1. Eye protection is required at all times
    1. Safety glasses with side shields, or goggles
    2. Loaner glasses are available in containers inside lab doors. If the containers are empty, please notify us immediately.
    3. Special hazards:
      • Sealed NMR tubes including:
        • Flame sealed
        • J. Young tubes
        • Other valved vacuum/pressure closures

        You should treat ANY glass vessel that is under pressure/vacuum as a potential explosive/implosive device!

      • Cryogens (goggles recommended)
  2. No food or drink
    1. Do NOT eat in the labs.
      • No exceptions.
    2. Do NOT bring food into the lab
      • Exception: Food inside a closed container that is kept inside a closed bag (so an unopened granola bar inside a closed backpack is ok)
    3. Do NOT drink in the labs.
      • No exceptions.
    4. Do NOT bring beverages into the lab
      • Exception: A beverage inside a closed container that is kept inside a closed bag (so a water bottle inside a closed backpack is ok)
    5. Do NOT dispose food or drink related items in the labs
  3. Appropriate Clothing & Footwear
    1. Eliminates, or at least minimizes, the likelihood of skin contact in case of a spill or other exposure
    2. Allows an air gap between skin and contaminated clothing
    3. Prevents entrapment of chemicals inside clothing
  4. Appropriate Clothing: Tops
    1. Full coverage of torso even when reaching for far objects
    2. Not tight against body so skin-contact can be avoided even if clothing is contaminated
    3. Not loose fitting around the torso or in the sleeves to minimize the chances of inadvertent contamination or getting caught on objects
    4. Outermost layer untucked (outside and overlapping top of pants) so spills don’t get trapped inside pants
  5. Appropriate Clothing: Pants
    1. Full coverage of legs to minimize probability of skin contact
      • NO shorts, capris, skirts
      • NO holes, rips
      • Exception: ¾-length pants or skirts over tall boots
    2. Wide enough at ankles to deflect spills from footwear opening to ensure chemicals are not trapped inside footwear
      • NO pants tucked inside boots
    3. Not tight-fitting, to maintain air gap between skin and contaminated clothing
      • NO yoga pants, leggings, tights, skinny jeans
  6. Appropriate Footwear
    “Closed-toed shoes” requirement is not sufficient! Footwear must be liquid-proof or at least liquid-resistant and it must be worn correctly. To test the suitability of your shoes ask yourself this question: “Would I be ok if I spilled a cup of boiling water on my feet?”. If the answer is “no”, don’t wear it in lab.

    1. Covers entire foot
      • NO sandals, clogs, loafers, ballet flats, Mary Janes
    2. Impervious (or at least resistant) to liquids
      • YES: solid leather or rubber
      • NO: synthetic mesh (sneakers or hikers), canvas (board shoes)
    3. Is tucked INSIDE pant legs
      • NO tall boots outside pants
    4. Provides good stability
      • NO high-heels, platforms

    Consider keeping a pair of waterproof leather boots at work and changing into them before working in the lab.

COVID-19 Safety

The NMR and MS labs are considered PUBLIC INDOOR SPACES for the purposes of COVID regulations. You MUST comply with current Cornell University guidance regarding hand washing, social distancing and mask use in indoor public places, even when you are alone.

NMR-Specific Hazards

  1. Strong, static magnetic fields are present at all times
    1. Health risks:
      No MRI means no NMR! If you have a medical condition that prevents you from getting an MRI, including, but not limited to, electronic and metallic surgical implants such as aneurysm clips, pacemakers, LVADs, cochlear implants, insulin pumps, screws, pins, plates, artificial joints, etc. do NOT enter the NMR rooms! Please contact facility staff to discuss how we can provide you with NMR access in a safe manner.
    2. Do NOT bring ferromagnetic objects into the room
      • Piercing hazard: small & pointy items like knives and screwdrivers
      • Crushing hazard: large & heavy objects like gas cylinders and carts
      • Personal injury: jewelry and piercings made with magnetic steel could be strongly attracted to the magnet
        • Test objects of concern with a small bar magnet before going near NMR magnets
    3. May damage electronic and/or magnetic objects
      • Likely to damage gift cards, traditional hard drives (both portable and inside laptops), and analog watches
      • Probably won’t damage credit cards, memory chips (sd cards, solid state drives, thumb drives, etc.), cell phones, smart watches and fully digital watches
      • Some keys and keychains may be attracted to the magnet but as long as you keep them in your pocket they pose no danger.
  2. Cryogens
    1. NMR magnets are cryogenic, persistent superconducting electromagnets that contain:
      • Many miles of superconducting wire
      • 30-150 A of electric current
      • 5-100 L liquefied N2 (expansion ratio 1:670)
      • 30-350 L liquefied He (expansion ratio 1:760)

      Under normal operation the cryogens represent minimal hazard because they evaporate very slowly.

    2. Magnet Quench
      A superconducting magnet quenches when it suddenly transitions from superconducting to resistive operation. A small portion of the wire becomes resistive, which generates heat, which causes more wire to become resistive, which generates more heat and the chain reaction continues until all of the energy stored in the magnet is converted to heat, usually in a matter of seconds. The heat generated by the quench leads to rapid release of large amounts of gases, primarily helium. A quench is a pretty spectacular event so if it happens, you will know. (Here is a video of a 600 quenching). Quenches are extremely rare, but when they do happen they can create a potentially deadly reduction in the oxygen concentration of the room leading to inert gas asphyxiation.
      If you are in the lab during a quench GET OUT, KEEP OUT, CALL US.

      1. Leave the room immediately. There is very little you could have done to cause a quench and there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it.
      2. If you or someone else is experiencing symptoms of asphyxiation call 911.
      3. If you are feeling fine, stay in sight of the door and stop others from entering the room.
      4. Call us on our office phones (it rings to our mobiles), Microsoft Teams or the emergency numbers listed on the lab door. If we don’t answer right away, keep calling until you get one of us. We may be able to save over $10,000 in recovery costs if we can get to the magnet soon enough after a quench.

NMR Facility Rules

  1. Access to the NMR and Chemistry MS facilities is a privilege, not a right
  2. You may be temporarily or permanently banned from the facilities if your willful or neglectful behavior or actions endanger the safe and effective operation of the facilities
    These behaviors and actions may include but are not limited to:

    1. lying to us in any shape or form
    2. hiding relevant facts or information from us
    3. helping someone else hide relevant facts or information from us
    4. not informing us of such behavior or actions by others immediately after becoming aware of them
  3. TELL US!!!
    We are responsible for running the facility but we can’t do our jobs if we don’t know what’s going on. We are counting on you to keep us informed of problems and concerns in the facility.

    1. If you break something: TELL US!!!
      • You will not be punished in any shape or form if you are honest with us.
      • You will not have to pay for it.
      • Your advisor will not have to pay for it.

      We just need to know it’s broken so we can fix it.

    2. If something is broken: TELL US!!!
      • Don’t assume we already know. If you find it broken, tell us.
    3. If you think something may be broken but you are not sure: TELL US!!!
      • We would much rather check on something that isn’t broken than ignore something that is.
    4. If you want to break a rule: TELL US!!!
      • And we will gladly break the rule for you if it helps your research. All we ask is that you don’t go behind our backs.
  4. Scheduling
    1. Brukers (AV400, AV500, AV501): First-come, first-served (FCFS)
      • Do NOT attempt to circumvent FCFS
      • If your sample can’t wait, TELL US, and we will move you to the head of the queue.
    2. Varians: Microsoft Bookings
      • ALWAYS reserve the time you use
      • Obey the spirit of the rules
  5. Monitor Teams messages, read the Twitter feed on our home page and the Bruker IconWeb pages. These feeds provides critical information regarding instrument availability, training courses and other facility information.
  6. Be considerate to other users. Use the time you need, but remember that you are only one of about 200 people who rely on our facilities to do their research. What you do in the facility affects everyone else. Be kind, be courteous, and if you find someone who is not, let us know.
  7. TALK TO US
    A big part of our job—and the best part of our job—is talking to you about your chemistry. You will never “bother” us with your questions and you will probably get useful answers. We have backgrounds in organic chemistry and have accumulated experience with a very wide range of samples and problems. We co-authored over 50 publications with facility users and helped out with many, many more research projects where our contributions did not warrant co-authorship. NEVER hesitate to contact us if you think we may be able to help you with your research.
    Please talk to us if you

    • don’t know how to answer a structural question
    • need help interpreting a spectrum
    • see strange signals in your spectra
    • want to reproduce a published experiment
    • want help in processing or publishing spectra
    • have general questions about practical or theoretical aspects of NMR and MS
    • anything else you can think of.

How to deal with broken sample tubes

Broken glass inside a magnet can cause catastrophic probe damage.

  1. Broken tube OUTSIDE spinner and sample changer/magnet
    This is the best (least bad?) case scenario. A common and easily avoidable cause of these breakages is laying the tube flat on a table top. If the table isn’t perfectly level the tube can roll right off the edge. Be sure to use the tube racks if possible.

    1. CLEAN UP spill and glass!
      Seriously, clean it up. Don’t be a bum and walk away from a mess you made. Glass disposal containers are provided in every lab but you will need to take chemicals over to B-78 or back to your lab.
    2. TELL US that you broke a tube especially if:
      • It’s one of our standards so we can give you a new standard
      • It stinks, so we don’t waste our time trying to figure out where the smell is coming from
      • It left a stain
  2. Broken tube INSIDE spinner but OUTSIDE sample changer/magnet
    The two most common causes of these breakages are sample and spinner rolling off the edge of the table, and a tight fitting tube breaking while being pushed into the spinner. If your tube fits too tight (or too loose) in the spinner, don’t force it. TELL US! We probably need to replace the o-ring in the spinner.

    1. CLEAN UP spill and glass!
    2. Wipe the spill off the spinner but do NOT try to clean the inside.
    3. Do NOT reuse spinner. Glass pieces inside the magnet can cause catastrophic probe damage.
    4. Do NOT leave spinner in the room. Put it in the box outside B-71 or hand it to facility staff.
    5. Use a clean spinner for additional samples.
    6. TELL US, so we know we need to clean it.
  3. Broken tube INSIDE a sample changer (av400, av500, av501)
    Broken glass inside a magnet can cause catastrophic probe damage. The most common cause of these breakages is using a spinner that is too loose for your tube. Inserting the tube should require gentle force. If the tube moves too easily (or is very tight) try a different spinner. White spinners tend to be tighter than blue ones. Other common causes of broken tubes are not adjusting the sample depth correctly (sample too low), and snagging the top of a tube with your sleeve as you reach over the sample changer.

    1. PRESS THE EMERGENCY STOP BUTTON
    2. Do NOT attempt to clean or restart the sample changer
    3. TELL US, so we know we need to come in and fix it.
  4. Broken tube INSIDE a magnet on Varian spectrometers
    1. DO NOT PUT ANYTHING INSIDE THE MAGNET! NO sample, NO spinner,  NO standard.
    2. Prevent others from putting anything inside magnet. Leave signs, hide the keyboard, whatever it takes.
    3. Do NOT attempt to clean inside the magnet
    4. TELL US, so we know we need to come in and fix it.

Go to NMR sample prep or return to the main NMR training page.