Skilled, Safe, and Trailblazing

Episode 12. The Chemical Sensitizer Wake-Up Call

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE McKnelly, K.J.; Sokol, W.; Nowick, J.S. (2019) Anaphylaxis Induced by Peptide Coupling Agents: Lessons Learned from Repeated Exposure to HATU, HBTU, and HCTU. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.joc.9b03280 [https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.joc.9b03280] Graham, J.C.; Trejo-Martin, A.; Chilton, M.L.; Kostal, J.; Bercu, J.; Beutner, G.L.; Bruen, U.S.; Dolan, D.G.; Gomez, S.; Hillegass, J.; Nicolette, J.; Schmitz, M. (2022) An Evaluation of the Occupational Health Hazards of Peptide Couplers. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chemrestox.2c00031 [https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.chemrestox.2c00031] Miralles, J. C., Negro, J. M., Alonso, J. M., García, M., Sánchez-Gascón, F., & Soriano, J. (2003). Occupational rhinitis and bronchial asthma due to TBTU and HBTU sensitization. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12968399/ [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12968399/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Hannu, T., Alanko, K., & Keskinen, H. (2006). Anaphylaxis and allergic contact urticaria from occupational airborne exposure to HBTU. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16861336/ [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16861336/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] OSHA HazComm (29 CFR 1910.1200) https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.1200 [https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.1200] OSHA Laboratory Standard (29 CFR 1910.1450) https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.1450 [https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.1450] OSHA Permissible Exposure Limits - Annotated Tables https://www.osha.gov/annotated-pels [https://www.osha.gov/annotated-pels] OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR 1910.134) https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.134 [https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.134] OSHA General Duty Clause (OSH Act of 1970 Section 5) https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/oshact/section5-duties [https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/oshact/section5-duties] ACS Webinar: Bonding with Caution: Understanding the Hazards of Peptide Couplers https://www.acs.org/acs-webinars/library/hazards-of-peptide-couplers.html [https://www.acs.org/acs-webinars/library/hazards-of-peptide-couplers.html] LET US KNOW! Have you worked through challenges of working with chemical sensitizers with a lab group?  If not, has this episode inspired you to start asking more questions about chemical sensitizer use in your labs? HOW TO LET US KNOW! o   Email address: skilledsafeandtrailblazing@gmail.com o   Follow the podcast community on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/skilled-safe-and-trailblazing [https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/skilled-safe-and-trailblazing] o  Leave a comment on this episode   ElevenLabs was used to create the AI-generated voice in the Disclaimer at the end of this episode. For more information, visit https://elevenlabs.io/app/home

Episode 11. Mapping Power, Pressure, and Protection with The Graduate Student Researcher

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE ACS CHAS Peer-Led Workshops (accessed 2026-03-30): https://dchas.org/2023/08/22/history-of-the-chas-lst-workshop-2/ [https://dchas.org/2023/08/22/history-of-the-chas-lst-workshop-2/]  Hensley, M.S.; Martin, J.A.; Miller, K.A.; Hungwe, K.N. (2024) Laboratory Safety Teams as an Evolving Community of Practice: Exploring the How and Why https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00702 [https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00702] Feldon, D.F.; Litson, K.L.; Jeong, S.; Roksa, J. (2019) Postdocs’ lab engagement predicts trajectories of PhD students’ skill development https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1912488116 [https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1912488116] Miller, A.J.M.; Tonks, I.A. (2018) Let’s Talk About Safety: Open Communication for Safety Laboratories https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.organomet.8b00627 [https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.organomet.8b00627] Martin, J.A.; Miller, K.; Nyansa (now Hensley), M.; Zinn, S.; Stuart, R. (2021) Enhancing Research Productivity through Student-Led Laboratory Safety Teams https://www.acs.org/acs-webinars/library/student-led-safety.html [https://www.acs.org/acs-webinars/library/student-led-safety.html] LET US KNOW! To try to see things from the graduate student researcher perspective, consider how work inside of labs at your institution gets done. At this point, refrain from assigning blame or jumping directly into who should be responsible. Instead, just think about the situations that these early career people are walking into and what they are seeing. ● Are lab workers working around a mess that existed before them? ● Are they trying to find space in the lab for their own work by moving aside work that no longer belongs to anyone working in this lab? ● Are they trying to address inspection items that they know little about? ● Are they being required to engage with systems that don’t help them do their research better? For example, dysfunctional chemical inventory systems, poorly defined hazardous waste procedures, challenges with space. HOW TO LET US KNOW! Email address: SkilledSafeAndTrailblazing@gmail.com [SkilledSafeAndTrailblazing@gmail.com] LinkedIn Community: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/skilled-safe-and-trailblazing [https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/skilled-safe-and-trailblazing] Leave a comment on this episode! ElevenLabs was used to create the AI-generated voice Disclaimer at the end of this episode. For more information, visithttps://elevenlabs.io/app/home

Episode 10. Drills With Experts

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE The Lab Safety Institute (accessed 2026-02-04) https://www.labsafety.org/ [https://www.labsafety.org/] Provan, D.J.; Woods, D.D.; Dekker, S.W.A.,Rae, A.J. (2020) Safety II professionals: How resilience engineering can transform safety practice https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0951832018309864 [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0951832018309864] LET US KNOW! Have you run drills with your experts? If you haven’t, what is stopping you from doing so? Have you incorporated the concept of Guided Adaptability into how you approach safety in labs? HOW TO LET US KNOW! o   Email address: skilledsafeandtrailblazing@gmail.com o   LinkedIn Community: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/skilled-safe-and-trailblazinghttps://www.linkedin.com/showcase/skilled-safe-and-trailblazing [https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/skilled-safe-and-trailblazing] o  Leave a comment on this episode! ElevenLabs was used to create the AI-generated voices in the introductory story and the Disclaimer at the end of this episode. For more information, visit https://elevenlabs.io/app/home

Episode 9. CHAS Emerging Leaders Elevate Chronic Toxicity at ACS Spring 2026

For more information about ACS Spring 2026, visit https://acs.digitellinc.com/live/36/page/1270 [https://acs.digitellinc.com/live/36/page/1270] Organizers for the symposium featured in this episode: * Becca Powers: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/becca-powers-2a99ba236/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/becca-powers-2a99ba236/] * Leah Kosovsky: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leah-kosovsky-954111194/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/leah-kosovsky-954111194/] * Devon Leimkuhl: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/devonleimkuhl/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/devonleimkuhl/] * James Sappington * Kyra Tripp: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyra-tripp-932b031b5/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyra-tripp-932b031b5/] * Amanda Chung: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-chung-phd-a83694235/ * Kendra Denlinger: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendra-denlinger-b06874b0/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendra-denlinger-b06874b0/] Select speakers for the symposium featured in this episode: * Amanda Pitt: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandapitt520/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandapitt520/] * Penny Antoniou: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/panayiota-antoniou/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/panayiota-antoniou/] * Dan Scungio: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-scungio-mls-ascp-sls-cqa-asq-chop-a7ba3a16/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-scungio-mls-ascp-sls-cqa-asq-chop-a7ba3a16/] * Jason Nagy: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-nagy-ph-d-mls-ascp-qls-8991b071/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-nagy-ph-d-mls-ascp-qls-8991b071/] Sponsoring Divisions for the symposium featured in this episode: * ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety: https://dchas.org/ [https://dchas.org/] * ACS Division of Chemical Toxicology: https://www.acschemtox.org/ [https://www.acschemtox.org/] Sponsoring Committees for the symposium featured in this episode: * ACS Committee on Chemical Safety: https://www.acs.org/about/governance/committees/chemical-safety.html [https://www.acs.org/about/governance/committees/chemical-safety.html] * ACS Committee on Corporation Associates: https://www.acs.org/about/governance/committees/corporation-associates.html [https://www.acs.org/about/governance/committees/corporation-associates.html] ElevenLabs was used to create the AI-generated voice Disclaimer at the end of this episode. For more information, visit https://elevenlabs.io/app/home

Episode 8. The Seconds After: Is the Safety Buddy Prepared to Act?

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE Morris, J. (2012) Landmark worker death case continuesagainst UCLA chemistry professor. https://publicintegrity.org/inequality-poverty-opportunity/workers-rights/landmark-worker-death-case-continues-against-ucla-chemistry-professor/ [https://publicintegrity.org/inequality-poverty-opportunity/workers-rights/landmark-worker-death-case-continues-against-ucla-chemistry-professor/] Kemsley, J.N. (2009) Negligence Caused UCLA Death.  https://cen.acs.org/articles/87/i19/Negligence-Caused-UCLA-Death.html [https://cen.acs.org/articles/87/i19/Negligence-Caused-UCLA-Death.html] American Chemical Society (accessed 2025-12-19) What IsRAMP? https://institute.acs.org/acs-center/lab-safety/safety-basics-and-ramp/what-is-ramp.html [https://institute.acs.org/acs-center/lab-safety/safety-basics-and-ramp/what-is-ramp.html] National Research Council of The National Academies (2011)Prudent Practices in the Laboratory: Handling and Management of ChemicalHazards, Updated Version. https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12654/prudent-practices-in-the-laboratory-handling-and-management-of-chemical [https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12654/prudent-practices-in-the-laboratory-handling-and-management-of-chemical] LET US KNOW! Have you incorporated any training that involves physicality- that involves performing the action rather than just talking about it? And, if you haven’t, what is stopping you from doing so? HOW TO LET US KNOW! o  Email address: skilledsafeandtrailblazing@gmail.com [skilledsafeandtrailblazing@gmail.com] o  LinkedIn Community: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/skilled-safe-and-trailblazing [https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/skilled-safe-and-trailblazing] o  Leave a comment on this episode in Spotify ElevenLabs was used to create the AI-generated voice Disclaimer at the end of this episode. For more information, visit https://elevenlabs.io/app/home