:: slow acid, o-cresol... ::

on monday prac... ops, i'm toking abt practical again... keke... each of us were given a mixture of 2 unknown organic compounds dat we have to seperate and deduce their identity...

after doing a simple solubility test, i confirmed dat i was given a weak acid and neutral organic compound mixture... so i carried out my next step, solvent extraction to seperate both of them. at this pt of time, my hands started to itch... this feeling was quite terrible... so i went to rinse my hands with some alcohol and soap... hoping to neutralise the weak acid on my hands... next, i put on my gloves, which i failed to do so earlier...

as the expt went on, the itch and pain were consistently pestering me... until a pt of time, i removed my gloves. my goodness, they turned red and swollen... so i seek assistance from a friendly lab tech... he proposed to rinse my hands with ethanol and soap too... then he applied some oilment... by the end of the experiment, i can still experience a slight itch and pain. fortunately, the redness has been diluted... i also found that cuplit for my discomfort, ortho-cresol... it's a phenol with a methyl grp attached the nearest carbon next to the hydroxyl grp... phenol is a well-known chemical dat is corrosive to skin... i guess i was careless not to wear my gloves while handling it...

for the past few day, i was bothered by the periodical itches... i can see dat my pores were infected by o-cresol... today, i found out dat my skin is slowly shredding off too... this is the practical dat gave me the most problems so far...

for the next 2 mondays, i am required to handle o-cresol again... this time, i will be more careful...

+ BL updated @ 3:16 PM

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