I am not a Chemical Engineer

Many moons ago I had occasion to use hydrofluoric acid to etch silicon dioxide from silicon wafers.  I remember the warnings on the caustic paste you were supposed to use as an antidote if you got any HF on your skin - the warnings were almost as terrifying as the list of hazards of the HF.  Those fond memories reminded me of my first introduction to Derek Lowe's site, which was this fun article about putting out chem lab fires: Sand won't save you this time.

 It starts out:

"In a comment to my post on putting out fires last week, one commenter mentioned the utility of the good old sand bucket, and wondered if there was anything that would go on to set the sand on fire. Thanks to a note from reader Robert L., I can report that there is indeed such a reagent"

and includes this soothing entry from a linked article:\

”It is, of course, extremely toxic, but that's the least of the problem. It is hypergolic with every known fuel, and so rapidly hypergolic that no ignition delay has ever been measured. It is also hypergolic with such things as cloth, wood, and test engineers, not to mention asbestos, sand, and water-with which it reacts explosively."

If you are at all interested in drug development, chemistry, or science in general, In the Pipeline is for you.