Have you ever injured yourself in an experiment?

Question: Have you ever injured yourself in an experiment?

Asked by ellie789 to Daniel, Jon, Louise, Sharon, Zoe on 22 Jun 2010 in Categories: Scientist.
- Sharon Sneddon answered on 21 Jun 2010:
  
  Not seriously thankfully, I once managed to inhale quite a lot of a nasty chemical called paraformaldehyde and it made the inside of my nose go really funny. It’s a fixative, or a preservative and I think it fixed the cells inside my nose, I was ok in a day or two tho and i’ve never tried to sniff it again! We have lots of health and safety regulations in the lab to make things safe.
  
  I almost melted a plastic beaker on a bunsen burner once, which could have been quite dangerous if I had not noticed in time! Was a bit silly.
- Jon Copley answered on 21 Jun 2010:
  
  Not in an experiment – but I cut my thumb open on the first day of my first deep-sea expedition, while I was cutting open boxes of our equipment.
  
  I was on a Russian ship at the time, and unlike most ships there was as doctor on board. So I went to see him to get a couple of stitches for the cut. He asked if I wanted an anaesthetic and I said not to bother, because it should only take a couple of seconds to put the stitches in.
  
  40 minutes later he was still trying, and had bent one of his needles in the process! Turns out he was really not the best doctor in the world… Eventually he managed to stitch up the cut, and I still have the scar today (in fact the scar lines from his lousy stitches are bigger than the scar from the actual cut).
  
  After that experience, everyone else was *very* careful for the rest of that expedition not to have any accidents that might require a visit to the ship’s doctor!
- Louise Dash answered on 22 Jun 2010:
  
  No, luckily!
  
  But I’m a theoretician, so I don’t do experiments in a lab at all. Instead I spend most of my time at a desk in an office, in front of a computer. I’m most likely to injure myself from typing too much or getting eye strain! I’m not sure my experimental colleagues would be brave enough to let me loose in a lab with real scientific equipment!
- Zoe Duck answered on 22 Jun 2010:
  
  Not exactly… I managed to singe my hair in a bunsen burner once (watch out for long fringes!). Also, I give blood every 2 weeks to one of my friends for her research which can often be quite painful

Question: Have you ever injured yourself in an experiment?

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