Manhattan, Kan. — Fire officials say that six people were sent to the hospital Friday, June 1, after a Kansas State faculty member accidentally spilled a bottle of nitric acid onto the floor of a laboratory in Mosier Hall. Scott French, chief deputy for the Manhattan Fire Department, told Green Markets that the faculty member was carrying a 70 percent solution (or nine pounds) of nitric acid when she hit a door and cracked the bottle open. Some of the acid spilled onto her feet, causing minor burns. “Six people were in the room at the time, and all were sent to the Mercy Regional Health Center as a precautionary measure,” added French. The faculty members were sent home after treatment. The incident occurred around 2:15 p.m. at the College of Veterinary Medicine. “Anytime people are exposed to chemicals, they have to report to the hospital and as a result this was the one who had burns and other people in the lab to make sure they were okay,” said Steve Galitzer, director of environmental health and safety for KSU. Galitzer said the university will perform an investigation to determine what happened, and also to come up with some preventative measures to keep the same thing from happening in the future. “Nitric acid is typically used in lab for digestion processes, and for cleaning purposes as well, added Galitzer. University workers and the fire department did the cleanup work.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain