RE to Jim 3975 - Strong contamination with ethidium bromide

[ChenHA]

On Mon, 11 Jun 2007 12:42:33 -0400, "Jayakumar, R"
<R.Jayakumar from roswellpark.org> wrote:

>Acrylamide.  I remember at least one case of a faculty who developed
>paralysis of his lower limbs which was linked to acrylamide poisoning.
>I knew this person sort of during my studies in India.  He was a junior
>level faculty in the 80s in Kerala University, in the state of kerala,
>India and was routinely handling acrylamide and gels with his bare hands
>and demonstrated SDS-PAGE to students.  After about 10-15 years,
>sometime during 1994-1996, he developed paralysis (irreversible) below
>his waist.  This case was well publisized in newspapers in southern
>India (my mother got really worried reading that :-)), because the
>doctors (I don't rememeber exactly, but I believe in his spinal cord),
>discovered the presence of methylated cytosines and attributed it to
>acrylamide acute poisoning.
>   Polymerized acrylamide may not be dangerous but not the unpolymerized
>monomers still stuck on the surface.  Why take the risk, when a simple
>gloves and some practices like that can safeguard you.  Or you may
>become a guinea pig for future people to study.
>  Jay
> 

Acrylamide monomer is known to be a  neurotoxin, so it is worth taking
good care when handling unpolymerised acrylamide.   Nothing to do with
safety in lab, but there was this sensational case of the deliberate
"poisoning" with acrylamide -

http://www.crime.co.nz/c-files.asp?ID=46

The accused got away scot free.  Nothing was proved of course.  I do
wonder however why we don't actually see more of this kinds of cases,
since we have access to all kinds of poisons in the lab, and we all
know of the liaisons, passions, conflicts, arguments  and hurt that go
on in labs.