Academic Lab Pressures

In response to the article, "School Labs Go Under Microscope," I and most organic chemists probably agree with Russell W. Phifer's claim that there exists a huge discrepancy between academic and industrial laboratory safety practices, and this has been the case for many years (C&EN, Feb. 1, page 25). However, I believe the article fails to effectively capture or reiterate an additional trait perpetuated among many academic laboratories engaged in chemical research—added pressure, financial competition for grants, and in some cases, unreasonable or unhealthy expectations asserted by principal investigators on their students.

Although the article does touch on this subject in the second-to-last paragraph, I believe these added sources of stress present themselves as significant contributors to the deteriorated state of competent safety practices in academia versus industry. This should be recognized as a perpetuated yet sadly accepted aspect of academic chemistry and should be addressed as a possible target when seeking to make academic laboratories safer.

William M. Robertson
La Jolla, Calif.