A laboratory used for analyzing rock samples in the oil and gas industry was the scene of a fatal chemical exposure. Two baskets of ore samples were being bathed for several days in vapors of the solvent toluene. They were contained in a piece of lab equipment known as a vapor phase extractor. The cooling system of the extractor had been shut off, allowing a high concentration of vapors to accumulate under the lid. The worker was exposed to a fatal concentration of toluene vapors when he opened the lid of the extractor. He was not wearing proper respiratory protection equipment […]