A graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has prompted a significant hazmat response after reporting the synthesis of dimethyl mercury, one of the most toxic substances known. The incident occurred on Wednesday when the student visited a local emergency room and informed medical personnel that the hazardous compound was created in Building 18, also referred to as the Dreyfus Building, which houses chemistry laboratories on MIT’s Cambridge campus. NBC Boston reported the details of the incident.
We are also able to disclose, with the student’s permission, that while the student remains under medical supervision, their initial blood test result, which was received today, shows no sign of exposure to mercury,” an MIT spokesperson wrote in an update to the school community on Saturday. She had been wearing gloves when one or two drops of the chemical came into contact with her hand. The compound can penetrate certain types of protective gloves, making it particularly hazardous to handle. As an additional precaution, common areas in the student’s residence hall were professionally cleaned, and the student’s room was sealed off. The rest of the residence hall remained open and operational. “Emerging information calls into question whether this compound was in fact synthesised.
The dangers of dimethyl mercury became widely known after Dartmouth College chemistry professor Karen Wetterhahn died in 1997 following an accidental exposure.
MIT officials said the student was not authorised to work with dimethyl mercury and that the chemical was not part of their research. MIT officials said they believe the risk of exposure is low and contacted people who may have been in close proximity to the student or the laboratory. “As the chemistry department, industrial hygienists, MIT Health medical experts, and other resources consulted collect additional information, we continue to believe there is a very low risk of secondary or tertiary exposures,” the school added.
The building remained closed as testing and the investigation continued. Following the student’s claim, MIT closed Building 18 and brought in emergency responders to assess the situation and begin precautionary decontamination.
