No injuries reported in minor chemical accident at Argonne
A vial of an unknown chemical broke open during a routine cleaning procedure Friday at Argonne National Laboratory near Lemont, but nobody was injured as a result of the spill, according to a spokesman.
Two Argonne employees, a firefighter and waste management services worker, were picking up the vial during a routine maintenance procedure when it cracked, spilling about 5 milligrams of an undetermined chemical, said Christopher Kramer, a spokesman for the lab.
The incident occurred a little before 11:30 a.m. in a room near the lab’s Advanced Photon Source, he said.
Both employees were wearing protective gear and neither were exposed to the chemical, Kramer said.
The chemical had been brought into the lab, which is largely devoid of employees due to COVID-19, by an outside research group and wasn’t labeled, he said. The lab was working to determine what the chemical is, he said.