Abstract
THE practice adopted in biological laboratories when disposing of contaminated material is to sterilize by steam in an autoclave, taking care to exclude anything known or suspected to lead to combustion. A latent danger exists if certain types of laboratory ware are treated in this way, without the research worker being aware that risk exists. An example of this occurred in this Establishment when a number of celluloid centrifuge tubes, potentially contaminated and intended for destruction, were sent for autoclaving. During the process spontaneous ignition of the tubes occurred, followed by explosive burning. The autoclave was wrecked and extensive superficial damage was done to the surrounding areas.
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SILVER, I. Explosion in an Autoclave caused by Cellulose Nitrate Tubes. Nature 199, 102 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1038/199102a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/199102a0
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