[Catalist] Corona virus, and implications for laboratory safety glasses

[Leon Harris]

Greetings to all.

In this time of uncertainty, and bearing in mind the requirement to 
avoid needless panic, I would nevertheless like to draw to our groups 
attention the issue of safety glasses and COV-19 spread.

In many schools, lab sets of safety glasses are supplied as a means to 
meet insurance requirements for eye protection/ppe. While arguably they 
are frequently not necessary (when was the last time you wore safety 
glasses when making a vinaigrette in the kitchen, for example) they are 
a requirement in schools.

If your school has a communal, class set policy, you may need to 
consider the following points:


  * Most classes don't disinfect safety glasses between lab sessions
    (huge burden on lab staff, time, and policing issues etc).
  * COV-19 is a respiratory pathogen, and requires entrance to
    mouth/nose - the main protective advantage of a mask, if you are not
    yourself infectious, is to stop inadvertent hand-mouth transfer by
    forgetful touching of face.
  * Safety glasses, if worn by someone infectious, are likely to
    concentrate virus around mouth/nose, and are likely to enhance
    infectiousness.


May I recommend that all schools provide a dettol bath to soak glasses 
in after each prac, and require students to rinse and dry them before 
wearing. (I'd like a 70% alcohol spray myself, but this isn't practical 
in a class environment).


I hope that this is a helpful suggestion, and that ordinary procedures, 
carried out with a bit of enhanced vigilance, will

help stop the infectious little snot pots in our care from killing 
either us or themselves enable us all to remain healthy in this 
uncertain time.


More philosophically, how much about this interesting, science-related 
set of events should we be discussing with our students? Where do the 
lines between not promoting panic and promoting understanding lie? It is 
an interesting set of moral questions for an educator, don't you think?


Cheers,

Leon

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