| I think you severely underestimate the fatality and occupational exposure rate in old industrial labs. Here's a classic pre-OSHA example of producing tetraethyl lead with no containment whatsoever (1924):
http://blogs.plos.org/speakeasyscience/2011/08/24/at-the-doo... Madam Curie's papers are still radioactive due to lack of containment (early 1900s): http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2011/1107/Marie... Herea re the "Radium Girls" who would lick radium-laced paintbrushes to make watches (1917): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_Girls And don't forget that nearly all heat-related surfaces in old labs were insulated with asbestos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos#Industrial_era Don't forget the countless people who played with mercury as pranks (!) in old labs, nevermind the fact that old lab thermometers used to be made of the stuff and that it was used in countless experiments of yore (today, a broken mercury thermometer will evacuate a school or lab): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(element)#Historic_uses Etc. Unless you've got a small lead factory, asbestos, some radioactive liquids, and a bottle of mercury laying around your house, I'm quite certain that it is quite a bit safer than "industrial labs in the past." |