Severity
Near-Miss
Was Hydrogen Released?
No
Was There Ignition?
No
Incident Date
Describe the incident, including corrective steps taken and their result.
A student cleaned catalyst that was being used for a fuel cell membrane electrode assembly from a spatula. He then placed the contaminated paper towel into a waste container that contained other waste that was wet with alcohol. The alcohol reacted with the catalyst, igniting a fire within the waste container. The fire was extinguished with a beaker of water.
Lessons Learned
A step was added to the laboratory procedure in which all catalyst waste is thoroughly dampened with water and sealed in a plastic bag before being placed into a waste container.