Research on the essential safety of chemical laboratories based on the “Double Carbon” goal

With the further improvement in the level of scientific research in universities, the annual increase in the use of chemical reagents in various disciplines not only brings more challenges to laboratory safety but also runs counter to the current “dual carbon” goal of pursuing high-quality development with low-carbon environmental protection. In recent years, laboratory accidents involving hazardous chemicals have occurred occasionally. These accidents not only seriously affect the normal teaching and research orders at universities but also cause considerable harm to the personal safety of teachers and students and the property of the country. At the same time, we observe that the extensive use of chemical reagents in university laboratories has exerted great pressure on safety management. Furthermore, the use of numerous chemicals has an increasingly serious impact on the environment. Through various measures and approaches, controlling and reducing the use of chemical reagents significantly improves the essential safety of chemical laboratories.

Chemical research under the “dual carbon” goal is a new discipline born in the context of sustainable development. Starting from the concept of essential safety management in chemical laboratories, the use of chemical reagents can be controlled and reduced through the following approaches: ① controlling the amount of chemical reagents used at the source, ② recycling chemical reagents to achieve “zero waste and zero pollution,” ③ completely utilizing new technological processes such as new chemical synthesis, analysis, and characterization methods and the application of artificial intelligence technology, and ④ continuously improving environmental governance capabilities.

Suzhou University’s practices regarding the essential safety of chemical laboratories mainly focus on the following aspects: ① strengthening the source management of hazardous chemicals through virtual simulation experiments, chemical theoretical calculations, and other means to achieve the elimination and reduction of chemical reagents. ② Strengthening the entire supervision process of hazardous chemicals and combining laboratory procurement and inventory management to avoid potential risks caused by the excessive accumulation of chemical reagents in laboratories. ③ Improving the ability to manage hazardous waste. Since 2020, Suzhou University has been comprehensively implementing the third-party “environmental stewardship” service for laboratory hazardous waste. Through door-to-door collection, classification guidance, and hidden danger investigation in each laboratory, this service ensures the standardization of hazardous waste classification and packaging, reducing potential safety risks that may arise from the mixing of hazardous waste by teachers and students. ④ Exploring intelligent laboratory safety management based on digital technology. Suzhou University has made certain explorations and pilot constructions to apply new digital technologies to perform intelligent laboratory management. Using big data and artificial intelligence technology, Suzhou University analyzes historical and experimental process data of chemical laboratories, identifies potential safety hazards, and provides corresponding safety management suggestions and early warning measures. To achieve essential safety in chemical laboratories, it is necessary to establish a new chemical research project approval and scientific research achievement evaluation system, actively guide universities in the direction of chemical and material science research to adopt new methods and technologies, and gradually shift to simpler experimental schemes with shorter cycles, better energy efficiency, and lesser risk. Moreover, this emphasizes the need to reform and innovate existing experimental methods, change conventional experiments to microchemical experiments and use tandem reactions, solvent-free synthesis, and other means to optimize experimental methods, gradually developing a new chemical research system.