Mishap in class affects 8 pupils

Press, 13 March 1985, Page 9

Mishap in class affects 8 pupils

PA Auckland Secondary schools may again be asked to rid their storerooms of the potentially lethal chemical, phosphorus, after a chemistry class mix-up put a South Auckland schoolboy in hospital. The boy, Andrew Murdoch, aged 15, is reported to ' be improving in Middlemore Hospital where he was taken last Thursday after inhaling phosphorus fumes during a fifth-form lesson at James Cook High School, Manurewa. The Education Department’s district senior inspector of secondary schools, Mr Peter Goddard, said phosphorus was a troublesome chemical which had not been issued for some years but schools could still have old stocks of it.

Last week’s mishap oc-

curred when a labelled bottle of red phosphorus powder was mistaken for potassium permanganate crystals in a school storeroom and used by a pupil in an experiment.

At the end of the experiment, Andrew Murdoch, uncorked a test-tube for cleaning, releasing the fumes which Mr Goddard said affected eight pupils.

Five were taken to hospital with Andrew Murdoch but discharged the same night. Another two girls were sent home on Monday with minor symptoms such as tiredness and a tingling sensation in the fingers. A spokeswoman for the school said the accident resulted from human error. It should not have happened, with the normal safety precautions taken, but a supervising teacher could not be in all places at once.