The use of large amounts of chemicals and lack of experience with laboratory apparatus and chemicals are some of the causes of accidents. There is need to minimise the number of unsupervised experiments.

Such accidents can be reduced by adopting micro-chemistry kits. These kits revolve around the use of micro-scale experimentation. Micro-scale experimentation is the performance of experiments in small equipment using minimal amounts of chemicals, but allowing for visual observations.

Those performing the experiments will be looking at colour change, evolution of gases, temperature, formation of precipitates etc.

In addition, they are cheap and, therefore, affordable even by students. This way, the spending on chemicals will be cut.

For more information contact the Centre of Science and Technology Innovations (CSTI).

Samson Obiya,

Project Officer, CSTI,

Nairobi.

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