Litigation has brought us to this: Chemistry sets without any chemicals

[FLPanhandle]

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/newscripts/89/8909newscripts.html
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/04/chemistry-set-boasts-no-chemicals.html

Chemistry Set Boasts “No Chemicals”


In point of fact, I have some empathy for the makers of this Chemistry 60 educational laboratory kit. They are, after all, just responding to the demands of the market, and we at MAKE actually have some first-hand experience of how hard it is, these days, to manufacture, market, and/or distribute chemistry sets that don’t, for lack of a better word, suck. So I post this not so much in the spirit of “shame on such-and-so” for creating this astounding oxymoron of a product, but rather to lament the general state of affairs we have come to thanks to litigiousness, chemophobia, and flagging scientific literacy.



I remember the chemistry set I had way back in 5th grade. Alcohol burner, chemicals with all sorts of danger symbols, nice explosions. A few years back I looked into a modern chemistry set for my daughter and they all really did suck. Nothing a kid would want to do.

[xchrom]

1. Unrec

[cali]

7. why?

[damntexdem]

2. And biology classes without any unifying theory: evolution.

But, yeah, with the old (real) chemistry sets, all the fun things were dangerous, and many could go boom or flare up. It's a wonder I didn't burn our house down back then.

[Drale]

3. All the fun things that kids used to do were dangerous

of course you could probably die from those old chemistry sets. lol

[FLPanhandle]

10. The explosions were the appeal

Yes it was dangerous, but it got me and many kids playing with and understanding Chemistry.

No kid will ever play with a modern set.

[Morning Dew]

4. Can't they make it without the magnets?? It even has a hazard warning for them.

http://www.elenco.com/edu-7075.htm

Think of the children!

[bluestate10]

5. I remember generating small amounts of hydrogen in high school.

Now, as a trained scientist, I can buy chemicals only via a business account. I can see the logic with some chemicals. But with some that are banned from general sale, I can't understand why.

[Romulox]

6. My god but that's sad. nt

[LoZoccolo]

8. I had the huge fucken one with the racks of powders.

It might have had like forty or more different chemicals in it.

And it was so big that I kept it under my bed; that seems crazy now.

[FLPanhandle]

11. Me too.

My desk was scorched from experiments. Lots of fun though.

[Odin2005]

21. I did too.

We have become a society of scaredy-cats.

[Brigid]

9. So, without chemicals . . .

What are you supposed to do with it? Seriously.

[kestrel91316]

15. Well, all the silly plastic fake test tubes and such look like they are designed for

children to PLAY ACT as chemists. Not to learn any chemistry.

The booklet probably doesn't even tell them about fun with vinegar and baking soda.

[FLPanhandle]

24. Bubble wrapped generation

Glad I was born when I was.

[WatsonT]

36. Baking soda and vinegar?

Why not give them the anarachists cookbook while you're at it!

:sarcasm:

[fishwax]

27. you supply the chemicals with materials available around the house

according to the product description at amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Elenco-Electronics-Inc-EDU-7075-Chem/dp/B002MR05HM

This Chemistry 60 set includes 60 safe and fun activities, allowing your child to learn and play at the same time. There is no fear of working with dangerous chemicals or poisons. The topics covered in the kit deal with chemical reactions, acids and bases, chromatography, crystal growing, surface tension, solutions and colloids, expansion of gases, magnetism, optics, growing plants and more. Simple experiments are performed using the contents of the kit and common household items. Children often help out in the home, especially in the kitchen. This kit provides the opportunity for children to discover how scientific concepts are used at home daily. The activities with these simple scientific concepts enable your child to increase his scientific knowledge and to further arouse his innate curiosity. We are certain that learning about science in the home will be a fun and rewarding experience for the whole family. Ages 10 and up.

[jmowreader]

31. Magnetism--in a CHEMISTRY set?

Come on, kids: magnetism is for the companion Physics Set.

[jmowreader]

30. You're supposed to go to Home Depot and Walgreen's

Home Depot sells all the industrial chemicals you need for this process, and Walgreen's sells cold tablets.

Yes, with the No Chemical Chemistry Set you can build a meth lab right in your own bedroom!

[cali]

12. when I was a kid

I had chemistry sets and soldering irons and I did all kinds of "dangerous" things. I did the same for my kid. had the little son of a gun chopping kindling by age 7.

[hifiguy]

13. The one I had when I was 12 was cool

beyond words. I created numerous small explosions, vile stinks and all sorts of other fun stuff. Glad I grew up when I did.

[left is right]

14. I didn’t have one

but always wanted one :(
I guess that I now won’t need to buy one when I get rich and famous. But I am still buying that pony!

[musette_sf]

28. I see in your profile

that you are female.

Did you get any guff from your parental units about chemistry sets being for boys?

I ask because I always wanted one too, and this was the line that I got.

[Gregorian]

16. As a child, I was an explosives expert.

Jeez, the Penninsula Scientific supplied everyone on the SF side of the bay with every chemical under the sun. Hell, you could get dynamite at the hardware store. But tennis balls with Potassium Chlorate as the oxidizer, were absolutely brilliant at taking out old tree stumps.

And then there were the weather balloons that we filled with a neutral oxy acetylene flame that was struck out. Those rocked the whole bay area. Kids, do not try this at home if you like living.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX_z5eUCeCs

[LiberalEsto]

38. Dang. I wish we'd had that stuff

My brother and I shared a chemistry set back around 1963, and our entire mission in life was to create something that exploded. Unfortunately it was a wimpy chemistry set.

We had a chemistry club with 2 friends from another town, and used to mail each other formulas and samples. Once we came up with a mixture that dyed fabric green and sent the friends a sample. How delighted we were when the friends told us that the substance nearly ate away the envelope by the time it arrived in their mailbox.

A few years later, when I was in college, my brother discovered how to make Drano bombs. When I was home on semester break, he set one off in the woods so I could share the fun. Nowadays, kids who make those can end up in jail.

[Gregorian]

41. We made drano balloon bombs. Fun.

Hey, it helps when your dad gives you support. I still cannot imagine my dad giving us formulas for that kind of thing at our ages. We were 8 years old. Welding and blowing things up.

My friends found a storage facility for gelamite. They were hard core.

[KittyWampus]

17. Whomever wrote this must not have looked very hard for a decent chemistry set. I found this in less

than a minute:




http://www.thamesandkosmos.com/products/chem/c20002.html

The next step up- Thames & Kosmos 3000 Set- has good reviews on Amazon and Reviewers give tips on where to pick up various chemicals not included.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00007B8M6/?tag=Babble-20

[Citizen Worker]

18. I think it probably has more to do with post 9/11 hysteria than it does litigation.

[ironrooster]

19. make your own -

http://www.cavemanchemistry.com/

[Overseas]

20. Yeah golly let's toss out all laws !

And that damn coffee lady at MacDonald's. Geez.

[hayu_lol]

23. Bring back the old 'monster' Chemcraft and Gilbert sets...

from about 1945. Magnificent is the only word for them. When I ran out of something...just went to the nearest druggist and got bulk refills.

Made some super black powder rockets.

Several of the girls in my 5th grade class also had the big sets and liked them as much as we guys did. We'd come to class every day and trade formulas.

[WatsonT]

37. The world consists only of binary extremes in peoples minds

not in reality.

[JuniperLea]

22. We all suffer because of the stupid... eom

[NNN0LHI]

25. Mine had a dead honeybee in a little vial to dissect in it

First thing it did was sting me.

True story.

[Gregorian]

29. Oh that's good.

Haha. I think something was trying to tell you to study chemistry. Bitten by chemistry.

[fishwax]

26. litigation hasn't prevented real chemistry sets from being made

They're not that difficult to find.

[HopeHoops]

32. Yeah, mine was in a metal case with all kinds of shit to mess with.

[spinbaby]

33. Ah, chemistry

I have fond memories of chemistry labs where we did fun things like play with mercury on tabletops, dump sodium into water to watch the fireworks, and accidentally stain our hands with silver nitrate.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

34. AHH.. The Golden Book of Chemistry

available for free download here:

http://chemistry.about.com/b/2010/11/30/download-the-golden-book-of-chemistry-experiments.htm

Those old chemistry sets were cool but they were for lightweights! A good chemistry book and the stuff my grandfather kept in the shed, now that's home chemistry. I guess I would both freak out and be happy if my kids did the same things today.

[Poiuyt]

39. I LOVED that book as a boy!

It helped inspire me to get a degree in chemistry

[AngryAmish]

35. Bullshit

What litigation? Prove it. Has anyone sued a chemistry set manufacturer for injuries because of dangerous chemicals? Failure to warn? Where and whern please.

Go to Mr. Google's site and type in "chemistry set injury". Lawyers buy keywords to advertise for certain injuries. No ads for lawyers come up. Ergo, no lawyers is looking for this type of case.

People are afraid of chemicals. Love's Canal and all that. This is what is driving this - parents worried about their precious snowflakes.

[FLPanhandle]

40. Nope

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/Issues/2007/December/TheChemistrySetGeneration.asp
Here is a great summary of the rise and fall of Chemistry sets in the U.S.

"A series of high-profile lawsuits in the 1970s only made matters worse. In spite of safety warnings plastered all over the boxes, accidents were bound to happen. 'There was nothing dangerous about the chemicals themselves,' says Tyler. 'It's how they were used - put anything into a test-tube, stick a cork stopper on top, apply heat et voila you've got a potential lawsuit.' "


It doesn't even require many lawsuits before manufactures get concerned and start neutering the sets.