OK, HF was rarely used in the biochem labs where I worked. I only remember it getting used once. And the boss made everyone else not using it take a long coffee break, clearing the room while it was being used.
HF is a very strong acid that can eat through the glass jugs that strong concentrated acids come in. They have to use plastic coated glass jugs where the plastic is thick enough to never ever crack. I wonder what safety precautions the semiconductor industry has to use for HF.
Meh, it's like any other hazardous material--treat it with respect, or it will demand your respect! A palm-sized exposure to 49% HF liquid can cause a pretty quick death, it basically extracts the calcium out of your body, and that disrupts the heart's electrical rhythm.
As the boss says, "the only old chemist is a safe chemist". In the labs, we work with it on a daily basis, and more intimately than how it is handled in the factory.
For the record--HF is actually a
weak acid. By definition, a weak acid is only partially dissociated.
Fluoride / Fluorine is a very unique and interesting element, different than any other element on the periodic table.
Personally, even a plastic-lined glass jug of the stuff would scare the crap out of me! High quality Teflon / PFA is the much preferred material for HF.
