Updated: Three released from hospital after explosion causes chemical spill at Frick Chemistry Laboratory

Three people were hospitalized after a glass container filled with a highly corrosive acid exploded in Frick Chemistry Laboratory this afternoon, causing the evacuation of 300 people and the interruption of a final exam. All three victims have since been released from the hospital.

A female postdoctoral researcher and a female graduate student were in a lab when the glass container broke and splashed the researcher with nitric acid, University Spokesperson Martin Mbugua said. The researcher sustained minor chemical burns on the face and a contusion to her knee. The Public Safety officer, who was a first responder, reported that he felt a tingling in his arm that may have been caused by the acid.

The incident, which began at 1:19 p.m., also drew emergency crews from the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad, Princeton Fire Department and a hazardous materials unit from Trenton. The building reopened at 3 p.m.

It's unclear what caused the chemical spill; Mbugua said the container was used to "collect waste" nitric acid and was in a cabinet.

The spill occurred as psychology professor Barry Jacobs was in the process of distributing final exams for PSY 208: The Brain: A User's Guide, according to Jeffrey Meier GS, a preceptor for PSY 208 who was not yet inside the building when the evacuation occurred.

Meier said the incident had created a “logistical nightmare” because the examination had to be cancelled. He noted that the final exam will now be a take home examination because the final schedule makes rescheduling difficult.

“We had to contact the Registrar. That was a mess, because they probably were getting phone calls from other people as well,” Meier said. “Once we finally got in touch with them we got permission to set it up this way.”

In an email to the 124 students enrolled in PSY 208, Jacobs explained that students had two options: forfeit the final exam and base the entire grade on the midterm examination and precept grades, or return to Frick, pick up their exam and spend two hours on the questions sometime Wednesday night. The Honor Code would apply to the closed book take home examination, Jacobs added.

“To say I’m sorry about this is a gross understatement,” Jacobs noted in the email.

Jeongyoon Song ’14, a student in PSY 208, said that Jacobs’ initial directions during the evacuation made it seem that the evacuation would be temporary.

“[Jacobs] told everyone to go outside but then leave our stuff because we thought it would be a very quick thing. Then all these fire trucks started coming, and we were like ‘what’s going on?’,” Song said.

Peyton Cline ’13, a chemistry major in the class, described the incident as “chaos.”

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“When the fire alarm went off I took it very seriously,” he said, noting that an accident in a lab could easily trigger a serious problem.

According to the final exam schedule posted on the website of the Office of the Registrar, no other exams were scheduled to be taken in Frick around the time of the incident.

Jacobs could not immediately be reached for comment. Mbugua declined to identify the victims of the acid spill or the specific lab in which the spill took place.