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Comment by wolfi1 | Hacker News Reader

I used to graduate at an institute having physicists as well as chemists, I gues it was no coincidence that only physicists operated with HF, one chemist told me that no chemist in their right mind would touch it

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That's not quite accurate (but close enough). We had HF in the chem lab. It lived in a dedicated metal box with a massive neon warning label and a padlock.

It's notable in comparison that all the deadly organics lived together in an unlocked cupboard (vented OFC). I think the only thing I ever saw treated as more of a pariah than HF were radioactive isotopes. Those generally get an entire dedicated room with restricted entry and a tedious mandatory cleaning procedure.

Makes sense. HF deserves the same awe as radioactive material. I've always found both fascinating. Like some kind of dark magic that curses you if you contact it.

As usual for particularly nasty crap, Derek Lowe has written amusingly about why he won't work with it[1].

[1] https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/things-i-won-t-tou...

HF is routinely used in analytical labs; it's standard to microwave HF solutions for ICP digestions. It's not even the most hazardous reagent in my lab right now.

Now, perhaps this chemist meant that no chemist in their right mind would physically touch HF--in that case, I agree completely!

AFAIK they're talking about anhydrous HF gas, not solutions of it. That sounds substantially less fun to work with. It's used to clean CVD chambers.

Oh fair enough, that is a nightmare.

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