• Question: why do you where lab coats while doing your work

    Asked by Megan and alissa to Áine, Ciarán, Eoin, Lydia, Victoria on 12 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Lydia Bach

      Lydia Bach answered on 12 Nov 2014:

      Hi Megan and Alissa!

      I wear a lab coat because its protects me from chemicals and because that’s a big rule in our labs.
      If I am honest, I wear not just to be save, but also because I dissect fish and looks at dead fish stomachs, so that’s the last thing I want to get on my clothes or on myself (its smelly and doesn’t look nice as you can imagine) 🙁

    • Photo: Ciarán O'Brien

      Ciarán O'Brien answered on 12 Nov 2014:

      The main reason for me is to protect my clothes against spills or splashes. I work with dangerous chemicals sometimes, and if I got any on my clothes, I’d probably have to take them all off and sterilise them, which would be awkward. It’s easier to have a lab coat that I can take off instead, we always have spares.

      Another reason is that bacteria might land on my clothes without me knowing about it (they get about, the little beggars!), and if they were dangerous bacteria, I’d be bringing them out of the lab when I went home, and they might infect someone there. It’s safer to wear a lab coat and if any bacteria try to sneak on board, they won’t get far. We have our coats washed and sterilised regularly too, to make sure that we don’t come into contact with anything nasty.

      And finally, we sometimes wear lab coats because they make you look really clever! 🙂

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