Chemical leak empties science building in the Philadelphia

A building at Villanova University in the Philadelphia suburbs was evacuated because of a leak in a chemistry lab. At least one student was taken to a hospital Tuesday afternoon, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. A university staff member told the newspaper she and other freshmen were synthesizing esters, organic compounds, in a lab on the third floor of the Mendel Science Center when she became ill. The hospitalized student had a nose bleed. Other students reported feeling lightheaded and dizzy. A decontamination tent was set up outside the science center. Dan Kazmierski, a senior majoring in biology, was in the building when the evacuation was announced. He said instructors are normally very cautious about working with chemicals, telling students to perform operations under a protective hood while wearing gloves and goggles. Villanova, in the Main Line suburb of Radnor, is the oldest Catholic university in Pennsylvania. Copyright 2013 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent