Researchers should note that the solvent stockroom in Building 18 is scheduled to close permanently today (February 14) because of renovations in that building, according to Diane Shea, director of Procurement.
Until the new stockroom on the first floor of Building E25 is ready, there will be some temporary provisions for the distribution of solvents. Some of the more common solvents used on campus will be available from a temporary location in Rm 56-070. These solvents include dichloromethane; chloroform; and nitric, sulfuric, hydrochloric, acetic and phosphorus acids. These products can be picked up in Rm 56-070 from 8am-4:30pm.
Other solvents will need to be ordered from VWR, MIT's partner company for laboratory supplies. If VWR receives a customer's requisition by 11am and the items are in stock, delivery should be made the next day. Solvent requisitions received after 11am will require a two-day delivery for items that are in stock. (Non-stocked items probably will take slightly longer for delivery.) Requisitions can be mailed or dropped off to the VWR business office in Rm 56-020 or the stockroom in Rm 56-070.
Researchers who need to pick up alcohol should see a VWR employee in Rm 56-070 from 1-2:30pm. Alcohol cannot be stored below ground level, so after the VWR employee verifies the researcher's authorization to purchase alcohol, he or she will go to a temporary above-ground location to fill the order.
The new stockroom in Building E25, which will be accessible by the MIT tunnels, has been designed but is awaiting site approval by the Cambridge Fire Department. The plan is to have that permanent solvent stockroom completed by the end of May.
Anyone with questions may contact VWR at x3-1881 or Ms. Shea at x3-8370.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on February 14, 2001.
