To responders:
Do the same cautionary notes apply to to dichloromethane as well, or is chloroform more dangerous? I suppose it must be the later since i havent seen the same amount of caution in labs working with DCM ( i vaguely remember it is propably more dangerous to have chloroform than DCM around).
To the original poster:
Both chloroform and DCM are rather good at A/B or STB procedures.You can keep your exposure to chloroform,if you are set to use it, to minimal even if you dont have a flowhood IF you act like a
reasonable mature adult when handling such stuff. I think most of the danger lies in,let me paraphrase computer support guys,PEBWAC situations ("Problem exists between workbench and chair"
).
Are you the guy that would evaporate solvents except water in the same or adjascent room that you eat/sleep/reside?
Is "Ventilation" a word you need to open the dictionary to find out about it?
Do you walk around flammable solvents or work with them with a cigarette hanging from your mouth for extra coolness points?
Do you work stoned or drunk?
Do you let out a "britney spears" style giggle if you spill something on yourself or anywhere near the place you work/sleep/eat?
Do you believe that nothing can go wrong, that you know very well what you are doing hence no reason to take no precaution whatsoever?
If you can answer "Yes" to any of the above questions then its quite propable that with this solvent,as well as many others you might run into
ID-Ten-T Error which can range from innocently -almost cutely- mild to severe.In such cases even water can be a very dangerous solvent!
Apart from that,which is longwinded so as to take serious notice of it, everything has been more or less said by previous posters.