University of Hawaii has safety experts review lab explosion

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HONOLULU (AP) — The University of Hawaii has asked independent safety experts to investigate what caused a laboratory explosion last month that seriously injured a visiting researcher.

HONOLULU (AP) — The University of Hawaii has asked independent safety experts to investigate what caused a laboratory explosion last month that seriously injured a visiting researcher.

The school said Monday that the University of California Center for Laboratory Safety will look into the March 16 blast. A team from the center was on the University of Hawaii’s flagship Manoa campus last week.

The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the month.

The university says the explosion occurred when a researcher was growing cells by feeding them a mixture of low-pressure hydrogen, carbon dioxide and oxygen.

The school says the same process has been used almost daily and without incident since 2008 at a lab that’s part of the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute.