It was just some spilled coolant.
But it was enough to bring a hazardous materials team and paramedics to ASU late Monday.
ASU custodians thought the suspicious yellow liquid leaking from an experiment in the Cancer Research Institute might have been a biohazard.
It turns out that, after a Tempe fire department hazardous materials team and paramedics arrived, the liquid was just a diluted substance "like Freon," said ASU spokesman Keith Jennings.
Though there was no health hazard, Jennings said all possible safety hazards are taken seriously.
Yolanda Galindo, the custodian responsible for maintenance in the area of the leak, first noticed it. Galindo notified her supervisor, who notified Sharon Goodwin, assistant supervisor for custodial services.
"There was a yellow substance with a strong chemical smell coming out of an experiment," Goodwin said. She added that the liquid had flowed from the second floor down to the first. Goodwin said she closed down the area around the leak and called the Department of Public Safety.
The liquid had leaked from a reinforced plastic pipe, said Tempe fire investigator Mike Reichling.
Paramedics who responded to the scene evaluated the janitors who had discovered the liquid and found no ill effects.
Delbert Herald, who works in the lab where the leak occurred, said the equipment connected to the pipe had been shut down pending permanent repairs.
He also said the bright pink-and-yellow "Caution Radiation Area" sign in room 251 refers to an X-ray defractometer, which had been shut down and posed no risk.
Reichling characterized the handling of the incident "a good response."
Reach the reporter at jesse.christopherson@asu.edu.