Miles Dorian Whitty, 19, appeared briefly in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday on a charge of manufacturing a controlled drug.

Magistrate Bernadette Boss ordered he be taken to hospital to have his mental health assessed.

He will reappear in court later this month.

Court documents, tendered during the short proceedings, said Mr Whitty – who is studying an undergraduate degree in science – contacted paramedics with breathing difficulties after inhaling noxious gas about 4.48pm on Tuesday.

A fire panel fault alerted Canberra University authorities to an issue at the Copper Lodge room about 5.40pm.

Campus security contacted Mr Whitty who reported he had been taken to hospital after a chemistry accident, causing university staff to call firefighters and police.

Officers allegedly entered the Cooper Lodge room to find chemical ingredients to make ecstasy, chemistry equipment, evidence of a chemical explosion, and a book containing instructions on how to manufacture MDMA.

Police called in the bomb squad, clandestine laboratory team, and ACT Government analytical laboratory members, who are still working at the scene, court documents said.

Residents of the student accommodation reported an evacuation alarm after 7pm on Tuesday.

Students described running out the door without their shoes, or with few belongings, as the alarm system advised them to "avoid the fourth floor".

Students were put up in the nearby refectory with pizza and movies until about midnight, when most were allowed back in, save for those on the fourth floor.

But late on Wednesday morning students were evacuated again and more emergency crews with hazmat gear descended on the campus.

While level three and four of Cooper Lodge, as well as commercial buildings nearby, were evacuated again on Wednesday afternoon, by the evening a university spokeswoman confirmed just parts of the fourth floor remained cordoned off.

A small number of affected students had been relocated to different rooms for the night, she said.