Disposal of Contaminated Material

All sharps such as hypodermic needles should be placed in a special container for disposal by a specialist unit. Hypodermic needles can be mutilated by the use of a special guillotine which removes the needle from the barrel. 

All benches should have a disposable plastic autoclave bag at the end into which material such as contaminated plates can be placed for autoclaving. When full these 

Elliot and D.L. Georgala, Sources, Handling, and Storage of Media and Equipment , in Methods in Microbiology , Vol. 1, ed. J.R. Norris and D.W. Ribbons, Academic Press, London and New York, 1969. 

Code of Practice for the Prevention of Infection in Clinical Laboratories , DHSS Memorandum, HMSO, London, 1978. 

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Providing for storage or disposal of contaminated materials (e.g., decontamination solutions, disposable equipment, drilling muds and cuttings, well-development fluids, well-purging water, and spill-contaminated materials)... 

PaR Systems, Inc. (PaR), has developed the dry size reduction system (DSRS) to aid in the decommissioning of former U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sites and commercial nuclear facilities. After components are removed in situ, they are processed by the DSRS for compact disposal of contaminated materials, while components that have been cleaned below regulatory limits can disposed of without restrictions. The system is designed to decontaminate and size reduce components as large as steam generators. The technology is commercially available, but there is no information on field demonstrations of the system. 

Means of safe removal and disposal of contaminated material. 

Clean up the spill using appropriate procedures (see section 5.C.11.6). Dispose of contaminated materials properly, according to the procedures described in Chapter 7, section 7.B.8. 

Off-site disposal in a landfill can be the most cost-effective option for certain wastes. It is still the easiest, cheapest option in most cases for handling small amounts of soil or waste. The cost of landfilling soils or solid wastes depends on the waste classification, treatment required to meet land disposal restrictions, if any, and proximity to a disposal facility. The decision to dispose of soil must balance these cost factors against the potential liabilities from transportation and disposal of contaminated material. 

Arrangements for clean-up, safe handling and legal disposal of contaminated materials and wastes resulting from an incident (including arrangements for the use of specialist contractors and services)... 

Chemical warfare imposes a logistical burden on both the user and the target. In addition to the needs of casualties, protective kit and decontaminating equipment must be transported forward, provision made for respirators to be changed, and for the disposal of contaminated material. Decontamination requires extra fuel and water. 

Nonregenerative caustic treatment is generally economically appHed when the contaminating materials are low in concentration and waste disposal is not a problem. However, the use of nonregenerative systems is on the decline because of the frequentiy occurring waste disposal problems that arise from environmental considerations and because of the availabiHty of numerous other processes that can effect more complete removal of contaminating materials. 

For many years phenol was made on a large industrial scale from the substitution reaction of benzene sulfonic acid with sodium hydroxide. This produced sodium sulfite as a by-product. Production and disposal of this material, contaminated with aromatic compounds, on a large scale contributed to the poor economics of the process, which has now been replaced by the much more atom economic cumene route (see Chapter 2, Schemes 2.2 and 2.3). 

Water is one of the most widely used raw materials in the manufacture of aqueous paint formulations. But as well as being used in production it can have a number of other uses, e.g. cooling and cleaning. Because of the cost of "new" water and disposal of contaminated water most manufactures have introduced closed loop or recycling systems. 

Reduces the volume of contaminated material requiring disposal. 

The classification system lacks a set of principles for determining when a waste contains sufficiently small amounts of radionuclides that it can be exempted from regulatory control as radioactive material. The lack of a general class of exempt waste increases in importance as the resources required for management and disposal of radioactive waste increase compared with the resources required for management and disposal of these materials as nonradioactive waste, and it may foreclose possible beneficial uses of slightly contaminated materials. 

Significant adverse effects on environmental quality, ecosystem integrity, and human health have often been associated with improper disposal of hazardous materials. A study ascertained the levels of eight potentially toxic elements in various fish species that were collected from a local hazardous-waste-contaminated wetland and estimated the potential health risk associated with consuming such fish [24]. A total of 53 fish samples representing 12 different species were examined. The respective mean concentrations (in ng g-1) of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Hg, and Ni found in edible tissues were as follows 72.5 + 103.1, 55.4 + 34.6,... 

Recommendation 3-4. The Chemical Materials Agency should select an alternative to on-site micronization followed by incineration for decontamination and/or destruction, and ultimate disposal of contaminated activated carbon. Off-site decontamination, and/or destruction and disposal of contaminated activated carbon should be pursued whenever possible. 

Numerous pollutants are discharged directly into the atmosphere by human industry, where winds may transport them to Earth s most remote corners. It is important, however, to note that industry is not the sole source of contaminants individuals also contribute to this problem through the use of household pesticides and fertilizers, improper disposal of hazardous materials (e.g., used motor oil, paints, cleaning products), and even by driving the family car. Consequently, sites with one predominant contaminant are a rarity complex mixtures and subsequent exposures define the real world. 

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