Hazard Steaming Washing

In terms of exposure to a wide variety of laboratory hazards, glassware washing personnel have the greatest exposure to injury of any laboratory worker. They are exposed to biological and chemical agents, chemical disinfectants, detergents, heat, steam, broken glass, chemical... 

Activated carbon adsorption is mainly a waste concentration method. The exhausted carbon must be regenerated or disposed of as hazardous waste. For GAC consumptions larger than 2000 Ib/day, onsite regeneration may be economically justified [7]. Thermal regeneration is the most common method for GAC reactivation, although other methods such as washing the exhausted GAC with acid, alkaline, solvent, or steam are sometimes practiced for specific applications [17]. 

A similar incident involving steam condensation was reported in the Hazard of Water in Refinery Process Systems [6], where the caption on a photo of a badly damaged tank states, A vacuum vent and one open hatchway was not enough to prevent damage when steam condensed and pulled in the top two courses of this 35 ft. diameter by 21 ft. high wash tank. ... 

Plastic components (whether container or closure) can be sterilized using steam, ethylene oxide, hydrogen peroxide, or ionizing radiation. The y irradiation is accomplished off-site by a subcontractor with appropriate expertise as these methods are considered the province of specialists because of the extreme health hazards directly related to the sterilization method. Electron beam sterilization may also be done by a contractor, although compact lower energy electron beam systems have been introduced that allow sterilization in-house. Steam sterilization is ordinarily performed in house, though many common components are becoming available presterilized by the supplier. Preparation steps prior to sterilization vary with the component and the methods used to produce the component. Rubber components are washed to reduce particles, while this is less common with plastic materials. 

For shallow sites, it may be preferred to remove the contaminated soil and incinerate it or wash it ex situ. For deeper sites with porous soils it may be possible to flush out the contaminants with surfactants or solvents and treat the hazardous materials at the surface. If the contaminants are volatile, it may be possible to heat the soil and/or pump air or steam into the soil and capture the vaporized chemicals at the surface. In some cases, treatment chemicals may be... 

A chemical wash introduces the potential hazard of chemical leakage into utility systems and/or into lines connected to the column. Special attention must be given to adequate blinding. In one instance (7), caustic used for washing backflowed into a steam line while steam was being vented to atmosphere, causing a wide area to be sprayed with caustic. 

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