Laboratory safety waste disposal

The company was a private label manufacturer of home maintenance and personal care products. Its laboratory would be involved with new product development, evaluation of raw materials, testing of competitive products, and quality control. Laboratory personnel would also be responsible for chemical safety in the plant and for proper waste disposal. 

Laboratory Safety From a laboratory safety standpoint, both open and closed systems have mechanisms for the disposal of hazardous wastes, thus reducing the technician s exposure to potentially toxic materials. Performing HIAR online (closed system) as opposed to off-line mechanisms (microwave ovens or steamers) removes the possibility of being burned while handling hot containers or boiling liquids. 

Chemistry in the Laboratory This well-respected manual, by Julian Roberts and Leland Hollenberg of the University of Redlands and James Postma of California State University at Chico, is now in its fourth edition. It contains 44 laboratory-tested experiments and a new emphasis on safety and waste disposal. It includes many new reduced-scale experiments. All experiments are available as Laboratory Separates. 

Chemical safety is inherently linked to other safety issues including laboratory procedures, personal protectives, equipment, electrical safety, and hazardous waste disposal. 

Check with your state science supervisor, local college or university environmental health and safety specialists and the Laboratory Safety Workshop for advice in the disposal of chemical waste. The American Chemical Society publishes an excellent guidebook, Laboratory Waste Management, A Guidebook (1994). 

Never dispose of organic tars, Kimwipes, paper with organic residue, or other solid material down a sink. Such materials should be placed in a waste container labeled for laboratory wastes. Never dispose of used cleaning solutions of any type down a sink without first checking with the safety officer. Different environmental laws exist in each state and sometimes within separate counties, so it is difficult to generalize about waste disposal too broadly. 

Use and disposal of potentially hazardous chemicals are becoming heavily regulated. Proper storage, maintenance of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) about each chemical, and the control and documentation of hazardous waste disposal are among the required responses to laboratory safety. An institution Safety Officer can provide necessary information about reporting and disposal requirements. 

Chemical safety is inherently linked to other safety issues, including laboratory procedures, personal protective equipment, electrical safety, fire safety, and hazardous waste disposal. Specific chemical substances, uses, and possible health effects are discussed in different chapters of this book. The responsibility of workers as well... 

In a radioanalytical laboratory, a number of safety regulations must be strictly observed. The first step should always be to make a calculation of the expected activity it is very important because it determines the type of laboratory needed and governs the safety measures and the waste disposal. It should always be considered whether the conditions can be changed in order to reduce the radioactivity or whether a short-lived radionuclide can be used instead of one with a longer half-life. 

Assurance of competent staff begins by preparing position descriptions that specify the educational requirements, operational experience, and duties of the laboratory personnel. The qualifications of the supervisors, analysts, and instrument operators who are hired must match these descriptions. Each staff position should have a set of core training specifications (e.g., radiation safety, chemical safety, waste minimization and disposal, quality assurance) plus specific training in its area of responsibility. Table 13.3 provides suggested position titles, educational requirements, and general responsibilities for the optimal laboratory staff. 

Ashbrook, P. C., Houts, T. A. Laboratory Waste Minimization, Chemical Waste Disposal Costs , Chem. Health Safety. 2003, 10, 32. 

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