LABORATORY WASTE

MINIMIZATION

Treatment of laboratory waste is recommended if it can reduce safety hazards and save money

Peter Ashbrook (1) IS head of chemzcal safety and waste manage- ment, and Todd Houts (r) 1s asszstant head of chemzcal safety and waste nzanageirzerzt at the Unzverszty of Illznozs at Urbana- Champazgn

Laboratory-scale treatment as a waste minimization technique

We believe that the most effective waste mmlmlzatlon techniques occur before waste 1s produced However, m many cases, total prevention of chemical waste 1s not possible Waste mmlmlzatlon opportumtles are available, even after waste 1s generated A few columns ago (CH&S, September/October 1998, p 5), we discussed neutralization as a treatment method Here, we examme the general optlon of trcatmg laboratory chemical waste

Objectives of treatment The primary reasons for treating laboratory wastes are to reduce or eliminate safety hazards, for con- venience, and to save money

If one or more of these oblectlves can be met, then treatment of laboratory wastes may make sense Before embarkmg on a new treatment pro- cedure, be sure that you are m compliance with regulations and can conduct the treatment safely

Regulatory compliance Before commencing treatment, venfy that it 1s legal to do so Elementary neutrahzatlon does not require a permit under U S regulations, but It does require a permit m some states Llkeulse, treat- ment that 1s part of the expenment or that 1s per- formed m accumulation containers does not require a permit under federal regulations, howev- er, these same practices may require permits m some states Treatment of laboratory wastes at a separate waste management area-even If it is on the same site as the laboratory-1s llltely to require a permit

Safety issues As noted above, treatment may be pursued to eliminate safety hazards related to the waste For example, one may msh to destroy reactive cheml- cals or carcinogens The treatment process itself may present addltzonal hazards to the person con- ducting treatment Attention to safety issues m the treatment process is just as important as evaluat- ing safety m the laboratory procedure Just because the treatment chemicals are routinely used m the laboratory does not mean that they do not present hazards If your oblectlve 1s to reduce safety hazards, make sure that your treatment process does not increase them A graphic exam- ple of this concept 1s the severe fire that occurred

40 Chemical Health & Safety, March/April 1999

a couple of years ago at the Umverslty of Texas at Austin, caused by a small amount of sodium that was not completely treated

Other issues If the oblectlve 1s to reduce disposal costs, venfy that your proposed treatment procedure ~11 do lust that In most cases, laboratory waste dlspos- al costs arc related more to the waste quantity than to the hazard of the waste Thus, if a treat- ment procedure creates tunce as much waste as you started with but must still be disposed as a hazardous waste, you could very well end up doubling your disposal costs We have seen sev- eral cases where well-intentioned researchers have increased disposal costs because they treat- ed small amounts of carcinogens to destroy them, yet the increased amount of waste still required hazardous disposal Except for wastes that present unusual hazards, we encourage campus personnel to treat wastes only if the resultant products may be disposed down the dram

Time consumed m treating the wastes 1s also a, factor If there are compelling safety or cost rea- sons to treat wastes, the investment of a conslder- able amount of time for treatment 1s probably war- ranted On the other hand, if the benefits of treat- ment are small, you probably can only lust@ a small expenditure of time for treatment

Sources of information The followmg sources have good mforma- tlon on treating certain chemical wastes on a small (laboratory) scale

l National Research Council Prudent Practzces zn the Laboratory, Natlolial Academy Press Washington, DC, 1995

l Armour, M A Hazardous Laboratory Chemzcals Dzsposal Guzde, CRC Press Boca Raton, FL, 1991

l Lunn, G , Sansone, E B Destructzon of Hazardous Chenzzcals zn the Laboratory, Wiley & Sons New York, 1990

Waste Minlmlzatlon Recommendation 48. Before treating wastes to render them nonhaz- ardous, thoroughly evaluate the treatment procedure for possible hazards 0

1074-9098/99/$10 00 01999 American Chemical Sowsty