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Disposal of Waste
Pages 139-172

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From page 139...
... j . ~ ~j :: Disposal of Waste 7.A INTRODUCTION 7.B CHEMICALLY HAZARDOUS WASTE 7.B.1 Characterization of Waste 7.B.2 Regulated Chemically Hazardous Waste 7.B.2.1 Definition of Characteristic Waste 7.B.2.2 Definition of Listed Waste 7.B.2.3 Determining the Status of a Waste Collection and Storage of Waste 7.B.3.1 At the Location of Generation 7.B.3.2 At a Central Accumulation Area 7.B.4 Records 7.B.5 Hazard Reduction 7.B.6 Disposal Options 7.B.6.1 Incineration 7.B.6.2 Disposal in the Normal Trash 7.B.6.3 Disposal in the Sanitary Sewer 7.B.6.4 Release to the Atmosphere 7.B.7 Disposal of Nonhazardous and Nonregulated Waste 7.B.8 Disposal of Spills 7.B.9 Monitoring of Off-site Waste Disposal 7.B.9.1 Preparation for Off-site Disposal 7.B.9.2 Choice of Transporter and Disposal Facility 7.C MULTIHAZARDOUS WASTE 7.C.1 Chemical-Radioactive (Mixed)
From page 140...
... 140 PRUDENT PRACTICES IN THE LABORATORY: HANDLING AND DISPOSAL OF CHEMICALS 7.C.4 Chemical-Radioactive-Biological Waste 159 7.C.5 Future Trends in Management of Multihazardous Waste 159 PROCEDURES FOR THE LABORATORY-SCALE TREATMENT OF SURPLUS AND WASTE CHEMICALS 7.D.1 Acids and Bases 7.D.2 Organic Chemicals 7.D.2.1 Thiols and Sulfides 7.D.2.2 Acyl Halides and Anhydrides 7.D.2.3 Aldehydes 7.D.2.4 Amines 7.D.2.5 Organic Peroxides and Hydroperoxides 7.D.3 Inorganic Chemicals 7.D.3.1 Metal Hydrides 7.D.3.2 Inorganic Cyanides 7.D.3.3 Metal Azides 7.D.3.4 Alkali Metals 7.D.3.5 Metal Catalysts 7.D.3.6 Water-Reactive Metal Halides 7.D.3.7 Halides and Acid Halides of Nonmetals 7.D.3.8 Inorganic Ions 7.D.3.8.1 Chemicals in Which Neither the Cation Nor the Anion Presents a Significant Hazard 7.D.3.8.2 Precipitation of Cations as Their Hydroxides 7.D.3.8.3 Chemicals in Which the Cation Presents a Relatively High Hazard from Toxicity 7.D.3.8.4 Chemicals in Which an Anion Presents a Relatively High Hazard 7.D.3.8.5 Procedure for Reduction of Oxidizing Salts 160 160 161 161 161 162 162 162 163 163 164 165 165 165 165 166 166 166 166 167 170 170
From page 141...
... Disposal of household waste is usually regulated by municipalities, while hazardous waste disposal is regulated at the federal level and often also by states and municipalities. The focus in this chapter is on the disposal of waste that may present chemical hazards, as well as those multihazardous wastes that contain some combination of chemical, radioactive, and biological hazards.
From page 142...
... The laboratory worker who carries out the procedures should be familiar with the characteristics of the waste and any necessary precautions. Because the hazards of the materials being tested are unknown, it is imperative that proper personal protection and safety devices such as fume hoods and shields be employed.
From page 143...
... 7.B.2 Regulated Chemically Hazardous Waste An important question for planning within the laboratory is whether or not a waste is regulated as hazardous, because regulated hazardous waste must be handled and disposed of in rather specific ways. This determination has very important regulatory implications, which can lead to significant differences in disposal cost.
From page 144...
... Failure to pass the TCLP results in classification of a material as a toxic waste. 7.B.2.2 Definition of Listed Waste Although EPA has developed several lists of hazardous waste, three regulatory lists are of most interest to laboratory workers: · the F list: waste from nonspecific sources (e.g., spent solvents and process or reaction waste)
From page 145...
... Ventilated storage may be appropriate. Federal regulations allow the indefinite accumulation of up to 55 gallons of hazardous waste or 1 quart of acutely hazardous waste at or near the point of generation.
From page 146...
... For regulatory purposes, the facility needs to keep records for on-site activities that include ~ the quantities and identification of waste generated and shipped, ~ documentation of analyses of unknown materials if required, ~ manifests for waste shipping as well as verification of disposal, and ~ any other information required to ensure compliance and safety from long-term liability. Records of costs, internal tracking, and so forth, can provide information on the success of the hazardous waste management program.
From page 147...
... Chemical deactivation as part of the experimental procedure can have considerable economic advantage by eliminating the necessity to treat small amounts of surplus materials as hazardous waste. Furthermore, the handling and deactivation of potential waste by the laboratory worker benefit from the expertise and knowledge about the materials of the person who has generated them.
From page 148...
... If approved of by the local district, it may be allowable to dispose of dilute solutions of metals and other hazardous chemicals into the sanitary sewer. Under the Clean Water Act, some exemption from regulation as a hazardous waste for wastewater containing laboratory-generated listed waste is allowed.
From page 149...
... When safe and allowed by regulation, disposal of nonhazardous waste via the normal trash or sewer can substantially reduce disposal costs. This is the kind of waste segregation that makes economic as well as environmental sense.
From page 150...
... The combinations of these hazards are illustrated in Figure 7.2. Although many of the principles discussed for chemically hazardous waste earlier in this = \ ~ ~ / _ d_ WN ^_ , -< \ c \ ~ / , '_ / ~ Ha_ b · ~ _ \ _ Chemical ~ Biological d art" t ~~O'~ FIGURE 7.2 Multihazardous waste.
From page 151...
... Common waste management methods for low-level radioactive waste from laboratories include storage for decay and indefinite on-site storage, burial at a low-level radioactive waste site, incineration, and sanitary sewer disposal. Waste is considered biohazardous or infectious if it contains agents of sufficient virulence and quantity that exposure of a susceptible host could cause trans151 mission of an infectious disease.
From page 152...
... Some multihazardous waste can be disposed of safely in the sanitary sewer when allowed by the local publicly owned treatment works (POTW)
From page 153...
... . Liquid scintillation fluid that is sold as being "biodegradable" or "sewer disposable" is more appropriately labeled as "nonignitable" because biodegradability in the sanitary sewer can vary considerably with the local treatment facility.
From page 154...
... EPA requirements for decay-in-storage of mixed waste have varied over time and by state and EPA region. Storage of mixed waste for more than 90 days, the period of time usually allowed for chemically hazardous waste, may require the approval of the state or regional EPA hazardous chemical waste authority.
From page 155...
... out of the incinerable waste so that the ash is not chemically hazardous according to the TCLP test. On-site incineration minimizes handling and transportation risks; however, incineration of chemical waste is regulated by EPA and requires a permit, which is beyond the resources of most laboratory waste generators.
From page 156...
... In most cases, blood and body fluids that contain toxic chemicals can be disposed of safely in a sanitary sewer, which is designed to accept biological waste. Approval for such disposal should be requested from the local wastewater treatment works.
From page 157...
... Some laboratories that generate biohazardous waste have replaced disposable items with reusable supplies, which are disinfected between uses. For biological waste, waste minimization can be accomplished best through careful source separation of biological waste from other waste streams.
From page 158...
... 7.C.3.2 Off-site Management of Low-level Radioactive Waste Many laboratories do not have an on-site incinerator for radioactive-biological waste. Communities tend to oppose waste incinerators, and on-site incineration is prohibitively costly for some radioactive-biological waste generators.
From page 159...
... Similarly, autoclaves are readily available to most laboratories for destruction of infectious agents. As described above, autoclaving multihazardous waste requires certain precautions, but renders a chemical-radioactive-biological waste a chemical-radioactive waste.
From page 160...
... The generator must ensure that the procedure eliminates the regulated hazard before the products are disposed of as nonhazardous waste. In addition, if the procedure suggests disposal of the product into the sanitary sewer, this strategy must comply with local regulations.
From page 161...
... Procedure for hydrolyzing 0.5 mol of RCOX, RSO2X, or (RC0120: RCOX + 2NaOH - ~ RCO2Na + NaX + H2O A 1-L three-necked flask equipped with a stirrer, dropping funnel, and thermometer is placed on a steam bath in a hood, and 600 mL of 2.5 M aqueous sodium hydroxide (1.5 mol, 50°/O excess) are poured
From page 162...
... These procedures should be carried out only by knowledgeable laboratory workers.) Peroxides can be removed from a solvent by passing it through a column of basic activated alumina, by treating it with indicating Molecular Sieves@, or by reduction with ferrous sulfate.
From page 163...
... methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, n-butyl alcohol, or t-butyl alcohol to a stirred, ice-cooled solution or suspension of the hydride in an inert liquid, such as diethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran, or toluene, under nitrogen in a threenecked flask. Although these procedures reduce the hazard and should be a part of any experimental procedure that uses reactive metal hydrides, the products from such deactivation may be hazardous waste that must be treated as such on disposal.
From page 164...
... Hydrogen cyanide can be converted to sodium cyanide by neutralization with aqueous sodium hydroxide, and then oxidized. Procedure for oxidation of cyanide: NaCN + NaOC1 ~ NaOCN + NaC1 An aqueous solution of the cyanide salt in an icecooled, three-necked flask equipped with a stirrer, thermometer, and dropping funnel is cooled to 4 to 10 °C.
From page 165...
... 7.D.3.5 Metal Catalysts Metal catalysts such as Raney nickel and other fine metal powders can be slurried into water; dilute hydrochloric acid is then added carefully until the solid dissolves. Depending on the metal and on local regulalions, the solution can be discarded in the sanitary sewer or with other hazardous or nonhazardous solid waste.
From page 166...
... The acidic solution can be neutralized and, depending on the metal and local regulations, discarded in the sanitary sewer or with other hazardous or nonhazardous solid waste. 7.D.3.7 Halides and Acid Halides of Nonmetals Halides and acid halides such as PC13, PC15, SiCl4, SOC12, SO:C1:, and POC13 are water-reactive.
From page 167...
... Reaction with corn oil or powdered milk will destroy it. lion of 1 M sulfuric acid, or 1 M sodium hydroxide or carbonate.
From page 168...
... If a testtube experiment shows that other measures are needed, the addition of hydrochloric acid to produce a slightly acidic solution will often decompose the complex by profanation of the basic ligand. Metal ions that form insoluble sulfides under acid conditions can then be precipitated by dropwise addition of aqueous sodium sulfide.
From page 169...
... 1N 1 -, pH13 1 T 1 1N 1N 1N I -- 1N T- T T T T T T T I ! I I- I I ~ 1N 1N I 1N 1N 1N 1N NOTE: ~ost metal ions are prec~itated as ~droxides or oxides at ~ pH.
From page 170...
... Hydrogen peroxide can be reduced by the sodium hydrogen sulfite procedure or by ferrous sulfate as described earlier for organic hydroperoxides. However, it is usually acceptable to dilute it to a concentration of less than 3°/O and dispose of it in the sanitary sewer.
From page 171...
... Dilute aqueous nitric acid is not a dangerous oxidizing agent and is not easily reduced by common laboratory reducing agents. Dilute nitric acid should be neutralized with aqueous sodium hydroxide before disposal down the drain; concentrated nitric acid should be diluted carefully by adding it to about 10 volumes of 1 7 1 water before neutralization.


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