Guidelines for care & Use of Dry Solvent Stills [Example]

3. Dr. Brown – Lab Room #14
SPECIFIC PROCEDURE FOR SAFE REMOVAL OF HIGHLY TOXIC WASTE#14
Consult with your research advisor concerning proper methods for packaging and storing extremely
hazardous waste. Research usually involves working with selective types or classes of chemicals. Prepare
brief summaries in this section for handling spent chemicals peculiar to your lab.
Four broad categories of hazardous wastes are generated by this laboratory. Each category is listed below,
followed by typical examples. Specific handling precautions, waste disposal, and decontamination
procedures are given for each class of waste.
1. Biohazards/recombinant organisms (antibiotic-resistant E. coli and Pichia pastoris)
2. Mutagenic/carcinogenic/teratogenic chemicals (ethidium bromide, dimethyl formamide)
3. Toxic heavy-metals (lead, mercury, gold, platinum, osmium, iridium, samarium, uranium)
4. Radioactive isotopes ( 32 P, 33 P, 35 S)
BIOHAZARDOUS WASTE
Protective Equipment.
Gloves and a lab coat should be worn at all times when working with recombinant organisms or handling
potentially infectious or biohazardous material. Further details can be sought at the CDC‟s web page
”Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories” (BMBL) 4th Edition
http://www.cdc.gov/od/ohs/biosfty/bmbl4/bmbl4toc.htm.
Liquid waste. Liquid bacteria or yeast cultures or used media should be decontaminated prior to disposal.
Dilute cultures with an appropriate germicidal agent, i.e., 20 % Wescodyne in 50% ethanol or 10 % sodium
hypochlorite (Chlorox bleach) and allow to stand for 10-20 minutes. Dispose of solution by pouring down
drain followed by copious amount of water. Flush sink with germicide and rinse with water.
Solid waste. Any tubes, pipets, pipet tips, Petri dishes, or solid medium (agar) which has
come in contact with microorganisms should be disposed of in an appropriate biohazardous waste bag, and
subsequently autoclaved. Sharp items such as needles, tips or broken glassware should be placed in a
sharps container and autoclaved separately from other solid-waste items.
CARCINOGENIC, MUTAGENIC OR TERATOGENIC WASTE
Protective Equipment.
Safety goggles, gloves and a lab coat should be worn at all times when working with carcinogenic,
mutagenic or teratogenic compounds. The most typical carcinogenic compound encountered in our
laboratory is ethidium bromide.
Liquid waste. Liquid containing low concentrations of ethidium bromide should be deactivated by the
addition of sodium hypochlorate and poured down the drain. Solutions containing high concentrations of
ethidium bromide should filtered through activated-charcoal,. The filtrate can be deactivated with bleach
and poured down the drain and the charcoal disposed of as solid waste.
Solid waste. Any tubes, pipets, pipet tips, or gel medium (agarose) which has come in contact with
ethidium bromide should be disposed of in an appropriate waste container and labeled. Solid waste will be
disposed of on a quarterly period.
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