edited by MIRIAMC. NAGEL Avo" High School Avon. CT 06001
Academic Laboratory Waste Disposal Yes, You Can Get Rid of That Stuff Legally! Jay A. Young, Chemical Consultant 12916 Allerton Lane. Silver Spr~ng.MD 20904 These remarks derive from the U S . Resource and Conservation Recovery Act of 1976. They are directed to teachers in high schools and in small colleges and universities who are concerned about the wooer disposal of chemicals such as out of date or excess st&k;oom chemicals, product chemicals formed in students' or teachers' laboratory or demonstration experiments and exercises, and other waste chemicals derived directly or indirectly from chemical education activities ( I j. These remarks do not necessarily apply to the disposal of chemical wastes from other sources. They also do not apply to incidents in which spills of a few, or more, grams of hazardous chemical causes more than 100 kg of soil or water to be contaminated with the spilled material. Now, let's get practical. What should I do if I have some chemicals I want to dispose of, There are three answers to this question: 1. Pay someone who has the proper EPApermits to do the jab for you. This is expensive. 2. Do part of the work yourself, or supervise students as you and they do part of the work, and then pay a permitted contractor a much lower fee to carry out the final steps. (Unless you are yourself permitted hy EPA, for example, to operate alandfill, youmust necessarily contract for landfill or other disposal.) 3. Reduce the magnitude of future disposal problems by marked changes in your present procedures.
I wish to discuss each of these answers in turn, but before that the reader should be apprised of two essential preliminarv actions. First, prepare a complete list of all the chemicals you wish to dispose. The list is prepared from your ihventory of unwanted chemicals now on hand and from your review of those chemical products you'and your students will produce in laboratary work, in lecture demonstrations, etc. For the unwanted chemicals now on hand, the list should include the names of each of the chemicals (or mixtures of chemicals), their quantity, and a description of each container and the label on the container, thus: "yy g of X2SOain a one pint screwcapped glass bottle, labeled 'X2SOa'."For waste chemicals that are produced from time to time in laboratory or other activities, the list should show for each chemical the month(si in which the waste
Note: In some instances, chemicals destined for disposal need not he kent in senarated containers. For examole. all water i n s o l u b l e ' c h r o m ~ m ( ~ 1compounds ) can be put into one container labeled "nn e water insoluble chromates. the date. and the bottler's initks." This consolidation of'wastes i i discussed in more detail below.
490
Journal of Chemical Education
Most small educational institutions store less than 1000 kg of hazardous solid waste and less than 1kg of acutely hazardous solid waste (defined below). These limits annlv " unless your city, county, or state has mandated lower limits. Most small institutions generate less than 1000 ke ner month of hazardous solid waste and less than 1kg per &nth of acutely hazardous solid waste. If your operation exceeds these or the more restrictive local limits, you w ~ lalso l wish to discuss with your city, county, state, or EPA office the procedure to he followed to obtain a permit to generate hazardous solid waste. Now to our discussion of answer number 1.Simply present your list of chemicals to the contractor. Insure that the contractor has the necessary permits to do the work. If the price is acceotable, execute the contract. hed discussion of answer number 2 is a bit more detailed. Begin by classifying each chemical in your list as a nonhazardous waste chemical or as a hazardous waste chemical. A hazardous waste chemical is called a hazardous solid waste even if not solid. It can he a liquid, a gas, a mist, a dust, a semisolid goop, anything, it is still called hazardous solid waste. It is hazardous only if i t is corrosive, ignitable, reactive, toxic, radioactive, infectious, phytotoxic, mutagenic, or is named by EPA as a hazardous solid waste. Each of these terms is or will eventually be defined by EPA (2). A corrosive hazardous solid waste has a DHof less than 2 or more than 12.5 or corrodes SAE 1020 steel a t 55°C a t a rate greater than 6.35 mm per year, no matter what its p H might he. Examples of corrosive hazardous solid wastes include elemental bromine, 30%hydrogen peroxide, aqueous, moderate to high concentrated aqueous solutions of common mineral acids. alkali metal hvdroxides. manv orimarv amines. and saturated and some subsaturated sofutions ofglkaline earth hvdroxides. -\n ignitnhlt ha7anlou,a~~lid iaa liquid ircally~with :I 11:1sli rxrint lera than W(' I I N I if its !lash w i n t is Ic,. th;111ritP('it~td i t t i wine or hew ~,rdiitillednlrcrhoiic htvtmgc. then, 11" definition, it is tior irnital~le,.Icnituhle alio indudes , u l ~ ~ t a n ( e s capahlt u i igniting t'rum heat yenerared thnuyh t r k t ~ u nor , irolti the ahsc~rhtit,nI ~ ~ I I I O ~ P I I ItI ~iticludei P. sul~~rancea that ignite spontaneously in air under ordinary conditions, and it includes substances that burn vigorously and persistently once thev are ienited. Finallv. and surorisinelv to a chemist. "ie" u nitable" includes moderate and strong oxidizing agents. Acetone, isobutyl nitrile, 80% ethanol (20% water), ethyl dichlorosilane, cyclohexane, methyl ethyl ketone, potassium nermaneanate. sodium hvnochlorite. and toluene are examples of ignitable hazard& solid wastes. A hazardous solid waste is reactive if i t is exolosive. detonatable, pyrophoric, reacts with water, forms a potential exolosive with water. eenerates toxic fumes when in contact with water, or if it contaik cyanide or sulfide and WU then generate toxic fumes if exposed to aqueous solutions that are mildly acidic or basic. The term "reactwe" also includes all explosives
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Second, contact your nearest EPA regional office; their phone number is in your phone book, or ask "operator assistance"in a nearby Safe11Ttpr ' s pannm to oo b Solrce 01 ~alel).nformalon and plact cal ~~ggesloons tu meei the spe-a nems of ntgn schoo cnem s v W ~ c n e r s t i a SO .ntmd~blo 3c a f o r m fcr wbcners lo snare m e r experiences and seek solutions to safetyrelated problems.
large city. Waste disposal regulations are in a dynamic state and, additionally, regulations differ in different parts of the country. Therefore, also contact any city, county, or state environmental offices. You will wish to discuss your list of chemicals and your desire to find a suitable waste disposal facility withacantractor. Aloeal environmental or EPA office can help.
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Table 1.
Reactive elements: Water reactive compounds: Peroxides: Peroxide formers: Pyrophorics:
Examples of Reactlve Hazardous Solid Wastes
Alkeli metals, alkaline earth elements
Table 2. Contaminant Concentrations in Leachate from EPA Extractlon Procedure which if Exceeded Identify Waste as Toxic Hazardous Solld Waste
aluminum hydride, calcium phosphide, magnesium nitride, calcium carbide. Acetyl peroxide, benzayi peroxide. Diethyl ether. dioxane, tetrahydrafuran.
Llthlum
Concentration
Contaminant
mg/L
AS
5.0
Finely divided metals, iron, lead, zinc; alkyl zinc, alkyl aluminum compunds. Picric acid, urea nitrate, ammonium nitrate. Explosives: ignitable solids: Nitrocellulose, sodium amide. Poiymerizable, Styrene monomer, acetaldehyde. ?-mfhermir.
Endrin
forbidden to be transported by the Department of Transportation (3). (See Table 1.) Ordinarily, ignitable and reactive hazardons solid wastes cannot he disposed in a landfill. They must be converted to a different cateeorv of hazardous solid waste. or t o a nonhazardous form: * A hazardous solid waste is toxic if under the conditions of the EPA extraction procedure (4) leachate from the extraction procedure contains in solution concentrations of certain metal ions or insecticides that are 100 or more times greater than the concentration of these substances allowed by the EPA Primary Drinking Water Standards. (See Table 2.) Some hazardous waste chemicals are considered by EPA ru he su inimiwl to the en\,irtmrnent that they ;ire placed in o apctinl "acutely hzardous solid waar" cvakgory. (See Table ,'t 1 --,
With very few exceptions, it is not likely that chemistry departmen& in high sihools and small colleges and nniversities will have any of these substances as wastes. It will, of course, be necessary to make sure that you do, or do not, deal with any of these. Check with your local environmental agency office for details. The above is not as complex in its application as it may appear. Your city, county, state, or regional EPA office, and the landfill disposal contractor you will eventually work with can help you identify which of your chemicals are in which category. Further, it is possible to convert chemically some otherwise hazardous wastes into nonhazardous wastes. Examples include:
0.02
Lindane Methoxychlor Toxaphene 2.4-0 2.4.5-TPSilvex
0 T H E R
0.4 10.0 0.5 10.0 1.0
Note: For liquid (solution) wastes. above listed concentration limits apply directly. Only solidand semisolid wastes are tested by analysis01 leachate. A hazardous solid waste in also toxic it it is oneof the more than several hundred substances specifically named by EVA as toxic (51
Table 3.
Examples of Acutely Hazardous Solid Wastes
Acrolein Allyi alcohol Aluminum phosphide Barium cyanide Calcium cyanide Carbon disulfide Chloroacetaldehyde Dieldrin -.
Fluorine Heptachlor Hydrocyanic acid Mercury fulminate Methyl hydrazine Nitrogen dioxide Nitrogen tetroxide Osmium tetroxide
2 4 - 0 n tropneno Em) enc mtne
Pneny morcaptan
Paralh on
Phosgene Phosphorus trihydride Potassium cyanide 1.2-Propane diol Sodium azide Sodium cyanide Strontium sulfide Thallium IIIIl oxide V m a o ~m penlome Z nc pnospn oe
Or. a ~rocedurevou elect mav consolidate the volume of the hazardous solid wa& such as t6e consolidation of chromates in the
same cost in a landfill. Or, aqueous solutions may be evaporated or the solute precipitated to yield lesser volumes of hazardous truly solid wastes; again, the cast of disposal is less for the lesser volume. Nonhazardous waste chemicals can be disposed as you choose. All hazardous w$@e chemicals mnst be disposed in conformance with federal, state, or local regulations. So-called small quantities of hazardous waste are most conveniently put into a lab nack and t r a n s ~ o r t e dt o a landfill for proper . . burial I)? a permi~tedlandfill iarilit?. .I I:tb nwk is a con1aint.r oiwnxe chemicals dr>tinrd to he buried i i a permitted landfill (7). Typically, a lab pack is a non-leaking 55 gallon (110 gallon is the maximum capacity allowed) steel drum with a securable tight lid. You buy it or vour contractor furnishes it. It is filled by you or vour contractor with a solid "inert" absorhent, such&vermiculite, into which are placed non-leaking bottles of your hazardous solid wastes, eaih labeled as to thecontents. There mnst he enough absorbent in the lab pack to absorb any liquids that might spill out of their containers inside the lab pack. When filled, the lab pack lid is secured and a list of the contents is affixed to the ~ - outside. - ~ Except for cyanide or sulfide wastes, reactive hazardous solid wastes cannot be disnosed in landfills even when sealed in lab p w k s ; nt,itlirr w n :gnilahle hd7ardurr.i i d i d wasres. iallered l l \ st, 3; t u l a w r r u a w , tdxic, 'I'hrat should k t h r m ~ ~ ; ~ (rr wcn nonharar~luu>ti11 k,hich c a e a lab 11iic k is not needed). S o chrmicnla that a r t inct,moi~tiolcwith each other ma\, he
ardous solid waste to dispose. But that same 10 ml, consolidated
chemical sehse. Lab packs containing stearic aiid and potas-
Soluble mercury waste compounds are toxic; conversion ta mercury sulfide renders the mercurv comnonent nonhazardous. If no other a base; when mixed the product has a pH within the 2 to 12.5range. Or an oxidizing agent and a reducing agent may be hazardous solid wastes; mixed and reacted, they are innocuous. Obviously, same processes that "neutralize" hazardous solid wastes may themselves he hazardous; appropriate precautions should he taken.
Note: The process used to "neutralize" a hazardous solid waste make yuu a treater uf halarduus may in theeyrs ~ d t h EP.1 e solid n;~ste:thii rcqriiwn ii permit. It may br pussiblr tor ,ume rducarimal instintlions identit'!. what wni111uth~.rwisehe a hazardous solid waste as a substance of value, to be used by students in further experiments as part of their education, which experiments happily convert the materials used into other substnaces of no value and which are also nonhazardous wastes.
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Volume 60
Number 6
June 1983
491
sium ferrocyanide have been refused by landfills on the basis I I , 111x1 qwnides dnd dcida react 11)prid~fi(.~ H S ~ ( ~ hydrogen cy~tiide!More rri~.ioital~ly, cumpat tllility (01'lnh pack cmtt 111s i alhx, required by Uepdrtm(.itl t)fTri~ns~~~rtiltic>ti rtgulatim~ In , ,I.
Before leaving your site, lab packs must he labeled according to the requirements of the Department of Transportation (9).Also before leaving your site, you, or the contractor iur yvn, will prepare n multi-rc,py iil:inii* st. 7'his i, a ,hippirig 11, curntnt olltilined (hlank~irwn the El';\ d t ' i , . t . t,r frcm il st,urct. that ,,rri~.t. desidt~rltei.\Vhtw f t l l t ~
