mfety in the chemicol loboratory
edited by MALCOLM M. RENFREW University 01 Idaho MOSCOW, Idaho 83843
Chemical Wastes in Academic Labs Wendy A. Wallon The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 People have become accustomed to hearing about leaking hazardous waste sites and toxic chemical spills on the nightly news. Yet, although they have an awareness and even an acute sensitivity to this critical societal problem, our students are being given little appreciation of bow to deal with it. The most appropriate forum for bazardous waste training is the chemistry lab, for t h e r e s t u d e n t s generate well-defined "chemical waste" weekly, providing educators a ~ e r f e can~ortunitv t to teach resnonsihle w k h a n d l k on a ;ma11 scale. unfarrunntely, n w t laborntory manuals prwide auperfrcial inatrurrion for the handling uf chemical waste. Instructions such as "dispose of waste in an appropriate manner" or "wastes must be collected in a suitable container" or even "waste disposal should he carried outas directed hy the instructar"are too vague to be of value. They give the impression that the chemical waste problem will go away if ignored, or worse that there is no problem at all. Our former students who are now in industry can hardly he blamed for following the example learned in school. ~~
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Wsndv A. Wallon is the Coordinator 01 Chemical Safety for TheOhio State University Department of Chemishy. Since assuming the position in 1984, she has organized several conferences on chemical safety in academic laboratories. She has previo~slylectured chemistry st The Ohio State University and Indiana University,and received her MS degree in chemistry from Purdue University.
Note from the Edltor of Safelv TIN for Secondaw School Teachers
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Thisarticle has awry valuable message for ail chemistry teachers. it should be required reading. Every laboratory lesson oughtto include information on recoveiy or safe disposal of the inevitable chemical wastes. Many high school chemishy students will not take another chemistry course. Bener informed students will make more responsibleadult decisions on issues of chemical wastes in the home, in the community, and in the workplace. Miriam C. Nsgel
Indeed, it has taken major legislation and an army of regulators to get their attention! The time of reckoning is overdue! I t is time to realize that a chemicalexperiment is not complete unless it definitively explains to the students treatment of the specific chemical waste including whether or not the liquids can go down the drain. Not to give students specific instructions is simply not acceptable today, for we helately realize that indiscriminant "down the drain" disposal is an ecologically unsound practice. Granted, one could argue that what we dump down the drains in teaching labs is hardlv. sienificant relative to what some induitrira dump :nro thr srwrr sysrrms, but that ir not the point.'l'hr point is rhar if we uaut the nrrr gcnrration to deal with hazardous waste appropriately, which they indeed will have to do, then we must teach them, for if the students of today are taught correct hazardous waste disposal methods on a small scale, then as tomorrow's research chemists, or as managers in industries that generate hazardous wastes, or even just as tax-paying, voting citizens, their decisions for the large-scale hazardous waste disposal and cleanup problem will be intelligent and responsible. An excellent handbook currently on the market to aid in identification and treatment of chemical waste isprudent Practices for the Disposal of Chemicals fromLaborotories ( I ) . Tables 6.1 and 6.2 in this reference differentiate "high hazard" from "low hazard" ions. "High hazard" cations are those that have been cited in the literature as causing toxic effects in animals or have been documented as producing toxic effects in humans. "High hazard" anions are those that also induce toxic effects. or mav have hazardous chcmi
