How To: Lab Waste
TLDRThis video script provides an informative guide on proper waste disposal in a laboratory setting. It covers the categorization and treatment of biological waste, including liquids, sharps, and solids, emphasizing the importance of following Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) guidelines. The script also addresses the disposal of chemical waste, distinguishing between non-hazardous and hazardous materials, and the use of designated containers and labeling protocols. Additional tips on handling non-biological sharps and disposing of broken glassware complete the overview, highlighting the necessity of adhering to health and safety measures in scientific research.
Takeaways
- 🧪 Lab work generates a significant amount of waste, including chemicals, tubes, and biological materials, which must be disposed of properly according to regulations.
- 🚮 Biological waste is categorized into liquids, sharps, and solids, and requires specific disposal methods to prevent infection and contamination.
- 🔴 Biowaste containers are lined with red bags and marked with the universal biohazard symbol, and should be disposed of when three-quarters full.
- 🧴 Sharps contaminated with biowaste must be placed in puncture-resistant containers, separate from other biohazardous waste.
- 💧 Liquid biological waste should be treated with a disinfectant, such as bleach, before disposal, and must be neutralized before being rinsed down the drain.
- 🌡️ Autoclaving can be used for liquid biowaste disposal, but should not be combined with chemical disinfectants due to safety concerns.
- 🧪 Chemical waste disposal requires adherence to specific protocols, with harmless substances being disposed of differently from hazardous chemicals.
- 📦 Hazardous chemical waste should be accumulated in designated bins within a 'satellite waste accumulation area' and labeled according to EHS rules.
- 🔢 Chemical waste labels must include the full names and percentages of ingredients, associated hazards, storage location, and lab contact information.
- 🗑️ Non-hazardous chemical waste and non-sharp solids can be disposed of in regular trash, but sharps must always be placed in special containers to prevent injury.
- 🔬 Glassware disposal requires a separate, puncture-resistant box to ensure safety and proper recycling or trash disposal.
Q & A
What is the primary concern with waste generated in a scientific lab?
-The primary concern is that the waste can be hazardous due to the presence of chemicals, organisms, and other materials that require proper disposal to ensure safety and compliance with regulations.
What does the term 'biowaste' refer to in the context of lab waste?
-Biowaste refers to potentially infectious materials to humans, animals, and plants, genetically modified materials, animal carcasses, and human and animal tissues, or pathological waste.
How are different forms of biowaste categorized?
-Biowaste is categorized into three main types: liquids (like blood or bacterial cultures), sharps (like syringes or blades in contact with pathogens), and solids (anything not liquid or sharp, such as genetically modified plants or petri dishes).
What is the proper way to dispose of solid biowaste?
-Solid biowaste should be placed in designated biowaste containers lined with red bags, stamped with the universal biowaste symbol. When the container is three-quarters full, it should be tied with a single knot, closed, and disposed of according to EHS guidelines.
Why can't sharps like needles or blades be disposed of in the same biowaste container as solids?
-Sharps cannot be disposed of in the same container as solids because they can puncture the plastic bags, potentially leaking biowaste and causing harm to personnel collecting the bags.
How should liquid biological waste be treated before disposal?
-Liquid biological waste should be treated with a chemical disinfectant, such as bleach, to reach a final concentration of 10%. It must sit with the disinfectant for at least 20 minutes before being rinsed down the drain with plenty of water.
What is the procedure for disposing of hazardous chemical waste?
-Hazardous chemical waste should be collected in designated bins within a 'satellite waste accumulation area', typically located in the fume hood. The bins must be stored in secondary containers, labeled according to EHS rules, and lids should be closed after use. EHS should be called to pick up the containers when they are three-quarters full.
Why is it not recommended to combine different chemicals in one waste container?
-Combining different chemicals in one container is not recommended because it can lead to unpredictable chemical reactions or the creation of new hazards, which could compromise safety and disposal protocols.
What is the proper disposal method for non-hazardous chemicals like sodium chloride solutions or TAE buffer?
-Non-hazardous chemicals can be washed down the sink, and non-sharp solids that have come into contact with them can be placed in the regular trash.
How should broken glassware or other sharp objects that are not contaminated with hazardous waste be disposed of?
-Broken glassware and other sharp objects should be placed in a special container designed for sharps disposal to prevent injury. This container is not red and is separate from the biowaste sharps containers.
What is the significance of the 'satellite waste accumulation area' in a lab?
-The 'satellite waste accumulation area' is a specially designated area in the lab where waste collection containers for hazardous chemical waste are stored, typically located in the fume hood to prevent fumes from leaking into the lab.
Outlines
🧪 Lab Waste Disposal Basics
This paragraph introduces the concept of waste generation in a scientific lab setting, emphasizing the importance of proper disposal due to the potential dangers of lab materials. It outlines the general categories of biological waste, including liquids, sharps, and solids, and describes the specific disposal methods for each, such as using designated containers and chemical disinfectants. The paragraph also highlights the role of the Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) office in providing detailed instructions and the ultimate disposal methods like incineration or radiowave exposure.
🚮 Advanced Lab Waste Management
The second paragraph delves into the disposal of chemical waste, distinguishing between non-hazardous and hazardous chemicals and their respective disposal methods. It explains the use of collection bins for accumulating small volumes of hazardous waste and the importance of proper labeling according to EHS rules. The paragraph also addresses the disposal of other types of waste, such as non-biological sharps and broken glassware, and stresses the prohibition of combining different types of waste without consulting the EHS office. It concludes by acknowledging the inevitability of waste in lab work and the guidance provided by health and safety officers, hinting at more complex waste disposal scenarios in labs dealing with radioactivity or highly infectious materials.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Biological Waste
💡Sharps
💡Chemical Waste
💡Disinfectant
💡Autoclave
💡Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) Office
💡Hazardous Materials
💡Satellite Waste Accumulation Area
💡Secondary Containers
💡Glassware
💡Universal Biowaste Symbol
Highlights
Working in a lab generates a significant amount of waste, including chemicals, tubes, and organisms.
There are strict rules and regulations for the proper disposal of hazardous lab waste.
Biological waste is categorized into liquids, sharps, and solids, each requiring specific disposal methods.
Solid biowaste should be placed in designated containers with red bags and disposed of according to EHS guidelines.
Sharps contaminated with biowaste must be disposed of in puncture-resistant containers with the biowaste symbol.
Liquid biological waste should be treated with a chemical disinfectant before disposal.
Autoclaving can be used for liquid biowaste disposal, but not in combination with chemical disinfectants.
Non-hazardous chemicals can be washed down the sink, while hazardous chemicals require special disposal procedures.
Hazardous chemical waste should be collected in designated bins and stored in a 'satellite waste accumulation area'.
Waste containers must be labeled with the full name of ingredients, hazards, storage location, and lab contact information.
Combining different chemicals in one container is generally not recommended without consulting EHS first.
Sharps not involving biological or hazardous waste should be disposed of in a special bin to prevent injury.
Glassware disposal requires a cardboard box to prevent puncturing and contamination.
Health and safety officers provide guidance on waste disposal, ensuring compliance with regulations.
Different labs may require different waste disposal techniques, depending on the materials used.
Scientists may encounter unique waste disposal challenges when working with radioactivity, nanoparticles, or highly infectious pathogens.
Transcripts
One thing you'll notice super fast once you start working in a lab
is that you generate a ton of garbage doing science.
Chemicals!
Tubes and stuff!
Organisms!
But what do you with all that garbage?
Or to put it more tastefully,
'waste'
We can work with some pretty dangerous materials in the lab
so there are a lot of important rules and regulations
for how to dispose of it all properly.
In this video we’ll give an overview of common waste disposal techniques,
but your Environmental Health & Safety office and your lab
will have more detailed instructions for your particular workspace,
so be sure to follow their guidance & training requirements.
Let’s start with biological waste.
The EHS office here at Harvard defines biowaste as
“potentially infectious materials to
humans, animals, and plants,
genetically modified materials,
animal carcasses,
and human and animal tissues
or pathological waste."
Biowaste can come in lots of different forms,
but we generally put them in one of three categories:
liquids, like blood or bacterial cultures;
sharps, like syringes or blades,
that have been in contact with pathogens, tissue, or genetically modified materials;
and solids, basically anything that’s not liquid or sharp
- could be genetically modified plants,
microorganisms growing on solid media in petri dishes,
test tubes used in a bacterial prep, etc.
Solids can be disposed of in designated biowaste containers.
These containers are lined with red bags
stamped with the universal symbol for biowaste;
when they are three-quarters full,
tie them with a single knot,
close the bin,
and dispose of them according to your EHS guidelines.
In our case, we leave them outside our lab to be collected by trained personnel
- the waste will be sent to a facility to be exposed to radiowaves
or incinerated to neutralize the biohazard before disposal.
Because the solid waste is collected in plastic bags,
you can not throw sharps like needles or blades in there,
and leak biowaste everywhere,
and can harm the person collecting the bags!
Sharps contaminated with biowaste
need to go in special plastic containers that cannot be punctured
- they are usually red
and are stamped with the universal biowaste symbol.
When they’re three-quarters full,
secure the lid and dispose of the sharps' bin
according to your EHS guidelines
- here, we put the sealed sharps bin
in one of the large biowaste containers for solids.
Liquid biological waste like bacterial cultures
need to be treated with a chemical disinfectant
before washing them down the sink.
We add bleach to our liquid biowaste
to reach a final concentration of 10% bleach
- so if I had a 250mL bacterial culture,
I would add around 30mL of bleach to reach 10%.
The biowaste must sit with the disinfectant
for at least 20 minutes before rinsing it down the drain
with plenty of water.
You can also autoclave liquid biowaste prior to drain disposal,
but do not add chemical disinfectant
if you plan to autoclave.
Bleach plus autoclaves equals very, very bad.
Next, let’s talk about chemical waste.
Some of the chemicals we use in the lab are harmless
and considered non-hazardous,
like sodium chloride solutions or TAE buffer.
These can be washed down the sink,
and non-sharp solids that have come into contact with them
can be put in the regular trash.
But many other chemicals are considered hazardous
because they are either flammable,
corrosive,
toxic,
an oxidizer,
or some combination of these hazards
- and they all need to be disposed of according to EHS rules.
You should follow your institution’s protocols,
but here are some general guidelines.
First, it doesn't make sense to call EHS
to pick up your chemicals every time you do an experiment,
because often you are using very small volumes<
- you can’t be like
“Hey, EHS. I’ve got 1mL of formaldehyde for you! Can you come and get it?”
Instead, labs maintain collection bins
for hazardous chemical waste
so you can add to them over time
and just call EHS when they’re getting full.
These waste collection containers are stored
in specially-designated areas of your lab
called a 'satellite waste accumulation area'.
They are typically located in the fume hood
so that any fumes from the waste don’t leak into the lab,
The collection bins have to be stored in secondary containers,
like those plastic tubs,
and they have to be labelled according to EHS rules.
Let's take a look at a label
for a common tissue fixative, FAA.
First, notice the label doesn’t just say “FAA”
you need to spell out the full name of the ingredients it consists of,
in this case formaldehyde,
ethanol, and glacial acetic acid,
as well as their respective percentages,
what type of hazards they confer,
where the containers is being stored,
and the contact information for your lab.
Notice we don’t fill out the date right away
- we only do that when the container is full
and we’ve scheduled a pickup,
because it is illegal for waste containers
to hang out for more than 3 days after dating the tag!
Liquid and solid waste for a given chemical
can often be combined in the same container,
but check with your EHS office first
as protocols may vary.
Combining different chemicals into one container
is generally not recommended though.
You know, of course, FAA consists of several chemicals
and it's not possible to separate them,
but we wouldn’t want to combine our FAA waste
with waste from an entirely different experiment
without consulting EHS first.
Make sure to always close the lids of the waste containers
after you use them,
and call EHS to pick up containers that are three-quarters full.
We have a couple more waste types to discuss
to make sure our disposal skills are thoroughly...
sharpened!
First, just a quick note that sometimes you’ll use sharps
for things that don’t involve biological or hazardous chemical waste
and we have a special bin for that.
It isn't red!
It's so important to not put sharps in the regular trash
- they always need to go into a special container
to prevent injury to your building’s custodial staff,
your labmates, and yourself.
Second, as a biologist,
I go through a ton of microscope slides
and serological pipettes for my research,
which eventually need to get discarded.
Every scientist I know, including me,
has broken at least one piece of glassware
during their time in the lab.
Enter the glassware box!
It has a very handy cardboard construction
suitable for all your glass disposal needs,
that won’t get punctured by any stray shards.
Glass that goes in here needs to be clean
- it eventually goes to the regular trash or recycling
so it can’t be contaminated with hazardous waste.
Well, that's all for now.
Waste is a fact of lab life,
but luckily there are tons of super knowledgeable health
and safety officers to tell us what to do with all of it!
The types of waste we’ve covered today
might be the only ones you ever encounter during your scientific career,
or you may eventually work in a lab that works with
radioactivity
or nanoparticles
or super infectious pathogens
in which case
even more exciting waste disposal techniques await you!
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