[Histonet] Waste Alcohol

Tue Feb 26 09:56:12 CST 2013

You will probably want to contact your local or state office of
environmental protection to find out what is required in your area.  

The EPA lists hazardous wastes in 40 CFR 261.30.  Even if your waste
is not on this list, it may have hazardous characteristics such as:
ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, and toxicity characteristic. 
Ignitability pertains to flashpoints less than 140 F and/or aqueous
solutions with alcohol content greater than or equal to 24 percent.  

Florida's DEP has different regulations dependent upon the quantity of
hazardous waste generated.  Some localities may require approval to
dispose of alcohol down the drain.  If you don't have this approval,
you have to dispose of the waste according to your
state and federalregulations.  

To reduce the quantity of hazardous waste we generate, we began to
recycle using CBG Biotech's distillation unit.  We have had great
results with it.  While alcohol does take longer to recycle than
xylene, our supply costs have been greatly reduced and we have worked
this into our weekly schedule very well.

Some things to consider when using recycled alcohol:

Test each finished alcohol run with a hydrometer to know what
percentage it is.  

Do not use recycled alcohol at the end of the stain line after eosin
(it will wash the eosin out).

Do not use recycled alcohol as the last alcohol before xylene on the
processor.

Finally, do not recycle the first alcohols on the stain line after
xylene (at least on our recycler). This is disposed of in our
flammable waste containers to be picked up.

Here’s a link to the EPA’s managing hazardous waste pdf -
http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/generation/sqg/handbook/k01005.pdf

Brendal Finlay, HT (ASCP)

http://medicalcenterclinic.com
-----Original message-----
From: Rene J Buesa rjbuesa <@t> yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 201316:53:22 -0600
To: "Scott, Allison D" Allison.Scott <@t> harrishealth.org,
"histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu" histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: Re: [Histonet] Waste Alcohol

I always dumped the ethanol down the drain. I never recycled it
because it takes almost 3 times more time that recycling xylene (3
times the cost) and the recycled alcohol is seldom of good quality.
When I stopped using xylene I had no more use (and exposure) when
recycling.
René J.

From: "Scott, Allison D" 
To: "histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu" 
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2013 3:27 PM
Subject: [Histonet] Waste Alcohol

Hello to all in histoland.  Is there anyone putting alcohol into a
waste drum like for xylene.  We have a company that takes away our
xylene.  Now the safety people are suggesting that we treat the
alcohol thesame way.  We have always poured the alcohol down the
drain.  It seems very expensive.  Your help in this matter will be
greatly appreciated.

Allison Scott HT(ASCP)
Supervisor, Histology Lab
LBJ Hospital
Harris Health System
Office: 713-566-5287
Lab: 713-566-5287

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