Call your local water authority Re: [Histonet] Disposal of Formaldehyde

[Cheryl]

Hi All-
 
There is no 'one' answer to this.  Small reference labs may be under different regs than a 500 bed hospital even if they are in the same ZIP code.
 
Talk to your management and gain permission to call the local water and waste authority.  Please go through proper chain of command before doing this.
 
Then when you talk with the water folks, tell them of your waste type, volumes and request a WRITTEN regulation.  If a hospital is flushing 200,000 gallons of water into the sewers with 15 gallons of 10%NBF mixed in, they MAY be allowed to just wash it down the drain with copious rinsing.  A little lab only dumping 1000 gallons of water a day may not have the same permissions.
 
I am going to look into the solution posed by Julie T....no more chemicals into the water supply regardless of what the regs say helps me feel better about our future!!  Remember how we used to not think twice about putting our hands into xylene all day??  
 
Cheryl
 
Cheryl Kerry, HT(ASCP)
Full Staff Inc.
Staffing Healthcare Professionals ~ One GREAT fit at a time.
281.852.9457 

--- On Fri, 3/13/09, Julie Trejo <jtrejo2 <@t> slu.edu> wrote:

From: Julie Trejo <jtrejo2 <@t> slu.edu>
Subject: Re: [Histonet] Disposal of Formaldehyde
To: "Jessica Piche" <jessgrocki <@t> yahoo.com>
Cc: "histonet" <histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
Date: Friday, March 13, 2009, 11:20 AM

I've worked at several places and each one is different on treating
formalin.

The best one I like is to use the Formalin recycler from "Creative
Wastes".
It's not electric, just works off of gravity and layers of filters.  Less
formalin to buy, don't have to buy neutralizers and don't have to dump
formalin down the drain.  Pour it in and in an hour or so it is ready. Just
check the pH and it's good to go. You can either decide on a benchtop or on
wheels.

I don't work for them, I just really like it.  Think Green.

Here's the website :
http://www.cwsincorp.com/

Julie
On Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 9:11 AM, Jessica Piche <jessgrocki <@t> yahoo.com>
wrote:

>
> Hi All,
> We have a question regarding the disposal of formaldehyde. We were told at
> our hospital that a consultant said it was okay to dump formaldehyde down
> the drain. I believe they said it was okay to dump 15 gallons or so a day!
> We are not to fond of this idea and would like to know what everyone else
is
> doing. How is everyone disposing of their formaldehyde? We would be
> especially interested in what other hospitals in CT are doing.
> Thanks,
> Jessica Piche-Grocki, HT(ASCP)
> _______________________________________________
> Histonet mailing list
> Histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
>



-- 
Julie Trejo, HT(ASCP)cm

Saint Louis University
Department of Dermatology
314-256-3413
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