[Histonet] Disposal of MMA & BPO Waste

[Smith, Allen]

This is what comes of letting people with little or no training in chemistry call themselves chemical waste mangers.
Yes, methyl methacrylate is highly reactive when mixed with 1% benzoyl peroxide: it forms a hard, brittle polymer.  Pour your left over methyl methacrylate and benzoyl peroxide into a disposable weighing boat and heat it overnight at 60 C and over another night at 80 C.  The resultant polymer is commercially sold as "Plexiglass;" it can be safely disposed of as ordinary trash.
A much higher concentration of benzoyl peroxide (10% or more) could explode when heated.  Chemical potential depends on concentration.
-Allen A. Smith, M.A. (chemistry), Ph.D. (anatomy)

-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Brad Herschler
Sent: Sunday, June 20, 2010 9:50 PM
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: [Histonet] Disposal of MMA & BPO Waste

We use an MMA embedding technique similar to that used for histology in our
lab.  We sent a request to our campus Chemical Waste Management for the MMA
waste mixture to be disposed of, but they are refusing because they say the
mixture is too hazardous.  The mixture contains 1gram of benzoyl peroxide
(BPO) per 100mL of MMA.  Chemical Waste Management informed us that MMA in
the presence of BPO is highly reactive.

We would like to know: for histology, how is MMA + BPO waste normally
disposed of?

Thanks
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