[Histonet] Disposal of MMA & BPO Waste

[Jack Ratliff]

I would just like to say that I personally disagree with the heating of the MMA @ 60C and then subsequently @ 80C. The fumes that will be generated are toxic enough without heat so heating of the solution is a recipie for disaster! Also, it was not mentioned if the weigh boat was aluminum or plastic or if the oven was placed in a hood or well ventilated or isolated room.

 

If you simply add 10-15 grams of catalyst to approximately 1000 - 1500 mL to the waste MMA solution and leave in the hood overnight or even over the weekend to polymerize with the cap off, you will be safe. This is approximately 1 - 1.5% w/w concentration of catalyst to solution, well below the 10% as suggested in the comment below. You could even do as Pam suggests and place the container in a bucket as an extra precaution (without a lid) in case the glass was to break. Just did 2 bottles over the weekend and I have been doing this safely for the past 13 + years.

 

Jack


 
> From: asmith <@t> mail.barry.edu
> To: bhersch2 <@t> illinois.edu
> Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:24:52 +0000
> Subject: RE: [Histonet] Disposal of MMA & BPO Waste
> CC: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> 
> 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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