[Histonet] Waste down the drain

[Feher, Stephen]

Great advice Erin!  We did the same thing with the waste from our Dako
Artisan to document the percentages of trace metals.  Again, they were
too low to require special handling over and above what we normally do
with our hazardous waste. 


Steve

-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
[mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Martin,
Erin
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2010 12:07 PM
To: histonet
Subject: [Histonet] Waste down the drain

In reading all the comments about waste down the drain, proprietary
ingredients, etc., keep in mind that disposal regulations are different
everywhere and NO vendor will tell you anything other than to follow
those regs and/or play it safe and tell you to haul it away.  At a
previous employer in San Francisco I used Ventana immuno stainers and we
hauled the waste away.  It was expensive to haul away, and was difficult
to get guidance on disposal because of the proprietary ingedients in the
waste mix.  So our lab director sent a sample of the waste from the the
stainers to an environmental services lab for testing.  The results of
the LD50 and other analyses apparently indicated that the actual
toxicity was quite low.  He then sent the testing report to the
city/county for instructions on how to dispose of the waste.  The
city/county responded in writing (good for records!) that it was
permissible to dump it down the drain.  I wasn't thrilled with it, but
our lab director was.  We kept that report and the response from the
city/county on file to show to inspectors.

It's up to you to figure out the appropriate way to handle your waste in
your area, not your vendor.  There's no way they would know all the
different regulations for every state, city or town.  They are all
different and quite confusing.  The cost of the lab test might be a
worthwhile investment because you would have specifics to show your
environmental safety people or local regulatory agency, which would make
it easier for them to give you guidance.

Erin Martin


Erin Martin, Histology Supervisor
UCSF Department of Dermatopathology
415-353-7248

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