Elizabeth,
Check with your University's waste managers or State's environmental regulators and you will likely be told that you can not put items into the trash that contain visible liquids or that have the characteristics of hazardous waste. It would be difficult to argue that vials with "1-2 ml of solvent" are de minimus or that they meet the definition of "RCRA empty" containers.
My waste vendor provides a less labor-intensive option to draining the vials into a bulk container by providing a pricing option of charging for vials filled with solvents by the pound.
Jeff
Hi,
I have been CHO for about a year, so still pretty new.
One of the questions that has come up is What is the best practice for disposing of GC/MS vials after they have been used. I was thinking you would uncap them add the excess sample to a hazardous waste bottle. But the faculty members tell me they don't have to remove that leftover 1-2ml of sample and solvent and they just put the vials into broken glass even if they are still half full with solvent.
Thanks.
--
Jeff Lewin
Chemical Safety Officer
Compliance, Integrity, and Safety
Environmental Health and Safety
Michigan Technological University
Houghton, MI 49931
O 906-487.3153
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