Chemical Safety

Hazardous Waste Accumulation Rules

• Label all chemical waste with a Hazardous Waste Label or Non-regulated label. If you are in need of additional labels, please call/e-mail us and we will send some out right away.

• Chemical waste will only be picked up if it is in an appropriate container for the waste with a screw top lid. Containers that were designed to store solid chemicals are not appropriate for holding liquid chemical waste. Please contact CEHS if you need any bottles for chemical waste or if you have any extra bottles (preferably wide-mouth jars with lids) that you no longer need. CEHS personnel will pick these bottles up and clean them, remove the original label and then distribute them to labs which need them for storing chemical waste.

• Leave some extra room in the waste bottles for temperature and vapor pressure changes.

• Chemical waste should be stored in secondary containers to avoid spills.

• Chemical waste areas must be in a designated spot in the lab with a "Chemical Waste Satellite Accumulation Area" poster immediately above this area. Additionally, self-inspection checklists must be done on a monthly basis and kept on file for 3 years. Inspectors will check for these items.

  **To request a copy for your laboratory or work area, please send an e-mail to chemical@cehs.siu.edu with your name, department, building, and room number.**

• Any person in the lab who works with hazardous chemicals is required to attend annual Chemical Safety Trainings, which should be kept on file.

• Do not accumulate the same type of waste in more than one container at the same time.

• Fill out a Chemical Pickup Request Form and CEHS will pick up the chemical waste within 3 business days. If there is more than one chemical in a given solution, it is important to give approximate amounts/percentages of each separate chemical.

• Bottles of chemical waste should have the original labels removed prior to storing different chemical waste.  Scratching out the original label with marker is not acceptable.  The entire label should be removed before attaching a hazardous waste label to a bottle of chemical waste that is different from the previous container contents.

Empty Containers

**If a lab has empty bottles (preferably 4-L) that they do not want, please contact CEHS. We will wash the bottle out, remove the labels, and provide them to labs who need extra chemical waste containers.**

Empty containers of five gallons or less may be placed in the dumpster if they meet the definition of the Resource Conservation  Recovery Act (RCRA) empty container rule. Containers that previously held a hazardous chemical or waste are defined as empty if:

1. No hazardous matierals can be poured, pumped, or drained from the container.

2. No hazardous materials remain in the container that can be feasibly removed.

3. The walls of the container must not contain any significant residual materials.

4. The label is defaced or the word "empty" is written on the container.

Rinsate from containers that formerly held an acutely hazardous commercial chemical product is, by the mixture rule, a listed hazardous waste subject to RCRA regulation. All other containers are empty when they have been emptied (by their normal means) and 1" or less remains in the bottom or a given percentage by weight of the contents remains.

Chemicals on campus at Southern Illinois University Carbondale must be labeled in accordance with the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200) unless they are in a laboratory. In laboratory situation the OSHA laboratory standard is used for labeling. If you are unsure whether you fall under the Hazard Communication Standard or the Laboratory Standard, contact the Center for Environmental Health and Safety.

Containers of hazardous chemicals must be marked, labeled or tagged with the:

• Identity of the chemical

• Warnings showing hazards appropriate for employee protection.

The hazard warning can be any type of message, words, pictures, or symbols that provide at least general information regarding the hazards of the chemical(s) in the container. Labels must be legible, in English (plus other languages, if desired), and prominently displayed. 

Physical hazards examples:

• Flammable

• Combustible

• Explosive

• Reactive

Health hazards examples:

• Irritant

• Corrosive

• Toxin

• Sensitizer

• Carcinogen

A law regarding the use, inventory, import and export of chemical weapons was enacted on December 30, 1999 which may affect SIU Carbondale researchers. The Chemical Weapons Convention Act (CWCA) was created for the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Export Administration and is published in vol. 64, No. 250 pp 73744-73811 of the federal register. Similar acts are being implemented worldwide.

Researchers using chemicals covered by CWCA may trigger CWCA requirements. SIUC most potentially applicable to Schedule 1 chemicals (i.e. sarin) which have a low threshold reporting quantity (100g). There are 12 toxic chemicals and precursors listed as schedule 1 agents. Schedule 2 chemicals are more commonly found in research laboratories, but have a much higher threshold which will likely not be met by SIU Carbondale.

It is important that CEHS be notified as soon as it is known any Schedule 1 chemical could potentially be used. Please note, chemical weapons listed in Schedule 1 may not necessarily be used in defense-related projects. For example ricin, a Schedule 1 regulated toxic chemical, may be experimentally used in cancer research for its anti-tumor properties.

Anyone using Schedule 1 or 2 chemical agents in any quantity should have a heightened interest in security of the agents. Contact CEHS for assistance in insuring these agents are appropriately secured.

Additional information:

• US Chemical Weapons Convention Homepage

• December 30, 1999 Federal Register Final Rule 

• Schedule 1 Chemicals Covered by the Chemical Weapons Convention Act 

• Schedule 2 Chemicals Covered by the Chemical Weapons Convention Act 

Notification of potential research or other activities involving Schedule 1 chemicals should be addressed to Leslie Korando.

• View Hood Types

Survey Program

Standards of performance for ventilation hoods are set forth by ANSI/AIHA Z9.5 and OSHA 29 CFR 1910.145(e)(3)(iii). The average face velocity of optimally performing hoods should be between 80 and 120 feet per minute (FPM) when measured with the sash raised to the 18" mark. These average face velocities and the date of survey will appear on the inspection sticker located on the front of the ventilation hood.

Ventilation Hood Ratings

Work Practices

• All work involving hazardous chemicals should be performed inside a ventilation hood.

• Before work begins, check to be sure the hood fan is turned on.

• Check the air flow by observing the monitor, or in the absence of a monitor use a "kimwipe" taped to the open sash.

• Check the inspection sticker to determine if the hood has been currently (yearly) inspected and what performance rating it was given. If observable questions arise about inspection or current hood performance, contact the Center for Environmental Health & Safety (CEHS) for assistance.

• Ventilation hoods should be used with the sash positioned at 18" or lower when possible for optimal performance and as a protective shield.

• All equipment and materials should be located at least 6" back inside the hood from the sash face.

• Large items should be elevated at least 2" from the hood base to insure air flow to the baffle opening at the rear interior base of the hood.

• Do not use the ventilation hood as a storage cabinet. Excessive storage can obstruct air flow and cause areas of low air velocity at the face opening.

• Do not extend face or head inside the hood.

• Minimize traffic and other sources of cross drafts (i.e. open windows, doors, fans, etc.) which may pull contaminated air from the hood.

• When using electrical equipment in a hood take extra precautions to prevent spark sources from causing fire or explosion. All electrical connections should be made outside the hood.

• Do not use perchloric acid heated above ambient temperature in a ventilation hood unless it is a specifically designed perchloric acid hood with a wash-down system.

• Emergency plans should be understood by all hood users in the event of an unexpected occurrence such as fire or explosion in the hood.

• If assistance is needed regarding the safe operation of a ventilation hood, contact the Center for Environmental Health & Safety.

Introduction

Objectives

Laboratory Ventilation Hoods

Ventilation Hood Air Flow

Performance Guidelines

Ratings According to Hood Performance

Ventilation Hood Websites

Flow Sciences 
Florida International University Fume Hood Guide

Please consider incorporating as many of the following into your research as practical.

The environment will benefit and so will your laboratory, by:

• Lowering waste disposal costs.

• Reducing health hazards.

• Promoting environmental awareness.

• Preventing pollution.

Laboratories should:

• Substitute less hazardous chemicals for those that are hazardous.

• Ask others on Campus if they could use your unwanted chemicals.

• Gear the instruments and equipment in their lab to generate the least amount of waste possible.

• Treat or destroy the hazardous by-products as the last step in experiments.

• Purchase only the amounts necessary for use in the near future – Do not over-purchase and run the risk of having to dispose of unnecessary, unused chemicals.

Possible Substitutions:

• For Isolation and Purification of DNA, replace chloroform-phenol extractions with kits developed by Promega (Wizard Preps – Link) or Qiagen

• NOCHROMIX© brand laboratory glass cleaning reagent is a metal-free substitute for dichromates (CHROMERGE) in sulfuric acid. Additional information on this product can be obtained at http://www.nochromix.com

• Replace benzene or carbon tetrachloride as reagents or solvents. For example, in the standard qualitative test for halide ions, cychlohexane and carbon tetrachloride are equally effective for extracting the halogen. If cyclohexane is used instead of the traditional carbon tetrachloride, the organic layer of the extract is less hazardous and more readily disposed of. The same is true of other commonly used hazardous chemicals.

• Mercury Thermometers: Use alcohol/glycol instead of mercury thermometers. Non-mercury thermometers can be used in incubators, water baths, or other applications where mercury thermometers have traditionally been used. Please consider replacing your mercury thermomter. Mercury presents a hazard not only to faculty, staff and students in the laboratory area, but also to the local environment.

• Bouin’s Fluid: Use a modified Davidson’s fixative in place of Bouin’s fluid (which contains picric acid) for fixing tissue. See Toxicologic Pathology 30(4):524-533 (2002) for more information

• Xylenes

Alternatives to using Ethidium Bromide:

• SYBR Safe^TM DNA gel stain (Invitrogen):  A less toxic alternative to Ethidium Bromide.  It has been documented to be less mutagenic than ethidium bromide, but it’s acute toxicity may be higher.  Although it is less mutagenic than ethidium bromide, it still is mutagenic enough that CEHS recommends (as do other universities) that it be handled and treated like ethidium bromide. However, we still encourage you to consider this or other alternatives that might reduce the risk to your health while you are using them.  It’s major advantage is that it is as sensitive as ethidium bromide but does not require UV light for visualization.  There are many options now available that offer a safer alternative to ethidium bromide for agarose gel electrophoresis applications. Not only are these stains less hazardous to use but they are also easier and safer to dispose of. However, despite the fears of many potential users, using alternatives does not mean you have to compromise on results. In fact, many offer greater sensitivity than ethidium bromide.

• Gel Red (Biotium): It is marketed as being the most safe, sensitive and robust nucleic acid gel stain. Less mutagenic than ethidium bromide, but more stable in storage than SYBR Safe and like ethidium bromide, Gel Red is visualized using UV light.

Ethidium bromide is an intercalating agent used in the laboratory to detect nucleic acids, particularly double-stranded DNA.  In agarose gel electrophoresis it labels DNA from PCR experiments or restriction digests with the aim of sizing nucleic acid fragments, quantifying DNA, extracting DNA of a particular size for cloning purposes or isolating full length PCR products from partial products and surplus nucleotides. Although a highly sensitive stain, ethidium bromide is notoriously unsafe. Not only is it a very strong mutagen, it may also be a carcinogen or teratogenic.

The Green Chemical Alternatives Purchasing Wizard is a web-based tool that provides a guided process allowing the user to search from a select list of solvents commonly used in the laboratory. The Wizard identifies less hazardous and more environmentally friendly chemicals or processes that may be substituted, and provides journal references as well as URLs to information that is available online.

Download the Green Chemical Alternatives Wizard Guide