University of Toronto Mississauga December 13, 2010 Rob Provost, BSc Manager, Environmental Protection Office of Environmental Health and Safety Hazardous Waste Management

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Objectives  Minimize amounts of waste produced for disposal  To be able to SAFELY handle chemical and radioactive wastes produced as a result of research and teaching activities  To know where to get the information you need on hazardous waste disposal

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Waste Minimization In 2009 U of T produced : 137,000 Kg of Chemical waste, costing $ 270,000 to disposal of. 22 m 3 (~25,000 kg) of Radioactive waste, costing $ 175,000 to disposal of. 70,000 Kg of Biological waste How can you help?  Purchasing practices  Process modification [less chemicals used or even eliminated]  Not mixing with hazardous wastes  Substitution - less hazardous alternatives ? – E.g. mercury thermometers replaced with alcohol or electronic

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Regulations  All Chemical Waste generation is controlled by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE)  The University has around 64 different generator registrations and each have different waste classes registered

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Waste Generators  Each waste generators site has a Waste Generator number (eg. ON )  Waste Classes (eg. 263A, 252L, 331I)  Is specific to an address and site description

Office of Environmental Health and Safety What Waste is in your area?  Do you have Chemical waste produced in your area? What types?  Do you have Radiation waste produced in your area? What types?  Do you have Biological waste produced in your area? What types?  Do you know how your waste is handled?  Do you know who to contact for it?

Office of Environmental Health and Safety U of T General Requirements Waste handling has the following requirements:  Packaging  Labelling  Storage  Disposal

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Typical Chemical Lab Hazards  Flammable  Corrosive  Toxic  Reactives At U of T the most common composition in the research labs is: 75% solvents (most common hazard encountered in labs) 10% acids 15% others such as toxins, bases, oxidiziers etc.

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Chemical Waste Packaging  Never mix incompatible materials Fire/Explosion Spill

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Chemical Waste Packaging  Sealed containers  Reuse old chemical containers

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Chemical Waste Packaging  Liquid Waste containers should only be fill to 75% of capacity to allow for expansion

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Chemical Waste Labelling  EPS supplies these labels to the University  Dropped off the Receiving Area

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Chemical Waste Storage - Local Conditions Some chemicals can become problems by degrading and producing hazardous by- products with:  long storage (e.g. ethers degrade to from unstable organic peroxides)  exposure to water or air (e.g. sodium metal is a solid and stable but when immersed in water produces very flammable hydrogen gas)

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Chemical Waste Storage  Waste should be segregated according to compatibility  dispose of ageing containers promptly  DON’T use Bio bags or Radiation bags to collect spill materials or leaking containers!!  Unknowns??

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Chemical Waste Storage FUMEHOODS They are a safety device for the protection of laboratory personnel and not as storage areas Defeats the purpose of having a fumehood

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Chemical Waste Disposal  Lab staff responsible for removing chemical waste from lab area to : Central Waste Holding Facility outside the South Building receiving area In the case of a Lab Clean-out we may send a Tech to evaluate the job

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Chemical Waste Storage Central Waste Facility

Office of Environmental Health and Safety What happens to my Chemicals??  Segregated  Labpacked  TDGA Labels  Loaded

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Chemical Waste Disposal – Lab Pickups  Plan ahead!!  Chemical Waste can go to the Central Facility during receiving dock hours  Call-in required for p/u from individual lab  Contractor only on campus 1 day ever couple months!

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Chemical Waste Disposal – Lab Cleanout Decommissioning of any area may require several weeks to properly deal with potentially hazardous materials. Scheduling Contractors and packaging of the hazardous materials also requires time. 1.Radioactive- Radiation Protection Services ( ) to arrange for proper decommissioning. 2.Biological- Biosafety Office ( ) so that the hazard potential may be assessed. 3.Chemical- Environmental Protection Services ( ) to arrange for the proper disposal of chemicals. 4.Furniture and Room Clean Out- Campus Services ( ) to initiate the removal of all remaining equipment and materials.

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Chemical Waste Disposal – Lab Cleanout Removal of Chemicals for a lab cleanout should be requested at least 2 week in advance! Chemical Technician will visit the site to review  what NEEDS to be removed  What supplies are need to DO the pickup  check that NO OTHER HAZARDS will affect the pickup Eg. Debris obstructing access to waste

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Chemical Waste Handling Personal Protective Equipment  The same precautions for handling hazardous chemicals are applied to chemical wastes  eye protection  lab coats  gloves

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Special Cases: Gas Cylinders  Treat as high energy sources  Use smallest size required to do work  Try to use local suppliers  Use returnable cylinders (check before buying)  If supplier unable to accept contact EHS office m

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Special Case Chemically-contaminated sharps  Chemicals in trace amounts are to be collected in U of T approved yellow sharps containers  chemicals drained from sharps prior  significant amount of chemical contamination, first deactivated in accordance with MSDS  Contact Biowaste for pickup and disposal

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Radioactive Waste Management  At U of T, researchers working with any radioactive material, require an internal permit approved by UTRPA, BEFORE work begins.  Only approved permit holders are able to order radioactive materials and must be knowledgeable in University procedures for disposal.

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Radioactive Waste Management Definition Includes: –surplus radioactive material –materials that has come into contact with radioactive materials (e.g. gloves, flasks) –used in decontamination (e.g., sponges) –contaminated equipment that cannot be cleaned

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Radiation Waste Minimization  Process modification - new less toxic absorbent material used  Not mixing non hazardous with radioactive wastes  developed a delay and decay program for short-lived isotopes

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Radioactive Waste Management  Short-lived wastes (< 90 days half life) are allowed to decay in a secure University facility until no longer radioactive then disposed as non radioactive waste.  Long-lived wastes (> 90 day half life) are sent for disposal to permitted facilities. Wastes are removed & packaged by a University technician.

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Radioactive Waste Management Packaging  Liquid and solid waste MUST be segregated  containers provided by EHS  Liquid container should be filled to full capacity to maximize absorbent’s potential  Waste packaged in containers that improperly ID other existing hazards  Do not place non rad waste with rad waste

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Radioactive Waste Management Labelling Waste not properly labelled will not be removed!! Labels provided free by EHS * Type of label depends on type of waste.

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Radioactive Waste Management Labelling - Solid

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Radioactive Waste Management Labelling - Liquid

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Radioactive Waste Management Labelling - Liquid Green label < 30 days (e.g. P-32, P-33, I- 131, Cr-51) Blue label 30> Half life< 90 days (e.g. S-35, I-60) SEGREGATED BY HALF-LIFE OF ISOTOPE Yellow label > 90 days (e.g. C-14, H-3)

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Radioactive Waste Management Storage  Each lab should establish one clearly identified location for waste, preferable close to work done with radioactive materials.  Waste should not be stored underneath any working area or near vicinity of people who do not work with radioactive materials.

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Radioactive Waste Management Special Cases  Animal Carcasses  Gas Chromatographs  Gaseous Radioactive Waste  Liquid Scintillation Counting Vials  Liquid Scintillation Counters  Fridges, freezers or other equipment  Sealed sources  Shipping materials

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Radioactive Waste Management Special Cases Needles and Blades  for trace amounts, disposed into special yellow plastic containers approved by U of T and CSA for the disposal of such waste  liquids drained into appropriate colour-coded jars and separately treated as radioactive waste  sharps with significant quantities of an isotope must be disposed as RADIOACTIVE WASTE into separate jars.  These are collect by the Rad Techs

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Biowaste Management Service provided to Biosafety certified Containment Level 2 & 3 Labs  Supply Biowaste 20L Pails, Tags, pickup and information  Biowaste includes biohazardous material, contaminated solids, glass, blades, needles and tips  Pails CANNOT be autoclaved under any circumstances NOTE: Some other labs will need Needle pickups without a Biosafety Certificate

Office of Environmental Health and Safety We Take Bags! DO put in the bags:  Soft items: eg. Gloves, wipes, filter paper  Non-sharp plasticware: eg. eppendorf tubes, tissue culture bottles, petri dishes DON’T put in bags:  Glassware  Pipettes  Tips  Or anything else that could break or leak from the bag – put these items directly into the biohazard pails. The university is committed to being environmentally friendly, but we need your help. This will reduce contractor trips and the amount of plastic going to landfills. To prevent spills all bags must be double bagged and tied shut. For identification purposes, please write your Biosafety certificate number on each bag with a marker.

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Biowaste Management Labelling Waste not properly labelled will not be removed!! Labels provided free by EPS

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Biowaste Management Packaging Needles and Blades  disposed into special yellow plastic containers approved by U of T and CSA for the disposal of such waste  Fill only to indicated fill-line  Put lid on before offering for disposal  Place with the Biowaste pails for collection

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Biowaste Management Biosafety certified Containment Level 1 Labs :  Waste can go directly to Regular garbage  Should the lab staff wish to autoclave before disposal use the clear unlabelled autoclave bags  Needles and blades should be collected in the appropriate containers and call Biowaste for collection

Office of Environmental Health and Safety More Info U of T - Office of Environmental Health and Safety Laboratory Hazardous Waste Management Manual Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) -for specific chemical (especially for incompatible mixtures)

Office of Environmental Health and Safety Enviromental Protection Services Contact List phone: (416) for Information (416) for Pickup and Supplies fax: (416)