Chemical Waste

Containers of extremely hazardous waste may not exceed 1 quart in volume.

To determine if your waste is considered extremely hazardous, follow the steps listed below.

• If you answer yes to any of the questions, your waste is considered extremely hazardous. Check the "extremely hazardous" hazard class box when creating a hazardous waste label using WASTe. 
• If you answer no to all of the questions below, proceed to step 3 to determine if your waste is a hazardous waste.

1. Check the Safety Data Sheet to determine if the following apply:

a. Does it have an acute oral LD50 less than or equal to 50 milligram per kilogram?

b. Does it have an acute dermal LD50 less than or equal to 43 milligram per kilogram?

c. Does it have an acute inhalation LC50 less than or equal to 100 ppm as a gas or vapor?

2. Has it been shown through experience or testing that human exposure to the waste or material may likely result in death, disabling personal injury or serious illness because of the carcinogenicity, high acute or chronic toxicity, bioaccumulative properties, or persistence in the environment of the waste or material?

3. Is it water reactive?

4. Does the waste contain one of the following carcinogens regulated by Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, Section 5209:

a. 2-Acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF)

b. Acrylonitrile

c. 4-Aminodiphenyl

d. Benzidine and its salts

e. bis (Chloromethyl) ether (BCME)

f. Methyl chloromethyl ether

g. 1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP)

h. 3,3'-Dichlorobenzidine and its salts (DCB)

i. 4-Dimethylaminoazobenzene (DAB)

j. Ethyleneimine (EL)

k. alpha-Napthylamine (1-NA)

l. beta-Napthylamine (2-NA)

m. 4-Nitrobiphenyl (4-NBP)

n. N-Ntrosodimethylamine (NDMA)

o. beta-Propiolactone (BPL)

p. Vinyl chloride (VCM)

Check the Safety Data Sheet of the chemical to answer the following questions. If you answer yes to any of the questions below, the waste must be managed as hazardous waste. 

1. Is the waste ignitable?

• Is the flashpoint less than or equal to 140°F or 60°C?
• Can the waste cause fire at standard temperature and pressure through friction, absorption of moisture, or spontaneous chemical chances?
• Is the waste an ignitable compressed gas?
• Is the waste an oxidizer?
• Will it release oxygen when reacting with another chemical?
• Will is react with organic materials such as oils, greases, solvents, paper, cloth, wood, etc., to ignite?

2. Is the waste corrosive?

• Is it a liquid with pH less than or equal to 2, or greater than or equal to 12.5?
• Is it a solid with pH less than or equal to 2, or greater than or equal to 12.5 when mixed with an equal weight of water?
• Will it aggressively corrode steel?
• Will it destroy living tissue?

3. Is it waste reactive?

• Is it normally unstable or subject to violent change?
• Does it react violently with water by forming potentially explosive mixtures or toxic gasses, vapors, or fumes?
• Is it a cyanide - or sulfide-bearing waste that can create toxic gasses, vapors, or fumes when exposed to pH conditions between 2 and 12.5?
• Can it detonate or explode when decomposing at standard temperature and pressure, when subjected to a storng initiating source, or when heated under confinement?

4. Is the waste toxic? (Toxicity measures apply to all species.)

• Does it have an acute oral LD50 less than 2,500 milligrams per kilogram?
• Does it have an acute dermal LD50 less than 4,300 milligrams per kilogram?
• Does it have an acute inhalation LC50 less than 10,000 ppm as a gas or vapor?
• Does it have an acute aquatic 96-hour LC50 less than 500 milligrams per liter?
• Has the material shown through experience or testing to pose a hazard to human health or the environment because of its carcinogenicity (carcinogen, mutagen, teratogen), acute toxicity, chronic toxicity, bioaccumulative properties, or persistence in the environment?

If you are still unsure if your waste is considered hazardous, contact the Hazardous Materials Management Team.

As soon as hazardous waste is generated, a hazardous waste label must be applied to the container. Waste Accumulation Storage Tracking electronically or WASTe is a web based system that facilitates regulatory compliant labeling, tracking, and pick-up of hazardous waste. 

Accessing WASTe

1. Anyone with a MyAccess account will be able to access the system once their laboratory’s account has been set up by EH&S and they are added as an authorized user on the account. Log on to waste at: https://ehs.ucop.edu/waste/
2. Principal Investigators can designate proxies or authorized users on their account. Proxies can add or delete users and locations while authorized users can create and manage waste tags.
3. Currently WASTe only works with Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. It does not work with Internet Explorer.

• Choose a container made of material which is compatible with the chemical waste being stored.
• Never mix incompatible chemicals in the same waste container. 
• If reusing empty chemical containers to store waste, ensure that the container is empty and the previous contents are not incompatible with the waste being added to the container. For example, never use an empty methanol bottle to store nitric acid waste. 
• Segregate waste containers of incompatible waste by storing in separate areas of the lab and using secondary containment. 
• Keep containers closed when not adding waste.
• Clean up any spills on the outside of the bottle, or in the storage area promptly.
• Use secondary containment capable of containng at least 110% of the waste being stored if it were to leak or spill.
• Store liquid waste in leak tight containers with screw cap lids.
• Store solid waste in clear plastic bags. 
• Store chemically contaminated sharps in sharps container. Remove or completely deface any biohazard labels prior to disposal.
• Store ethidium bromide gels in hard sided containers lined with a clear plastic bag. 

For liquid waste that evolves gas or may have a tendency to pressurize in closed containers, obtain pressure vented caps from EH&S to store waste. Examples of this type of waste include piranha waste and performic acid waste. 

At UCSF hazardous waste containers are allowed to be stored in the laboratory for 180 days. Once the maximum accumulation time is reached, EH&S will automatically schedule waste pickup from the laboratory. To schedule pickup before the maximum accumulation time is reached, log on to your WASTe account and select the container as "Ready for Pick-up." EH&S will schedule pickup within 7 days. For questions email [email protected] or contact the Hazardous Materials Management Team. 

Additional Resources:

• Disposal of Empty Chemical Containers
• Chemicals Approved for Drain Disposal

Disposal of empty hazardous material containers is strictly regulated. The disposal method depends on the hazardous material, container size and container material. The following guidelines must be followed when disposing empty chemical containers:

Step 1: Determine if content is classified as an acutely hazardous waste

1. Check the List of Acutely Hazardous Waste 
2. If the material is NOT listed as acutely hazardous go to Step 2. If the material is listed as acutely hazardous waste, label the waste with a hazardous waste label using WASTe and dispose of as a hazardous waste.

Step 2: Determine if container is empty. A chemical container is considered empty if any of the following conditions are met:

Liquids

• No liquid can drain when container is tilted in any direction.
• There is no hazardous material remaining that can feasibly be removed.
• The walls have no encrusted material on them. (A thin layer of dried material is acceptable).

Solids

• The interior container surface is scraped clean with no residual material.

Empty aerosol containers and gas cylinders

• These containers must be disposed as hazardous waste even when there is no residual material chemical or gas.

If the conditions above are not met, then the container is not empty and you must label and dispose of it as hazardous waste.

Step 3: If your container is empty, dispose according to size

Capacity greater than 5 gallons

• The container must be collected as a hazardous waste. Complete a hazardous waste tag using WASTe to arrange for EH&S pick-up

Capacity is less than or equal to 5 gallons

• Remove the lid
• Cross out the label(s) on the container
• Dispose in regular trash or recycling receptacle