Health and safety in the laboratory and field
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# 7.3 Disposal requirements

Figure 8 Disposal canister
Figure 9

When carrying out a risk assessment, you must consider disposal requirements. For example, any chemical dangerous to the environment should not be disposed of down the sink, for obvious reasons. Likewise, volatile organic solvents should not be disposed of down the sink; most are immiscible with water. There have been a number of documented fires and explosions associated with people disposing of volatile solvents down the sink. Each laboratory will have local rules regarding the disposal of chemicals; it is important that you read these or find out about them. Usually, solvents are put into labelled bottles (Winchesters); halogenated, non-halogenated and water-miscible liquids are normally separated, because each category is disposed of in a different way.

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