Your "rant" is interesting but wrong. OSHA (which is a FEDERAL agency) prohibits dumping ANY type of hazardous materials down the drain. I was also taken aback by Amy's posting. No, regardless of what your state law may or may not permit you to dump in the drain, you should not put some $avings over the well being of the environment and the drinking water of people. Formaldehyde is toxic and recently officially declared carcinogen. In the same way that "frackting" methods to obtain gas from shale has been deemed dangerous, equally dumping formaldehyde, xylene and any other chemical ought to be the source of concern. This in my "rant"! René J.
--- On Mon, 7/25/11, O'Donnell, Bill <billodonn...@catholichealth.net> wrote: From: O'Donnell, Bill <billodonn...@catholichealth.net> Subject: RE: [Histonet] Formalin down the drain?? To: mtitf...@aol.com, histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Date: Monday, July 25, 2011, 4:19 PM One should not automtically assume that laws are broken here. (Rant begins here) First of all, it is the States that set the limits of what can and cannot be dumped. All States must meet Federal standards,but States are free to determine how they do that. (It's one of the benefits of the American Revolution) Some states are more heavily regulated than others. California and Colorado come to mind immediately. Different organizations, locations and circumstances may allow for disposal of products that may be diluted to such a degree as to be negligable in the waste stream. Our institution generates 65,000 gallons of waste water daily, which allows us to make the dilution limits of anything that our histo lab could produce in a day. No laws are broken if I should pour xylene, formalin, alcohols or other common compounds that we might generate on even our busiest days into the waste stream. HOWEVER, while we may be allowed to do so by state and local regulations, we have decided it is not prudent to do so and so we collect, ship, neutralize or recycle most all that the histo lab generates. We do this at the lab level, with lab funding. It is the responsible thing to do, and we are morally and ethically bound to do so, but we are not outside the law if we do not. If your local municipal waste systems people give you the green light on dumping formalin down the drain..... you are not breaking the law, federal or otherwise, in doing so. It is true that if you wish to affect things globally, one has to be responsible locally. Here is what my rant comes down to.... Make certain that you are meeting local standards for your chemical disposal or you may well be breaking the law. And a big thank you (from myself, my children, grandchildren and great-grand children and that lady who sells me the slurpee at the local convenience store) for anything anyone is doing above and beyond that. :)Rant is over... Have a nice day :) You cannot "Like" this rant on Facebook or follow this rant on Twitter. Bill -----Original Message----- From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of mtitf...@aol.com Sent: Monday, July 25, 2011 12:59 PM To: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: [Histonet] Formalin down the drain?? I was a little distressed to read the message from Amy in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania declaring she dumps everything ("and I mean everything") from her histology lab down the drain. There are a bunch of Federal Laws governing handling and disposal of chemicals used in the histology laboratory and she appears to be breaking several. The wastewater law limits how much formalin you can discard down the sink (and you cannot dilute as you go). The same law forbids disposal of organic solvents like xylene, or solutions containing organic solvents. Local laws in Pennsylvania may be more strict. I recommend to Amy that she purchases a book like, "Hazardous materials in the histopathology laboratory" by Janet & Richard Dapson and read the whole thing cover to cover! Michael Titford Pathology USA Mobile AL USA _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet