School Laboratory Chemical Cleanouts and Teacher Trainings Dave Waddell Waddell Environmental LLC waddellenviro@yahoo.com

Why did I work with schools?

Because they can have a bewildering variety of hazardous chemicals And the staff have very little understanding of their hazards and proper management

Hazard Classes I’ve found Flammable liquids Flammable solids Substances liable to spontaneous combustion Water-reactive compounds Toxic solids Toxic liquids Corrosive acids Corrosive bases Flammable gases Non-flammable non-toxic gases Toxic gases Explosives, most subdivisions Oxidizers Organic peroxides Radioactive compounds

I’ve been doing school cleanouts for about 21 years now Rehab the Lab project coordinator in King County, WA 1995-2002 Contractor/consultant as Waddell Environmental LLC 2002-present

My objectives Get unneeded and dangerous chemicals out of secondary schools & community colleges Educate teachers and administrators on environmental health & safety/waste disposal Create a lasting legacy of safer schools

School Chemical Cleanout Report South Anonymous High School DATE Dave Waddell Waddell Environmental LLC waddellenviro@yahoo.com 206-679-7984

Notes The teacher, Mr. Anonymous, was very cooperative during the visit and open to my recommendations The stockroom had no dedicated exhaust ventilation Many very exotic organic chemicals were likely donated to the school in the past

Science Stockroom

Science Stockroom Close to 1,000 chemical containers were in storage Acids were stored in the classroom in a badly corroded metal cabinet Over 90% of chemical containers were segregated by hazard class The shelves were very full and chemicals were stored well above reach of the teachers

Chemical Safety Practices This school lacks the required OSHA chemical hygiene plan The safety shower must be tested annually and a log kept Eye washes must be tested weekly and a log kept The fume hood functioned well The school should replace the metal acid cabinet with a SciMatCo coated wooden acid cabinet The stockroom had enhanced exhaust ventilation The safety shower did not meet OSHA standards

Classes of Chemicals Found Corrosive acids and bases Toxic solids and liquids Water-reactives Flammable liquids Mercury compounds Air reactives Radioactives Oxidizers

Potentially Explosive Compounds Several potentially explosive compounds were found Tollen’s silver reagent – may contain silver nitride A dinitro-organic compound (red capped container below) Tert-butyl-peroxybenzoate (in Biology stockroom refrigerator) None pose an immediate threat, but Clean Harbors’ staff should evaluated them for disposability More photos on next page

Potentially explosive compounds

Chemical Storage Most chemicals were properly segregated by hazard class. The stockroom is kept locked when not in use Corrosive hydroxide bases were stored on an open shelf Flammables were also stored on open shelves A flammables cabinet should be installed

Incompatible chemicals together Aluminum powder violently reacts in contact with bromine creating an extremely exothermic fire Oxidizers were stored by flammable solids Oxidizing acids were stored with flammable acetic acid Flammable alcohols were stored in a non-explosion-proof refrigerator All these situations were corrected during the visit

Mercury Ten mercury thermometers were found 13 mercury compounds were set aside for disposal

Known/Probable Carcinogens Found on Site source: http://bit.ly/aJI6ht para-Dichlorobenzene Arsenic compounds Cadmium compounds Chromates and dichromates Nickel compounds Lead compounds Carbon tetrachloride Chloroform Methylene chloride

Other highly hazardous compounds Hydrofluoric and perchloric acids Elemental bromine Mercaptoethanol Sodium azide Carbon disulfide Yellow and red phosphorus Chlorine water

Radioactive materials

Degraded compounds and containers

Chemical Disposal 560 containers of chemicals plus 10 mercury thermometers were separated on the shelves or in boxes for disposal Radioactives will be collected by ODOH

So what’s the deal? Why aren’t schools in better shape? Many of them are, but many aren’t Can’t tell by looking at them Can’t assume new schools don’t have them

What prevents them from improving?

Lack of environmental health & safety training Photo © Dave Waddell. Used with permission.

Teacher training issues Proper chemical handling, storage and disposal practices are not in the teacher training curriculum Administrators believe teachers are trained School budgets are really tight Teachers already put in long hours

Few lab-savvy agency inspectors King County photo by Ned Ahrens

Laboratories are rarely targeted They’re relatively small waste generators Administrators are very shy of bad publicity, so they don’t request assistance Major issues are mostly potential problems with containers of strangely named chemicals

Common school chemical issues Lack of awareness of problems Inadequate safety equipment & ventilation Degraded chemicals and containers Improper chemical storage, handling & disposal Non-compliance with OSHA training and documentation requirements

Labels Name matches MSDS Primary hazard Photos: Dave Waddell

Every chemical container must have a proper label

Not appropriate, helpful or accurate Photo: Dave Waddell

Photo: Dave Waddell

Every school with a laboratory must have a chemical hygiene plan

www.hazwastehelp.org/educators/documents/2015_LHWMPChemHygienePlan-final.pdf

Chemical hygiene plan components Safe work practices Methods to keep exposures below limits Training, medical consultation, hazard ID, respirator use and record keeping Task and chemical specific training

The hardest part of the process Assigning names to roles and responsibilities Ask who’s responsible, this happens… Photo © Babak Fakhamzadeh. https://flic.kr/p/4rdJxH

Priority airborne contaminants

Chemical exposures to address in plan Acids Formaldehyde Lead Hexavalent chromium Mercury Metal dusts & fumes Volatile solvents

Chromates & dichromates Corrosive, oxidizing and carcinogenic

Chromium VI exposure reduction Don’t use chromates, chromium Avoid working with fine-grained chromium Buy prediluted chromate solutions Use the hood when working with chromates Wear PPE when working with chromium Wash hands after working with chromium

Other toxic metals Antimony Arsenic Beryllium Cadmium Cobalt Nickel Selenium

Metal Arsenic, Cadmium Silver Lead Cobalt Selenium Antimony, Barium 8-hr exposure limit Arsenic, Cadmium 0.005 mg/m3 Silver 0.01 Lead 0.05 Cobalt 0.10 Selenium 0.20 Antimony, Barium 0.50 Chromium, Copper, Nickel 1.0 Tin 2.0 Manganese 5.0 Iron 10.0 Titanium, Zinc, Aluminum 15.0

Photo: Dave Waddell

Do you want to keep the lead chloride?

The answer is often yes because that was the wrong question!

No zip code? Purchased before 1964

Six kilos of ammonium nitrate

How much ammonium nitrate do you use in a year? 5 grams/year 1,000 grams/kilo Each kilo = 200 year supply They have 6 kilos!

Assess their actual rate of usage Newest bottle dated 1979 Note two-digit zip code Photo: Dave Waddell

Chemical storage issues & fixes

Four Primary Goals Don’t store what you won’t use Keep things from degrading Keep incompatibles apart Protect human health & environment Photo by Becky Wehrman – Used with permission

Degraded cabinets

Degraded and leaking containers

Spills not cleaned up

Keep Chemicals Secure Under Lock & Key

Hmmm… may be a problem here

No chemical storage by drains Photo: Dave Waddell

Separate incompatible chemicals

Keep acids away from hydroxides

Separate water reactives and alcohols

Separate oxidizers and flammables

Put glacial acetic acid in flam cabinet

Troubles With Bleach? Great disinfectant Not highly toxic Doesn’t play well with some other chemicals

Bleach & Ammonia = Poison Gas

Bleach plus hydrochloric acids = toxic chlorine gas

Toxic gas generator Sulfuric acid + hydrochloric acid = chlorine Photo ©Dave Waddell. Used with permission.

Phosphoric acid Hydrochloric acid Hydrobromic acid Nitric acid Acid Storage Cabinet Non-metallic Vented Top shelf Hydrochloric acid Phosphoric acid Hydrobromic acid Bottom Shelf Sulfuric acid Nitric acid (in containment)

Check condition of containers

King County photo by Dave Waddell

Flammable Storage in Labs

Combustible Liquids Only No solids, no water reactives Upside down Tipped bottle Unknown solid Photo: Dave Waddell

No Flammables in Refrigerators Check for alcohol in biology room freezer

Metal acid cabinets look nice Photo: Dave Waddell

$1,300 worth of rust in 7 years

SciMatCo cabinets are metal free More expensive, but last a much longer time Identify as Corrosive Acid or Corrosive Base Photo: Dave Waddell

Cap eaters Nitric acid Liquid hydroxides Compromised containers spill when tipped Photos by Dave Waddell and Becky Wehrman – Used with permission

Nitric acid oxidizes caps in 7 to 10 years

Nitric acid generates nitrogen dioxide

Hazardous waste disposal

RCRA hazardous waste cheat sheet Must be combined to be accurate Calcium + Chloride = CaCl2

Treatment by generator options Inorganic acids & bases Neutralize to pH 6 to 9, then flush to sewer Aqueous metals can be evaporated Remaining solids are disposed as hazardous waste

Evaporation of aqueous metals Combine them all in one jug Pay by the drum – use bag liners

Once baggie’s full, zip closed and put in here When this is full, it’s time for disposal Photo: Dave Waddell

They must keep a log if they treat their wastes Header describes process Waste, initials, date

How long does a visit take? Depends on your objectives! My school cleanout visits are 4 hours/high school and 2 hours/middle school

Questions? waddellenviro@yahoo.com http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=5304&picture=the-end