Proper disposal of laboratory wastes is essential in maintaining the health of the environment.

Wastes can be considered hazardous or non-hazardous:

• Hazardous materials should only be disposed of at approved disposal facilities.
• Check with your teacher to discover the locations of these facilities.
• Always follow your teacher's instructions and guidelines for disposal of laboratory wastes.
• Solid chemicals, metals, matches, filter papers, broken glass, and other materials specified by your teacher need to be disposed of in the proper containers designated for those specific wastes.
• Only use the sink to dispose of water and any solution specifically mentioned by your teacher.
• Do not pour chemicals down the drain.

A Material Safety Data Sheet or MSDS is a document that contains information on a chemical's potential hazards (health, fire, reactivity, and environmental) and how to work safely with that product.

An MSDS also contains information on the use, storage, disposal, and emergency procedures to be followed if a spill or leak of the material occurs.

All chemicals in a laboratory should have a MSDS available. Read MSDS information and follow teacher instructions to ensure laboratory material disposal is environmentally sound and safe.

Source: National Prosthetics and Orthotics Boston, Nadya Peek, Flickr