Check with other businesses in your community that have waste to dispose. Car dealer, oil changing business, plumbing business come to mind. Maybe one of them could help you.
Check with other businesses in your community that have waste to dispose. Car dealer, oil changing business, plumbing business come to mind. Maybe one of them could help you.
I want to thank all of you for providing excellent personal experiences and ideas for me to use. I feel a lot better about my plans going forward. I do not have access to a hazmat waste site for the fixer but I think I have a solution for everything else. That narrows the scope of the problem to a manageable size.
Someone may have already said this, but remember to check your state's laws about chemical disposal. Even if its mostly safe, some states may have regulations on how certain chemicals must be disposed. I'm fairly certain massachusetts (where I am) does. Vermont on the other hand, has no regulations, even about dumping fixer into the sewer
I appreciate that advice, however, I am probably much more critical of the way chems are disposed of than any government agency or regulation. Because my family is on a well it is absolutely unconscionable for me to do anything with chemistry that might in some way affect the health of my family. I take extra steps to protect myself when dealing with certain chemicals that other people find excessive - like wearing gloves when using pyro. Even though darkroom photographers usually live pretty long full lives (my theory is we are pickling ourselves slowly) I like to avoid any exposure possible.
I think Ethan was meaning that the rules applicable to your location may not be safe or complete, or may even be harmful overall, but that you must nevertheless follow them otherwise you will be fined and/or imprisoned. Environmental regulations are VERY often based on emotion rather than science, so creating a scientifically excellent situation may still result in you being prosecuted.
I called my county waste disposal office yesterday and was told to mix any 'non flammable" chemicals in cat litter or other absorbent and dispose of them in the trash.
I am in the process of buying the silver magnet John Nanian who post here sells, looks perfect for my operation.... I am wondering if anyone has thoughts on how to dispose of Ammonium Dichromate which is the only caustic item in my gum bichromate process.
Hey Ethan,
not sure where you are getting your information .. but both Massachusetts and Vermont have regulations, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine and New Hampshire too. ...some states
have downgraded silver saturated fixer from hazardous waste to waste but it still is not kosher to pour it down the drain..
Last edited by jnantz; 21-Nov-2021 at 12:04.
Small scale disposal can be a real headache, even in a city like mine which has major chemical industries on the opposite town of town. They're all set up with respect to hazmat, right down to railroad tank car adjacency. But all a little guy like me can drop off is maximum quantity of 5 gallons of solution at a time at the designated location. That makes even dealing with old paint cans an issue, although I do know about a super secret little trick military contractors used - it's called cat litter - absorbs paint like a charm and turns it into a solid mass - no need to pour it out for evaporation and perhaps pollute the air. I'd be concerned about things like chromate going down the drain, but modest amounts of selenium or spent fixer aren't regulated at all around here, or by the EPA. They're after far more serious polluters.
Ironically, one of the worst things for water quality that routinely gets rinsed down storm drains is Simple Green degreaser. It's not "green" at all, and kills marine life like crazy even at high dilution, because it acts as a surfactant depriving gills of oxygen capture. Sometimes MSDS sheets aren't totally honest. They hide things under a "unlisted nontoxic ingredient" loophole. Just because something isn't classified as toxic doesn't mean it's harmless. Ran smack into one of those scenarios a few weeks ago.
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