In our common cell culture facility people always put bleach in the waste bottles. It stays there for weeks - thus I assume it has not much activity, but we inhale plenty of chlorine gas. Suggestions?
Hi Kay-Dietrich,
We always use Virkon or Presept tablets. If you limit the size of the bottle to 1 or 2 litres and make sure that these are closed except when filling, the chlorine will be reduced to a minimum. We autoclave this waste when the bottles are 3/4 full, then dispose as liquid waste down the "sluice", If this is an option for you, then you could try it. If local safety rules mean that the waste cannot go into the sewage system, then a large plastic barrel with a gas-tight seal could serve as an intermediate storage vessel and be housed away from your TC facility. Unfortunately, the chlorine-based bleaches are the most reliable, so unless someone else can suggest an alternative, you're stuck with them!
Hope this helps,
Simon
Dear Simon,
thanks for the answer. Unfortunately we have 5 liter bottles here and as it is a common facility I can not change this. We also tried Virkon, but surprisingly it turns to yellow and smelling very quickly.
Try chlorhexidine gluconate. We have not tried this in our lab but it is commonly used as a disinfectant in ORs, is generally non-toxic for low concentration skin contact, and will not release chlorine gas.
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