An Assessment on the Chemical Laboratory Waste

Management in UPLB
ChE 180: Agro-Industrial Waste Management
Section C, 1st Semester AY 2017-2018

Edrozo, Kristine Joyce L. Mendoza, Kate Lesley M.

BSChE, 2013-08808 BSChE, 2013-04619

Gesmundo, Michelle Ann B. Saliba, Cristian P.

BSChE, 2011-21474 BSChE, 2013-08546

Joven, Joanne Stephanie Villa, Jan Fatima P.

BSChE, 2013-43740 BSChE, 2013-09739

OVERVIEW

University of the Philippines Los Baños is one of the many universities which
offers different courses related to several sciences. With this, it is necessary for the
students enrolled in these courses to have laboratories wherein they can observe the
principles behind the designed experiments. In line with that, since it is expected that
those experiments include the usage of different chemical reagents, it is unavoidable
for a laboratory to not produce chemical laboratory wastes.

Generally, chemical laboratory waste includes hazardous and non-hazardous

solid waste, radioactive or mixed waste, biohazardous and medical waste, and
universal waste. This type of wastes usually has properties or chemical composition
that make it capable of causing illness, death, or some other harm to humans and
other life forms when mismanaged or released into the environment. Thus, the
management and disposal of chemical laboratory wastes must be regulated and
requires strict compliance with regulatory obligations.

Furthermore, in pursuant to Republic Act No. 6969, also known as "Toxic

Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990", every
laboratory in the university is expected to have a waste management framework for
its chemical laboratory wastes.
INTRODUCTION

Laboratories are being used by Universities and Institutions to help the

students and researchers to further understand the concepts and knowledge being
studied. Furthermore, the laboratories play an important role in the discovery and
findings of the different scientific facts and knowledge known today. However, each
experiment conducted in these laboratories generates wastes that are needed to be
treated or disposed properly.

It has been mandated by the law, in Republic Act No. 6969, entitled as “Toxic
Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990”, that the
government prohibit the disposal of chemical substances and mixtures that pose
risks on human health and the environment (LawPhil, 1990), including laboratory
wastes. According to Ashbrook and Reinhardt (1985), laboratories in colleges and
universities generates small amount of nearly every hazardous chemical listed by the
US Environmental Protection Agency where the composition of the waste generated
differ with each new research project and laboratory experiments. Since laboratory
wastes are always generated, they must be handled properly, or better, minimized.
Unfortunately, since not all laboratory wastes can be broken down completely into
less harmful forms despite the availability of modern treatment methods, they are just
usually released into the environment. Hence, the treatment and disposal of the
laboratory wastes — especially of colleges and universities, would be of high cost.

The study aims to:

1. identify and quantify the wastes generated from selected laboratories in

UPLB;

2. recognize and evaluate the effectiveness of and the expenses used in

current treatment methods used in the university in treating and disposing
wastes generated from the selected laboratories;

3. ask random laboratory students any knowledge provided to them about the
current waste treatment method employed in the university; and

4. recommend a better treatment method for laboratory wastes.

The study is limited to analysing the difference in the waste generation and in
the treatment method being used in the laboratories of the Department of Chemical
Engineering, College of Veterinary Medicine and Institute of Chemistry. The study is
also concerned on the awareness of the students who uses these laboratories about
the proper disposal of the chemical and contaminated waste generated during the
experiments.
MAIN DISCUSSION

RA 6969: Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of
1990

It has been mandated by the law, in Republic Act No. 6969 entitled Toxic
Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990, that the
government prohibit the disposal of chemical substances and mixtures that pose
risks on human health and the environment (LawPhil, 1990). Based on the manual
for DAO 92-29, a corollary to RA 6969 (EMB, n.d.), hazardous wastes are classified
as (1) wastes with cyanide, (2) acid wastes, (3) alkali wastes, (4) wastes with
inorganic chemicals, (5) reactive chemical wastes, (6) inks/dyes/pigments, (7) waste
organic solvent, (8) putrescible/organic wastes, (9) oil, (10) containers used in storing
toxic substances, (11) immobilized wastes, (12) organic chemicals, and (13)
miscellaneous wastes and according to University of Florida (2015), common
laboratory wastes, which are the focus of this study, include those under numbers 5,
7, 10, and 12 aforementioned hazardous waste classifications.

Since laboratory wastes are hazardous and are always generated, they must
be handled properly, or better, minimized. Unfortunately, since not all laboratory
wastes can be broken down completely into less harmful forms despite the
availability of modern treatment methods, they are just usually released into the
environment: thrown into water bodies, evaporated into the atmosphere through
incineration, or stored in landfills (National Academy of Sciences, 1995). The
requirements for proper hazardous waste management are reported in the manual
provided for by DAO 92-29. Some of these requirements and the corresponding
penalties to their violators are shown in the table below:

Table 1. Some requirements in proper hazardous waste management and the

corresponding penalties (EMB, n.d.).

Requirement Fines/penalties upon violation

provide sufficient information to the Php 10,000

DENR about the wastes generated

submission of documents with accurate Php 50,000

information

compliance with the conditions of a Php 50, 000 per condition violated
permit

labeling Php 50,000

placing of placards on vehicles Php 50,000

submission of a completed copy of the Php 50,000

Hazardous Waste Manifest Form to the
DENR
performing treatment, storage, and Php 50,000
disposal (TSD) functions with an
appropriate TSD Facility Permit

UPLB Chemical Waste Generation and Management

Hazardous Waste in UPLB

In this study, hazardous waste in University of the Philippines, Los Banos was
also considered and analyzed. The data regarding on the various classification of
hazardous waste generated in the university and its corresponding amount is shown
on the Table 2 given by the Laboratory Chairman of the Department of Chemical
Engineering, Lisa Stephanie Dizon.

Table 2. Classification and amount of hazardous waste generated in UPLB.

Remaining
HW from HW HW HW
Previous Generated Treated Remaining
HW HW
HW Class Report
No. Nature
Quantity Quantity Quantity Quantity
(tons) (tons) (tons) (tons)

B299 Mixture of Liquid 3.2636 - - 3.2636

Acid Waste
Solutions

C399 Other Alkali Liquid 1.1930 0.0150 - 1.2080

Wastes

D407 Busted Solid 1.1000 - - 1.1000

Flourescent
Bulbs

D499 Mixture of Solid 0.7500 0.0206 - 0.7706

Waste with
Inorganic
Chemicals

F699 Mixed Liquid 3.2865 0.2970 - 3.5835

Aqueous-
Based
Wastes

G704 Non- Liquid 0.5313 0.0367 - 0.5680

Halogenated
Organic
Solvents

H801 Animal Slurry 0.0500 - - 0.0500

 Waste

I101 Waste Oil Liquid 0.6000 - - 0.6000

J201 Containers Solid 2.4561 0.1725 - 2.6286

K302 Chemically Liquid - - - 0

Fixed Waste

M501 Infectious/ Liquid/ 0.3000 - - 0.3000

Pathological Solid
Waste *to be verified *to be
by the service verified by
provider the service
provider

M503 Pharmaceuti Solid 0.0012 0.0292 - 0.0304

cal and
Drugs

M502 Friable Solid 1000 sq. m - - -

Asbestos (around 30
Waste cu. m)

*to be verified
by the service
provider

Based from the data obtained, it is observed that hazardous waste generated
involves solid and liquid in state, and the latter is observed to have higher amount
generated as compared to former. In addition, the highest amount obtained as
hazardous waste is the mixed aqueous-based wastes which yield to 3.5835 tons, and
pharmaceuticals and drugs as the least having 0.0304 tons.

Moreover, as shown in the table, no hazardous wastes were treated in the

university which can further be analyzed that there is no proper treatment facility
present for the hazardous wastes. With this, one of its negative impacts is that, there
will be a continual increase on the amount of untreated hazardous wastes of the
university. In addition, high amount of hazardous wastes can also be related to high
risks on people and surroundings caused by these chemical wastes.

In relation with the treatment of hazardous wastes, it is suggested to have a

suitable treatment facility inside the university to improve the characteristics of these
wastes which can further lessen the amount of wastes considered as hazardous.

Hazardous Waste in College of Veterinary Medicine, UPLB

Another scope considered in the study is the analysis of hazardous wastes in

College of Veterinary Medicine, UPLB. The different classification of these wastes
and its corresponding characteristics and amount as of June 2007 are shown in
Table 3.
Table 3. Hazardous wastes generated in College of Veterinary Medicine, UPLB
(Hazardous Waste Inventory, 2007)

HW HW Class Description Characteristic Form Volume

No.

B202 Acid waste pH˂2.0 Hydrochloric acid Liquid 1L

B203 Acid waste pH˂2.0 Nitric acid Liquid 2.5 L

B208 Organic acid pH˂2.0 Glacial acetic acid Liquid 250 mL

B299 Acid waste pH˂2.0 Methyl salicylate Liquid 500mL

C301 Alkali waste pH˂12.5 Sodium Powder 1 kg

bicarbonate

E501 Reactive Oxidizing agent 10% Formalin Liquid 1L

chemical waste

F601 Aqueous based Dye Giemsa stain Liquid 350 mL

F601 Aqueous based Dye Hemacolor Liquid 10 mL

reagent

F601 Aqueous based Dye Hemacolor, soln 1 Liquid Still

(red color reagent) bottom

F601 Aqueous based Dye Hemacolor, soln 2 Liquid Still

(methanol fixation bottom
soln)

F601 Aqueous based Dye Hemacolor, soln 3 Liquid Still

bottom

F601 Aqueous based Dye Hemacolor, soln 4 Liquid Still

bottom

F601 Aqueous based Dye Reagents for Liquid ~65 mL

spectrophotometer

F601 Aqueous based Dye Reagents for Liquid ~90 mL

spectrophotometer

F601 Aqueous based Dye Reagents for Liquid ~125

spectrophotometer mL

F601 Aqueous based Dye Reagents for Liquid ~200

spectrophotometer mL

F602 Solvent based Solvent based Liquid casting Solidified 500 mL

latex waste plastic plastic
F602 Solvent based Paint Paint Solidified -
plastic

F602 Solvent based Paint Paint Solidified -

plastic

F699 Other mixed Dye Drabkin’s reagent Liquid 500 mL

dyes

G703 Halogenated Halogenated Glycerol, Liquid 4L

organic solvent solvent anhydrous

G704 Non- Non- Acetone Liquid -

halogenated halogenated
organic solvent solvent

G704 Non- Non- Ethanol Liquid ~1 L

halogenated halogenated
organic solvent solvent

G704 Non- Non- Ethanol Liquid Still

halogenated halogenated bottom
organic solvent solvent

G704 Non- Non- Ethanol Liquid Still

halogenated halogenated bottom
organic solvent solvent

G704 Non- Non- Methanol Liquid Still

halogenated halogenated bottom
organic solvent solvent

G704 Non- Non- Toluene Liquid 400 mL

halogenated halogenated
organic solvent solvent

G704 Non- Non- Xylene Liquid Still

halogenated halogenated bottom
organic solvent solvent

G704 Non- Non- Xylene Liquid Still

halogenated halogenated bottom
organic solvent solvent

J201 Containers Waste Dimethylsulfoxide Liquid -

previously container used
containing toxic to hold toxic
chemical chemical
substances substance

J201 Containers Waste Halothane Liquid Still

previously container used bottom
containing toxic to hold unstable
chemical chemical
 substances (E503)

K303 Encapsulated Sharps Hypodermic Solid 90% of

wastes needles, capillary 45kg
tubes drum

L401 Wastes with Non-liquid Blood agar base Solid 100 g

specific non- organic
halogenated chemical waste
toxic organic
chemical

L401 Wastes with Non-liquid McConkey agar Solid 100 g

specific non- organic
halogenated chemical waste
toxic organic
chemical

L401 Wastes with Non-liquid Mueller Hinton Solid 150 g

specific non- organic Agar
halogenated chemical waste
toxic organic
chemical

L401 Wastes with Non-liquid Potato dextrose Solid 300 g

specific non- organic sugar
halogenated chemical waste
toxic organic
chemical

L401 Wastes with Non-liquid Tryptic soy broth Solid 250 g

specific non- organic
halogenated chemical waste
toxic organic
chemical

M501 Wastes with Pathological Animal tissues in Solid in -

specific non- wastes formalin liquid
halogenated
toxic organic
chemical

M501 Wastes with Pathological Animal tissues in Solid in Full in

specific non- wastes formalin liquid 45kg
halogenated drum
toxic organic
chemical

M501 Wastes with Pathological Dissected animal Solid ~500 kg

specific non- wastes tissues
halogenated
toxic organic
chemical
M501 Wastes with Pathological Blood samples Clotted 1mL in
specific non- wastes liquid 2mL vial
halogenated
toxic organic
chemical

M501 Wastes with Pathological Blood samples Clotted 1mL in

specific non- wastes liquid 2mL vial
halogenated
toxic organic
chemical

M501 Wastes with Sharps Hypodermic Solid Full in

specific non- needles, capillary 500mL
halogenated tubes bottle
toxic organic
chemical

M501 Wastes with Sharps Hypodermic Solid 70% of

specific non- needles, capillary 45kg
halogenated tubes drum
toxic organic
chemical

M501 Wastes with Sharps Needles Solid Full in

specific non- 1L
halogenated bottle
toxic organic
chemical

M501 Wastes with Infectious Used syringes w/o Solid Full in

specific non- wastes needles 1gallon
halogenated
toxic organic
chemical

M503 Pharmaceutical Expired Amitop, Liquid ~100mL

and drugs Pharmaceutical Enrofloxacin,
and drugs Ecolmin, Calcium
borogluconate,
water for injection,
Amoxicillin,
Ivermectin,
Oxytetracycline,
Ornipural

M503 Pharmaceutical Expired Cefuroxime Liquid Still

and drugs Pharmaceutical bottom
and drugs

M503 Pharmaceutical Expired Dexamethasone, Liquid ~50mL

and drugs Pharmaceutical Ketamine
and drugs
 Based from the data presented above, there is a wide range of classification
of hazardous wastes generated in College of Veterinary Medicine, UPLB. With this, it
is an absolute challenge for this division to have a proper way of segregation which
can highly affect the specific treatment for each classification of wastes.

In addition, biological waste is also considered as hazardous wastes and for

this College division, it is considered as one of the major wastes generated. Under
the College of Veterinary Medicine, UPLB, the Veterinary Teaching Hospital (Los
Banos and Tabon stations) conducted a preliminary biological waste segregation in
one month (November 2004) to determine the amount of biological waste generated
by the hospital. With this, the result is shown in Table 4 below.

Table 4. Types and amount of biological wastes generated in Veterinary Teaching

Hospital for the month of November 2004.

Biological Waste Amount, kg

Soiled newspaper (w/ stool and urine) 5.000

Empty vaccine vials 2.000

Used syringes 1.200

Used needles/scalpel blades 0.250

Used cotton/gauze 0.125

Used blood collecting vials 0.250

Used capillary tubes 0.125

Animal carcass 50.000

Other wastes 10.000

Using the data obtained, it is observed that the source of the highest amount
of biological waste is from animal carcass having 50 kg, and least amount from used
cotton/ gauze and used capillary tubes having 0.125 kg. If there is a constant trend
for each month until year 2017, it is recommended to prioritize the proper waste
management system regarding with animal carcass wastes.

Hazardous Waste in Institute of Chemistry, UPLB

Another scope considered in the study is the analysis of hazardous wastes in

Institute of Chemistry, UPLB. Table 4 shows the summary of the gathered data for
the waste generation of the said institute.
Table 4. Hazardous wastes generated in College of Veterinary Medicine, UPLB
(Hazardous Waste Inventory, 2007)

TYPE WASTES SOURCE AMOUNT

GENERATED

AQUEOUS Instruction 1400 L/sem

ORGANIC (non – Instruction 350 L/sem

halogenated)

Halogenated Instruction 50-90L/sem

CHEMICAL WASTES
Organics

Solid Residues 1000 kg/sem

Other Hazardous Instruction Varies

Wastes

The interview with Sir Kevinilo Perez of the Institute of Chemistry (IC)
disclosed information about the waste management of the institute. According to Sir
Perez, approximately 2000 liters of chemical waste, and 1000 kilograms of solid
residues are generated by IC every semester. Depending on the availability of the
university funds, the wastes are collected at least once a year by a third-party waste
management company. It should be noted that processing fines are assessed
depending on the third – party waste collectors, which vary in every request.

As shown in Table 4, only the institute’s chemical wastes are presented, this
is because the committee handled by Sir Perez only deals with the institute’s
chemical waste and non – chemical wastes are managed by the UPLB
administration.

Because of the one-time collection per year, the wastes are stored in
accordance to the International Guidelines on the Management of Chemical Waste,
or based on the scheme provided by the collector. Proper storage should be a strict
policy. The wastes should not be stored in very high or very low temperature
conditions. The wastes are situated away from populous places, especially
classrooms, to prevent casualties in cases of explosions or spills.

Hazardous Waste in Department of Chemical Engineering, UPLB

Another scope considered in the study is the analysis of hazardous wastes in

Department of Chemical Engineering, UPLB.

According to Ma’am Lisa Stephanie Dizon, the head of the Department of

Chemical Engineering (DChE) waste management, the DChE generates wastes
mostly from Biofuels thesis experiments which accounts for around 20 carboys (100
liters) worth of chemicals every year. Examples of wastes generated by the
department are ethanol wastes, acetone and butanol fermentation wastes, and
wastewater.

Chemical wastes are stored in carboys before treatment. After collection, the
department categorize the waste based on pH. The acidic chemicals are separated
from the basic ones. Also, wastes that can be combined are merged into a single
container. The primary treatment of these wastes involves pH adjustment. After this,
the wastes are stored until a treatment facility is available for collection.

The department’s waste management operations do not receive monetary

support from the University. Because of this, Ms. Dizon plans to create a policy on
chemical usage reduction. With this, the amount of reagent that can be used should
only be the minimum.

Information Dissemination Among Students

When asked about the chemical waste management practices in their

respective departments or colleges, some students admittedly reported not having
enough knowledge about this. Some of them, although they know some of these
practices, however admit that these practices are somewhat faulty at some point.

Xylux Ayka Salvaleon, a 4th year chemical engineering student, shared her
experience with the laboratory waste management of the Institute of Chemistry
based on her basic, inorganic, and organic chemistry laboratory classes. She
emphasized that the Institute of Chemistry comes very strict according to this, and
cited the laboratory management guidelines which are printed at the end of each
exercise. She admittedly shares that in times when she feels lazy, she just dumps
the untreated waste in the sink, a problem that she sees common among other
students. She believes that when people are more informed about their deeds and
what would happen once they do it, a better implementation could be achieved.

Alyssa Miñas, a 4th year veterinary medicing student, claims on an interview

that students in her college are not aware of the laboratory waste management
guidelines implemented in their laboratories. Apparently, they just dispose the
chemical wastes in a specified container, producing a mixed waste.

Bea Sunga and Kristel Tejano, both graduating students of the Department of
Chemical Engineering, points out the flaws in some of the laboratory waste
management practices in their department. In separate interviews, they stated that
the one carboy policy for each student in their thesis is faulty because it still produces
a mixed waste among each student. All of the wastes of a student are pooled
together in a single carboy. They also pointed out the flaws in the instructional
chemical engineering laboratory courses, such as the unit operations laboratory
wherein lab waste management is not required in the pre-laboratory exercise and
manual, unlike in Institute of Chemistry.

Looking on a macro-level and seeing the cases in the three bodies, it can be
assumed that there is no solid waste management framework implemented in the
university. If there is, then this is not followed.

According to studies, 60% of the costs of waste management can be reduced

if people practice proper solid waste segregation. This also goes with chemical
wastes – a large fraction can be saved when people segregate, thereby avoiding the
instance of treating mixed wastes.

In the end, proper information dissemination is the key to a healthy laboratory

waste management. Feeding the students with this knowledge is very important as
the students are the one mainly using the laboratories, and a first-hand knowledge on
how to reduce the waste and properly dispose it is necessary.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

University of the Philippines Los Baños is one of the many universities here in
the Philippines which offers different courses related to several sciences. With this, it
is expected that UPLB will have its own facilities for laboratory experiments.
Consequently, those laboratory experiments include the usage of numerous chemical
reagents which will then be labeled as chemical wastes (after the experiment).

Furthermore, in pursuant to Republic Act No. 6969, also known as "Toxic

Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990", every
laboratory in the university is expected to have a waste management framework for
its chemical laboratory wastes.

In this paper, the chemical waste generation and management of the three
laboratories in UPLB (College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Chemical
Engineering, and Institute of Chemistry) were studied and analyzed.

It was found out that the three laboratories generate a huge volume of
chemical waste every year, in fact, about 3 tons of a mixture of acid waste solution is
generated in the previous year. Also, based on the data gathered, no hazardous
wastes were treated in the university which can further be analyzed that there is no
proper treatment facility present for the hazardous wastes. This is because of the
lack of budget for this matter, where in fact, this issue must gain the attention of the
higher-ups because of the different alarming environmental problems.

With this, one of its negative impacts is that, there will be a continual increase
on the amount of untreated hazardous wastes of the university. In addition, high
amount of hazardous wastes can also be related to high risks on people and
surroundings caused by these chemical wastes.

In relation with the treatment of hazardous wastes, it is suggested to have a

suitable treatment facility inside the university to improve the characteristics of these
wastes which can further lessen the amount of wastes considered as hazardous.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Our group would like to thank the following people: Dr. Therese Marie
Collantes (Parasitology Division Head, CVM), Ma’am Lisa Stephanie Dizon
(University Researcher I, DChE), Sir Kevinilo Perez (Assistant Professor, Institute of
Chemistry), Engr. Michael Vincent Laurio (Instructor-in-Charge, ChE 180: Agro-
Industrial Waste Management) and Dr. Manolito Bambase, Jr. (Department Chair,
DChE).
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ASHBROOK, P. C., & REINHARDT, P. A. (1985). Hazardous wastes in academia.

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LAWPHIL. (1990). Republic Act No. 6969. Accessed on November 5, 2017.

Retrieved from
http://www.lawphil .net/statutes/r epacts/ra1990/ra_6969_1990.html.

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. (1995). Prudent practices in the laboratory:

Handling and disposal of chemicals. Accessed on November 7, 2017.
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UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA. (2015). Typical laboratory hazardous wastes. Accessed

on December 3, 2017. Retrieved from http://www.ehs.ufl.edu/programs
/chemrad_waste/lab-chem-waste-mgmt/typical-laboratory-hazardous-wastes/.

EMB. (n.d.). Procedural manual title III of DAO 92-29: Hazardous waste
management. Accessed on December 3, 2017. Retrieved from
http://emb.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/dao20041.pdf.