Excerpt taken from John K. Borchardt’s article, Proper Disposal or Reuse of Old Laboratory Chemicals, Lab Manager Magazine May 2011 issue. Having periodic cleanup days during which old chemical samples and unused/nonfunctional equipment is

Staff reductions can result in severe challenges to proper chemical waste disposal management. In some recent cases, entire large facilities have been closed.

The use of warning signs to designate particular hazards is not just a good idea. It’s the law.

Laboratories frequently accumulate bottles of old chemicals, often toxic or hazardous, that are no longer used. Laboratory managers can use several strategies to properly reuse or dispose of these chemicals.

We all know how diamonds are formed. You take a lump of carbon and subject it to intense pressure and high temperatures, and magically those carbon atoms are pressed into a diamond. The diamonds we are discussing in this article are formed much more easily.

Recently a blogger on LabSpaces confessed her biggest lab mistake. No, she didn’t set fire to anything, spill a chemical, or release any noxious fumes into the environment. As a young lab technician, she simply loaded up a plastic tray with glass...