INTRODUCTION

Most biological agents can be inactivated by treating them with formaldehyde, ethylene oxide, or moist heat, and radioactive materials will decay with the passage of sufficient time, but there are no destruction techniques that are universally applicable to chemical agents. The availability of destruction techniques for specific hazardous chemical agents would be particularly helpful because of the dangers associated with their handling and disposal. In addition, being able to destroy or inactivate the hazardous materials where they are used is advantageous because the user should be familiar with the hazards of these materials and the precautions required in their handling.

Here we present summaries of destruction procedures for a variety of hazardous chemicals, including pharmaceuticals, dyes, and stains, and some chemicals that are derived from biological sources (e.g., ricin and tetrodotoxin). Many of the procedures have been validated, some by international collaborative testing. We have drawn on information available in the literature through 2021 and on our own published and unpublished work. Technological changes have essentially resulted in the closing of many scientific libraries to the general public. Even with the access provided by an institutional affiliation a work such as this becomes more difficult to produce. It is notable that among the journals surveyed in the preparation of this book, the open access movement has made very little progress.1

About This Book

This book is a collection of techniques for destroying a variety of hazardous chemicals. It is intended for those whose knowledge of the chemistry of the items covered is rather sophisticated; that is, for those who are aware not only of the obvious dangers, such as the toxic effects of the items themselves and of some of the reagents and other materials used in the methods, but also of the potential hazards represented, for example, by the possible formation of diazoalkanes when N-nitrosamides are treated with base, nitrosamines generated when nitrosating agents are present or toxic products produced when sodium hypochlorite is used. If you are not thoroughly familiar with the potential hazards and the chemistry of the materials to be destroyed and the reagents to be used, do not proceed.

This book contains a number of monographs that deal with the destruction of hazardous compounds derived from biological sources (e.g., ricin and tetrodotoxin); they are included with other specific destruction procedures. We do not deal with the destruction of biological organisms themselves in detail; however, we have provided a brief listing of destruction techniques applicable to biological organisms in the section entitled Biologicals.

However, it should be noted that guidelines for handling biological materials in the laboratory have been described and specific procedures for their destruction have been published. A survey of the existing literature on this subject is beyond our scope, but overviews of biological safety are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,2 the World Health Organization,3, 4 the National Research Council,5 and the American Society for Microbiology.6 Each of these publications deals to a greater or lesser extent with the destruction of biological materials. For a more encyclopedic approach, see McDonnell.7 Note that steam sterilization, a method of choice for the treatment of much biological waste in laboratories, hospitals, and commercial establishments, does not eliminate all the potential hazards from antineoplastic drug residues.8 In an interesting study of feather meal, 24 pharmaceuticals or metabolites (mostly antimicrobials) were found in the constituent feathers.9 In the course of this work, the authors autoclaved (121°C for 30?min) the feather meal. Some compounds were totally degraded by the autoclaving process and some were not degraded at all. Almost three-quarters of the compounds studied were degraded by less than 50%

The destruction methods are organized in what we believe to be rational categories. These categories are listed in the Table of Contents. It is quite likely, however, that others would have categorized these methods differently, so we have provided three indexes. There is a general name index, a cross-reference for the names of dyes and biological stains, and a cross-index linking each pharmaceutical with the type of degradation procedure that has been shown to be appropriate. In each case, the page number given is the first page of the monograph in which the destruction of that compound is discussed. In some cases, the compound itself may not have been studied; it may have been referred to in the Related Compounds section.

Pharmaceuticals are referred to in the monographs and the Name Index only by their United States Adopted Name (USAN). Many dyes and biological stains have multiple names, so in the monograph, we have used a common name for each dye and provided a cross-index for the various other names that are used. We have also included a cross reference of pharmaceuticals and methods for their destruction.

One of the difficulties in preparing a book such as this is deciding what should be included and what should be excluded from the text. We have tried to make the detailed method descriptions and the supporting references complete, but at the same time not include unnecessary details. We also tried to eliminate ambiguity wherever possible, going so far as to repeat almost verbatim certain procedures for some compounds rather than noting a minor change and referring to another section and so risking a wrong page number or a misinterpretation. It should be noted that some methods are not described in detail because the details in the original papers are sparse. We have gathered many of these techniques in summary tables that provide the essential parameters. In this way, the procedures may be readily compared.

Some general safety precautions are given below. These are not repeated for each group of compounds; in some cases, unusual hazards are noted. For many of the destruction procedures, we use the word "discard" in connection with the final reaction mixture. This always means "discard in compliance with all applicable regulations."

Although we have included many validated destruction procedures, we realize that there may be other suitable procedures in the literature. Thus, we would be pleased to hear from readers who have any information or suggestions.

Properties of a Destruction Technique

We have already indicated the advantages of destroying hazardous chemicals at the place where they were generated. It is also useful to consider the desirable properties of a destruction technique for hazardous chemicals.

• Destruction of the hazardous chemical should be complete.
• A substantially complete material accountance should be available, with the detectable products being innocuous materials. (This accountance is often difficult to accomplish. In the absence of a complete material accountance, an assessment of the mutagenic activity or another toxicity measurement of the reaction mixture may provide useful information concerning the potential biological hazards associated with the decomposition products.)
• The effectiveness of the technique should be easy to verify analytically.
• The equipment and reagents required should be readily available, inexpensive, and easy and safe to use. The reagents should have no shelf-life limitations. Preparation of a special reagent or purchase of unusual equipment to accomplish the destruction should not be necessary. We have omitted a number of methods because they required the synthesis of a special reagent or catalyst.
• The destruction technique should require no elaborate operations (such as distillation or extraction) that might be difficult to contain; it must be easy to perform reliably and should require little time.
• The method should be applicable to the real world; that is, it should be capable of destroying the compound itself, solutions in various solvents, and spills.

These properties characterize an ideal destruction technique. Most techniques cannot meet all of these criteria, but they represent a goal toward which one should strive.

Contents of a Detailed Monograph

Each monograph usually contains the following information:

• An introduction describes the various properties of the compound or class of compounds being considered.
• The principles of destruction section details, in general terms, the chemistry of the destruction procedures, the products, and the efficiency of destruction.
• The destruction procedures section may be subdivided into procedures for bulk quantities, solutions in water, organic solvents, and so on if these details are available.
• The analytical procedures section describes one or more procedures that may be used to test the final reaction mixtures to ensure that the compound has been completely degraded. The techniques usually involve packed column gas chromatography (GC) or reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), but colorimetric procedures and thin-layer chromatography (TLC) are also used in some cases.
• The mutagenicity assays section describes the data available on the mutagenic activity of the starting materials, possible degradation products, and final reaction mixtures. The data were generally obtained...