PI disposal

Alice L. Givan (Alice.L.Givan@Dartmouth.EDU)
15 Aug 96 09:40:37 EDT

Hello Flowers,
I don't mean to open up a can of worms -- but I would like to hear what people
are doing (and/or think they*should* be doing) about disposal of solutions
containing propidium iodide. With respect to flow, concentrated stock
solutions may contain PI in mg/ml concentrations. In the waste from the
cytometer, however, the concentrations will be perhaps 1000-fold less than
that but in a large volume (after dilution in the sample and then dilution by
the sheath fluid). Material Safety Data Sheets say that PI disposal
considerations require dissolving or mixing the material with a combustible
solvent, followed by burning in a chemical incinerator equipped with an
afterburner and scrubber. I also know about an extracting filter manufactured
by Schleicher and Schuell and recommended for use with ethidium bromide
solutions --- but each filter can only process 10 liters (at a cost of about
$10 per filter). Neither of these options sounds particularly practical.......

Thanks for your thoughts on this. All answers will be kept in strict
confidence (!).

Alice Givan
Englert Cell Analysis Laboratory
Dartmouth Medical School
Lebanon, NH 03756 USA