On April 22, 2004, Dana-Farber received a Making Medicine Mercury Free award from the EPA.
We should all be proud of the work done to earn that award.
We cannot stop now, keeping mercury out of our wastewater and not
purchasing mercury-containing products is a continuous effort.
Here are some reminders of
what we must do to maintain our mercury-free status:
- Always
purchase mercury free thermometers and barometers.
Remember that the red material in a thermometer is alcohol, not
mercury
- Buy
mercury-free Harris hematoxylin. Harris
hematoxylin is oxidized using mercuric chloride.
The mercury free version uses zinc chloride.
- Mercury
lamps from microscopes must be disposed of as hazardous waste- put them in
your Satellite Accumulation Area with your other waste.
- Germicidal
lamps from the tissue culture cabinets contain mercury and there is no
alternative. These should be
taken by Maintenance when changed. If
not, call Maintenance at x2-3185 to have them taken for recycling.
- If
you have tissue that has been fixed in Zenkers or B-5 fixative, do not rinse
the tissue in the sink- rinse it over a container and collect the rinsate as
waste.
- If
you are doing Western Blots or ELISAs and are not using alkaline
phosphatase as your enzyme, you are most likely using materials that are
preserved with the mercury containing preservative, thimerosal.
The 1st wash with the secondary antibody, secondary
antibody dilutions, and preserved buffers must be collected as waste.
- To
avoid collecting this waste, purchase secondary antibodies from companies
that do not use mercury preservatives. For a list of companies, go to
here.
Thank you for all your
work, and please contact Melissa
McCullough if you have any questions or suggestions.
EH&S
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