Survey and Classification of Chemical and Biological Laboratories Waste (Case Study: Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences Faculty of Sciences & Technology ALNeelain University)

Abstract

Abstract: Biological and chemical laboratories waste at universities in Sudan is a real and tangible problem that needs to be properly addressed for safer usages and disposal methods, due to the increased number of universities in Sudan which grew up to 25 State-level Universities which could take up to 200 students per academic year. This study is a survey and classification of the biological and chemical laboratories waste and methods of disposal, where Al Neelain University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology is the case study. The survey was a result of monitoring, working inside the laboratories and follow up with students while conducting their experiments to examine how the safety measures and precautions are implemented within the laboratories and their environment during the working hours. The identification and classification of chemical and biological agents (microorganisms, experimental animals) are done according to the scientific references(1,2) used in teaching, OSHA material safety data sheet web site(4) and Bio-Rad web site(6)to determine the level of danger and hazards of these materials. Analysis revealed that the microbiology laboratory consumes most of the extremely hazardous materials followed by molecular biology laboratory and biochemistry laboratory. By material 37% of chemicals are classified as extremely hazardous materials and should be handled with extreme caution, and 50% of these materials are ranging between hazardous and less hazardous which must also be handled and dealt with in proper manner to avoid risk and 13% of the materials are safe and can be disposed of by normal methods. By quantities used per academic year the non-hazardous material, less hazardous materials, and extremely hazardous represents about 2.67%, 14.42%, and 83% respectively.