Knowledge Base

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is a federal law that requires the regulation of underground storage tanks (USTs). The purpose of the law is to prevent the contamination of soil and water from leaking storage tanks. An underground storage tank is a tank or combination of tanks connected by piping systems that have at least 10% of their combined volume beneath the ground.

Hazardous materials are commonly used throughout the University for research, teaching, and maintenance related work. The utilization of these substances often requires the transportation of the material from one location to another. It is during the transportation phase that containers are most vulnerable to breakage and spillage. When a hazardous materials spill occurs, it frequently can create unsafe conditions, which can interrupt normal activities.

1. Assemble the infectious waste box provided by Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) and ensure that all markings are oriented correctly with “Up Arrows” pointed upward.

2. Tape all seams with sturdy packaging tape. NOTE: Masking tape is not acceptable.

3. Line the infectious waste box with the EHS provided red plastic infectious waste bag prior to the

University buildings and construction sites may contain hazardous materials (i.e., asbestos, lead paint, mercury, PCBs, petroleum, radioisotopes, etc.) that may be disturbed as a result of renovation or demolition. Federal EPA regulations require that an asbestos assessment be conducted and that abatement take place prior to renovation or demolition, if these materials can be damaged.

Disinfectants are intended to destroy or irreversibly inactivate microorganisms (e.g., viruses, bacteria, and pathogenic fungi), but not necessarily spores and inanimate objects. Due to these beneficial properties, disinfectants are used for routine cleaning, treatment, as well as infectious waste spill containment and clean-up.

The collection, transportation and characterization of hazardous chemical waste at the Ohio State University falls under the direction of the Environmental Affairs program. In accordance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) the program encourages generators to utilize various chemical minimization methods to reuse, reduce the quantity and toxicity of chemical waste. 

Many materials that laboratories submit as chemical waste are actually surplus chemicals that are reusable. As part of Environmental Health and Safety’s (EHS) commitment to waste minimization, the Chemical Redistribution Program accepts both opened and unopened containers of unwanted chemicals from laboratories and service areas throughout campus. This Program has successfully redistributed over one million dollars in usable chemicals that otherwise would have cost more than four times that amount for disposal.