All,
Based on kanamycin's structure, I think it's fairly unlikely that it would survive treatment with bleach intact, as the bleach would almost certainly react with the amines hanging off the sugar rings. In fact, I would strongly recommend
that the bleach be added in a fume hood since I would imagine it could generate some interesting gases, albeit only in small quantities due to the small amount of kanamycin.
That leads to the question, though, of what the properties/hazards of the reaction product would be. At that point it at least somewhat depends on your local regulations so you'd want to contact your POTW like Jeff said. My view is probably
skewed because our POTW is extremely strict, but my gut instinct says that regulators would want evidence that the byproducts were non-hazardous before permitting drain disposal. If so, then you have to make the cost-benefit analysis of paying to get
the waste characterized vs. paying to just dispose of it all as nonRCRA waste like Jeff said.
Another option depends on how the kanamycin is specifically being used. Depending on the exact nature of the experiments, it's possible that the kanamycin gets consumed in the course of the experiment, in which case problem solved.
Sincerely,
Jack Reidy (he/him)
Research Safety Specialist, Assistant Chemical Hygiene Officer
Environmental Health & Safety
Stanford University
484 Oak Road, Stanford, CA, 94305
Tel: (650) 497-7614
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
On Behalf Of Jeffrey Lewin
Sent: Friday, June 10, 2022 12:42 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Disposing of kanamycin
Jennifer,
One of the first steps is to ask the person who manages waste water at your institution to contact your Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) aka your waste water plant to see if they will accept the waste as is.
If not, it becomes a bit more challenging. Simplest is to collect it and dispose of it as a nonRCRA (i.e. not a listed or characteristic "Hazardous Waste" but a waste that is still harmful to the environment or human health). You don't
say how much waste you're generating.
As for "heat inactivation" a little digging found conflicting answers. Virginia Tech has a document indicating it is heat-sensitive. The non-peer reviewed (?)
Antibiotic Disposal in the Lab: Simple Tips to Get it Right has conflicting information, in one table it lists it as heat-sensitive but in a second table it states "Not destroyed by normal autoclaving/boiling. Can be autoclaved at very acidic pH. Alternatively,
it must be delivered as chemical waste"
Pub Chem states: "Decomposes over a wide range above 250 ¡C. /Kanamycin sulfate/ Larranaga, M.D., Lewis, R.J. Sr., Lewis, R.A.; Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary 16th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, NJ 2016., p. 796"
But heat-sensitive may be moot since you state: "Our concern is the very small amount of kanamycin in the large amount of water and
bleach..." Most autoclave manufacturers void the warranty of autoclaving corrosive compounds unless the autoclave is specially lined.
And, if it contains bleach, you do not want to mix in acid. Stanford University has an excellent set of safety precautions on use of Sodium Hypochlorite
(Bleach) and points out bleach mixed with acids can release chlorine gas.
As for your ultimate question, very few of the references focused on using bleach to destroy antibiotics, and those that did, none specifically list kanamycin.
One of our researchers uses kanamycin in their antibiotic resistance studies. The total amount used over 10 weeks is about 100mg and would never exceed 200mg. They are working with microgram quantities on a weekly basis.
The NIH Drain Disposal guide suggests kanamycin should be treated as hazardous waste (collected and sent to disposal) Is anyone familiar with alternative disposal for kanamycin? Our concern is the very small amount of kanamycin in the
large amount of water and bleach would have a drastic effect on our waste stream.
Is bleach sufficient to render the kanamycin appropriate for drain disposal? I have also seen suggestions that kanamycin be treated with acid to render it inactive and thus okay for drain disposal; but then wonder would neutralizing the
acid (to make that appropriate for drain disposal) nullify the acid inactivation?
We do have access to an autoclave, but the NIH guide seems to suggest heat does not render kanamycin safe for the drain.
Your thoughts are appreciated,
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--
Jeff Lewin
Director of Chemical Laboratory Operations
Research Integrity Office
Michigan Technological University
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