Are we the only ones who had trouble implementing the Eco funnels?

 

They seemed like SUCH a good idea! We bought them years ago when they were new – all translucent white with a hollow space in the top of the lid. Students routinely walked up to them, ignored all colors and signs we could think of & poured their waste into the hollow in the lid. The lid held about 200 – 300 mL, maybe. The staff would receive a message that the waste bottle was full.

It was such a tricky – and often repeated – task to lift the funnel off the bottle, pour the waste into another container, rinse the waste into the correct waste container... that we gave up.

 

The lids are now red and flat (no hollow), so others must have reported something similar.

 

 

Our lab outfitted (with local health authority encouragement) the standard 4L solvent/acid bottles with a screw on adapter intended to fit 4L bottles.   The adapter is available commercially in white plastic with a red hinged lid that offered the advantages of wide-mouth and mesh  cover of the narrow mouth to catch stir bars and debris.  These were a must in our labs even in hoods to control vapors.  They worked quite well though the whiny  lab members would prop the lids open for their personal convenience, being basically lazy and not really with the program.

The adapters are commonly available but I don’t remember the supplier..

Lee
 


On 10/13/15,

I love Eco Funnel systems.  They are EPA compliant and the strainer catches magnets  We collect in these and transfer to others to discard.  They are not cheap, but are definitely worth it.  However, that being said, safety coated bottles are not cheap either.  Usually, you can find the product you want at the link below and order it through VWR (may have to have your rep quote a price) and it will be cheaper than Lab Safety.  Lab Safety has been very good about sending us replacement parts for the clasps, which will fail eventually.

http://www.calpaclab.com/eco-funnels/

As for narrow mouth containers, I do not see any advantage to those.  I prefer wide mouth, safety coated bottles.  All of our bottles are recycled 2.5 or 4 L solvent or acid bottles.  Anything that comes through the stockroom empty has all manufacturers labels removed, is rinsed with an appropriate solvent (added to waste), and thoroughly washed and allowed to air dry (no lid in storage).  I only use plastic bottles for nitric acid waste - a lesson learned.

S-

Samuella B. Sigmann, NRCC-CHO

Senior Lecturer/Safety Committee Chair/Director of Stockroom

A. R. Smith Department of Chemistry

Appalachian State University

525 Rivers Street

Boone, NC   28608

Phone: 828 262 2755

Fax: 828 262 6558

Email: sigmannsb**At_Symbol_Here**appstate.edu

 

-----  Original Message -----
 
From:  Stuart, Ralph <mailto:Ralph.Stuart**At_Symbol_Here**KEENE.EDU>  
 
To:  DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU  
 
Sent:  Tuesday, October 13, 2015 8:00 AM
 
Subject:  [DCHAS-L] Lab Waste accumulation bottle preference
 

I’m getting ready to order some waste accumulation bottles for  our laboratories and wonder if there is a practical reason to have narrow  mouth bottles rather than wide mouth bottles. It seems like the wide mouth  bottles would eliminate the need for a funnel during the filling process and  lead to less exterior contamination of the waste bottle. However, standard  practice appears to be narrow mouth bottles and I wonder if this is due to a  specific practical reason or inertia?

Thanks for any thoughts on  this.

- Ralph


Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
Chemical Hygiene  Officer
Keene State College

ralph.stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu