Classification/separation
It is important to avoid releases of antibiotics that can reach the ecosystem. Antibiotic waste must be treated differently depending on its stability.
The following information presupposes that the waste does not contain substances or organisms that, by themselves, require the waste to be classed as hazardous waste. Antibiotics not listed below are treated as hazardous waste until another decomposition method has been approved (via the biosafety expert, who then enters the antibiotic on the list set out below).
Readily broken down and can be poured out in a sink:
Ampicillin, Carbenicillin, Chloramphenicol, Penicillin
Inactivated by heat and must be autoclaved (or boiled) before being poured out in a sink:
Amphotericin (Fungizone), Erytromycin, Geneticin (G418), Gentamicin, Neomycin, Puromycin, Streptomycin, Sulfadoxine, Tetracycline
Can withstand heat/autoclaving and have unknown properties and must be submitted for combustion
Blasticidin S, Ciprofloxacin, Enrofloxacin, Kanamycin, Nalidixic acid, Vankomycin (ought really to be replaced, the last one that works against multidrug-resistant staphylococci), Zeomycin, Zeocin
Handling/storage
Antibiotics to be deposited for combustion must be treated as hazardous waste. Solutions containing antibiotics are collected in plastic drums and treated as hazardous waste.
Marking/labelling
Stockholm University waste label filled in with:
- Type of waste, specification: “Antibiotics” and specification
- Submitting department, department number and reference
- Submitter’s name, phone no and date
Hand-over/transport
Waste can be deposited on Wednesdays or Fridays at 10.30-11.00 in room M212 at KÖL (Chemical Education Laboratories), Svante Arrhenius väg 16F. The waste contractor then transports the waste for destruction.
Final disposal
Combustion arranged by the waste contractor.
Specific legislation
AFS 2005:5 Cycostatics and Other Medicinal Products with Lasting Toxic Effects