The generation of chemical waste is inevitable in the productive research and teaching laboratory.

In some instances, chemicals that are more environmentally friendly may be substituted for traditionally used chemicals. If chemical substitution is not possible, the procedure may be rewritten using microscale techniques.

This section presents some of the waste minimization efforts underway in University of Michigan teaching and research laboratories. New waste minimization and pollution prevention initiatives will be added to this section as they are developed and implemented. For more information on any of the topics in this section, please contact the Department of Occupational Safety and Environmental Health or visit our Web site at www.oseh.umich.edu/.

• Chemical Redistribution Pilot Project
• Chemical Tracking Program
• Ethidium Bromide Waste Reduction
• Regeneration of Destaining Solution for Electrophoretic Gels
• Sample Preparation for Metals Analysis by Microwave Digestion
• Non-Radioactive System for Measuring Cell Proliferation
• Microscale Chemistry in Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories
• Mixed Waste Segregation
• Elimination of Mixed Waste Generation from Northern Blot Washings
• Substitution of Non-Flammable Carbon Dioxide for Flammable Ether in Immobilization of Drosophila
• Elimination of Methanol in Western Blotting
• Automated DNA Sequencing
• Dionex ASE200 Accelerated Solvent Extractor
• Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) of PCBs & Pesticides from Water Matrix

References:
Dunbar B. ed. Protein Blotting - A Practical Approach. Oxford University Press. 1994.
Harlow E., Lane D. Antibodies: A Laboratory Manual. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. 1988.
Reinhart P.A., Leonard K.L., Ashbrook P.C. Pollution Prevention and Waste Minimization in Laboratories. CRC Press Inc. 1996.
Sambrook J., Fritsch E.F., Maniatis T. Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual 2^nd ed.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. 1989.
Personal interviews with U-M Faculty and Staff.