Getting rid of THESE chemicals.

Mike Kennedy · Jan 30, 2006

I picked up 2 kits to convert T-Max 100 into slide film. They have been gathering dust in my basement for 3 years and I now want to dispose of them . Problem! The concentrates are highly toxic, etc. All sorts of scary symbols plastered on the boxes. How do I get rid of this stuff without harming fish or fowl?

Thanks Much,
Mike

Andy K · Jan 30, 2006

Mike Kennedy said:
I picked up 2 kits to convert T-Max 100 into slide film. They have been gathering dust in my basement for 3 years and I now want to dispose of them . Problem! The concentrates are highly toxic, etc. All sorts of scary symbols plastered on the boxes. How do I get rid of this stuff without harming fish or fowl?

Thanks Much,
Mike

Sell them to someone who would use it.

Mike Kennedy · Jan 30, 2006

Not really an option. Tried to give them away and donate them to the local school. No takers.

JMK

dancqu · Jan 30, 2006

Mike Kennedy said:
Not really an option.

Here is an option. In the States most cities of
any size have at least a toxic waste disposal drop
location. If the same in your local, bundle up
and drop off. Dan

Alicouscous · Jan 30, 2006

Only the bleach is different than traditional chemical for black and white photography .
Bleach is sulfuric acid (concentrate 3%) and potassium permanganat or dichromat .
Acid is not strong, you can dilute with 5 liters water and discard , there is no danger for environement .

You must take care with permanganat or dichromat (poisonnous) , I think the best is to burn them .

colrehogan · Jan 30, 2006

I am not familiar with the exact components of what you are describing (don't have a package in front of me with the ingredients), but would suggest that you do look for a waste disposal service in your area. Sulfuric acid is a strong acid in its concentrated state, so just be careful with all of it.

removed account4 · Jan 30, 2006

hey mike -

do you have a photo store near you?
call them, ask for the manager, and ask if
he can take them off your hands.

sometimes stores to that sort of thing, and it might be just as easy as
contacting your rubbish removal people to ask where to dispose of household chemicals.

good luck!

-john

joeyk49 · Jan 30, 2006

Most counties, and some cities, have a HAZMAT response team. They're either associated with a Fire or Law Enforcement organization or Office of Emergency Management (OEM). If you contact them, they would be able to recommend a disposal site.

Start with your local PD or FD and work your way up.

titrisol · Jan 30, 2006

Universities are also a good place to find HAZMAT disposal.

I concur only the dichromate maybe aproblem if it was present, but I guess it would be a permanganate which should be safer to dump after diluting in water (and will sanitize your toilet)

David A. Goldfarb · Jan 30, 2006

My high school chemistry teacher was very environmentally conscious, so he used to store up chemicals used in lab experiments in a bucket and let the water evaporate. After a few years of chemicals were collected he called the city about disposal, and they sent two firefighters with helmets, boots, and rain gear. Each grabbed one side of the bucket and carefully walked it down the block, away from the school, and dumped it in a storm drain.

Is it unshippable? There must be some APUG type interested in T-Max reversal kits, who would take them off your hands for shipping cost. You could post a classified.

Dinesh · Jan 30, 2006

Go to you local waste transfer station. You can drop off hazmat on Wed. and Sat. here in Toronto. There is also the "Toxic taxi" that the city provides to pick up hazmat.

reellis67 · Jan 30, 2006

I think the HAZMAT (part of most fire departments) or the local transfer station would be the best spots. I've heard of individuals dumping in the storm drain, but never the local fire department! Pretty sad if you ask me...

- Randy

PhotoPete · Jan 30, 2006

David A. Goldfarb said:
Is it unshippable? There must be some APUG type interested in T-Max reversal kits, who would take them off your hands for shipping cost. You could post a classified.

If it is legal to ship these to the USA, I am that APUGGER.

PM me if you like.

Mike Kennedy · Jan 30, 2006

Sending highly toxic / corrosive material to the U.S. of A in times like these and I would probably end up in the hoosecow! Kidding aside, the reason I picked them up was because Kodak sent 20 units, not the 2 ordered by my local camera shop. They are not licenced to send them back so I don,t think I could mail them. Sorry

Mike

Soeren · Jan 30, 2006

As they once said "The solution to polution is dilution"
What did you call those places Hazmat ? That would be the place to bring the stuff.
As you said. Toxic, corrosive and it may be carcinogenic. not something you just dump.
Regards Søren

gainer · Jan 30, 2006

Yell for APUG er Jordan Wosnick. He has been experimenting with reversal processing and is a chemist. I've got his email and will tell him to look for your post.

reellis67 · Jan 30, 2006

Soeren said:
As they once said "The solution to polution is dilution"

That only worked when there were a lot less people around....

- Randy

dancqu · Jan 30, 2006

reellis67 said:
That only worked when there were a lot less people around....

"... a lot less people around ..." That is the current solution. Dan

Ian Grant · Jan 30, 2006

As someone who until a year ago worked in precious metal recovery, and waste disposal of photo chemistry I had numerous meetings with senior chemists and others working for UK water boards, they followed similar procedure to other EEC countries and also Canada, Australia and the rest of North America.

Effectively yes they were concerned about discharges into sewers, but while photo chemicals must be diluted they were more concerned about actual volume and the impact at treatment plants, and the residual chemical levels in their treated water.

No amateur is going to produce enough effluent to make even a minute impact, certainly not when compared to the legal discharges from pro labs etc. At work we had a permit to discharge thousands of litres of Photo chemicals per day, mainly mixed Fix, Blix and Developers, the major criteria was pH, and silver level.

As an aside I'll add that my local Water board samples the fish over a very wide region, and they get put them in our local river afterwards, where they thrive despite the high but treated input of photo chemicals.

EDTA a component in Bleach fix is actually used to treat water, so desilvered Bleach fix saves them money !

Ian

htmlguru4242 · Jan 30, 2006

There's definetely somebody out there that can use these; the kit is quite expensive (somewhere in the $60.00 range new), so I'm sure that someone here could use it. If somebody wants it, I don't think that you can ship it US mail, though FedEx might take it.

Also, you can use the developers and other components for standard processing. As I believe has already been mentioned, you can just evaporate the bleach in a tray and bring the evaporated powder to a HAZMAT day, or even perhaps to a local photo lab that disposes of that stuff anyway.

Larry L · Jan 30, 2006

TMax Reversal Kit

I've used this kit before with excellent results. If you can ship to Iowa I'll take them for shipping costs. A lot of shippers will take stuff like this if the quantity is less than 1 gallon. Have a friend that is really into medium format and we'll have great fun with them.

In terms of nasties - the worst experience I ever had in the darkroom was getting the 2nd and third chemical of an Ilfochrome kit out of sequence - that will generate a small cloud in the waste bucket. Almost as bad as getting a wiff of chlorine gas in my college chemistry class. The warnings on those kits were not that obvious either.

Jordan · Jan 30, 2006

gainer said:
Yell for APUG er Jordan Wosnick. He has been experimenting with reversal processing and is a chemist. I've got his email and will tell him to look for your post.

Thanks for the tip Pat -- but I've got enough raw chemicals to mix reversal chemistry until the cows come home.

These kits consist pretty much of normal B&W chemistry -- the developer is likely to have a thiocyanate or thiosulfate additive packaged with it -- this and the developer concentrate can probably go down the drain if need be. The bleach in the Kodak kit is potassium permanganate (purple crystals). With proper treatment it too can be disposed of, but it's better to let the "Toxics Truck" deal with it. There will also be acid in the bleach kit.

There's probably some sodium metabisulfite packaged with this kit as a clearing bath for use after the permanganate bleach step.

Mike -- there's got to be a willing taker nearby. Where exactly are you located?

Mike Kennedy · Jan 31, 2006

Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Papa Tango · Feb 3, 2006

Put e'm on eBay, be sure to say "Rare" in the description and you will get three times what you paid for them...

Getting rid of THESE chemicals.

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