Aluminium oxide (CAS 1344-28-1): storage and disposal

Chromatography grade alumina is sold at a stated activity, and keeping it that way depends on keeping it dry. A jar left loosely closed on a prep-room shelf slowly takes in moisture from the air, so a tight lid and a dry cupboard matter more than any hazard rule here. Keep it separate from other white powders such as silica, calcium carbonate and fillers, because a plain label like alumina is easily confused with these. Write the grade, the supplier's batch if it is known and the date opened on the label. Any alumina that has been used in a column belongs in its own labelled tub and not back in the stock jar.

This substance gives few striking visible signs. What does change, if the lid has not been tight, is the fact that the powder has quietly taken up water, which does not show but spoils its chromatography performance. The visible clues are the container's: lumps or clumping in a powder that should pour freely, dusty residue round the cap and a label that no longer says which grade is inside. Powder from a column that has been dried out and put back in the jar is another form of contamination. A jar without a grade or date should be treated as unknown white powder until the paperwork turns up.

By specialist collection only. It never goes down the drain or into general waste. It is normally packed in a non-regulated or low hazard laboratory pack with compatible chemicals.

It is not classified as hazardous on the sources we checked, but it is still a chemical waste, so a waste transfer note travels with it and the description must be accurate. The relevant code in a laboratory setting is 16 05 09, and 18 01 07 applies in a human healthcare setting such as a hospital pharmacy. Alumina that has been used for chromatography may carry solvent or compounds from the column, so describe used and unused material separately and say what the column held. Neither goes into a sink or the ordinary bin. Keep the original jar if the lid seals, and request a specialist collection.

Usually held as: powder, chromatography grade.

Part-used bottles and full containers are both fine. Tell us the size and how many, and an estimate is enough for a first price.