Cerium(IV) sulfate (CAS 13590-82-4): storage and disposal

In a school or college prep room ceric sulfate tends to be filed with the titration reagents on an open general shelf, which is the wrong home for a corrosive solid that burns skin. Give it a resistant tray low down in a ventilated corrosive store. In chemistry it acts as a strong oxidant, so keep it clear of organic reagents, paper packaging and anything that can give up electrons, and apart from other oxidisers. Solvent cabinets are a poor neighbour too, since a leak could attack their containers. Because of the aquatic classification, any spill needs absorbing and containing locally and never washing towards a drain.

A good jar holds a dry, free flowing solid in a yellow to orange shade. Few chemistry specific changes show up on the shelf, so the container is the better guide. Lumps, a damp patch at the base or crust around the neck suggest moisture has been drawn in. Corroded caps, cracked containers, stained labels and damage to the shelf beneath all point to leakage over time. Stock that has changed shade noticeably, or that has been topped up from other jars, is recorded as such. Nobody should open a suspect jar to look closer. Note the condition and let the collection team see it as it stands.

By specialist collection only. It never goes down the drain or into general waste. It is normally packed in a corrosive other laboratory pack with compatible chemicals.

Specialist collection is how this solid leaves the site, grouped with other compatible solids in a lab pack and written up under waste code 16 05 06*. A jar travelling as a discarded inorganic chemical outside a lab pack carries 16 05 07* instead. What helps the packer is a note of the orange colour, the amount left and whether the cap is corroded. Its effect on aquatic life is why no residue, however small, may be sent down a drain. It does not go in a bin or skip, and nobody on site should try to treat or reduce it.

Usually held as: solid.

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.