Chloroxylenol (CAS 88-04-0): storage and disposal

Because it can cause an allergic skin reaction, the habit that matters is not decanting it by hand. In a school or college store, keep the solid and any solutions in sealed, labelled containers on a general shelf with a date from arrival. The powder and the made-up solutions should not share a container, and ready-mixed antiseptic should be kept separate from the laboratory stock so that nobody uses a lab bottle for first aid. In a pharmacy or clinic, keep the bottle upright in a tray away from food. Phenolic products have a strong medicinal smell, so a tight cap is the first sign of good storage.

Powder or crystals should be loose and clean. Hard lumps, damp patches or clumps stuck to the glass mean the container has not been sealed. Solutions should be uniform. A deposit, a film, cloudiness that was not there before, or crust round the cap point to trouble. A strong smell in the cupboard before any bottle is opened suggests a cap that no longer seals. There is little else to see, so the visible checks are mostly on the container: faded or missing labels, softened plastic, staining on shelves and a bottle with no date.

We arrange this by specialist collection. We do not publish a drain or general waste route for any chemical. It is normally packed in a general laboratory pack with compatible chemicals.

A school or college with an out-of-date bottle should say whether it is the solid or a solution, give the strength on the label and the volume left, and describe the container. The usual entry is 16 05 06*, a human healthcare setting usually uses 18 01 06*, and 16 05 08* covers a discarded organic chemical that is not part of a laboratory pack. Antiseptic is not rinsed away at a sink, put in the general bin or poured into a clinical waste container. Solutions and solid are listed separately and go in the collection as a registered carrier packs them in compatible groups.

Usually held as: solid, solutions.

Tell us the container size and how many you hold. An estimate is enough to start with, and some items cannot be priced until someone has looked at them.