Malathion (CAS 121-75-5): storage and disposal

Pharmacy stock lives on a dispensary shelf and veterinary stock in the medicines cupboard, so the first check is whether the lotion is separate from food, drink and animal feed. Keep bottles upright on a tray, so a leak stays contained and cannot reach a floor drain, given the aquatic hazard. The skin sensitiser statement means nobody should handle a leaking bottle bare-handed. Date the stock on arrival and keep it in a dry, labelled and well organised store, following the product safety data sheet for temperature, ventilation and separation from ignition sources. Some malathion lotion formulations contain flammable solvents. A lotion bought for a single treatment course often sits unused for years, so check old bottles when you do stock counts.

Look at the bottle rather than the liquid: a swollen or distorted body, a sticky residue around the cap, a stained label and a cap that has crept loose all suggest a poor seal. Malathion has a strong, unpleasant odour, so any smell noticed by chance near a closed bottle or cupboard may point to a leak. Nobody should sniff a bottle to check. Any change in colour or a separated layer should be noted. Loss of the date or the dispensing record is enough to class the bottle as unwanted.

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 We do not publish a drain or general waste route for any chemical.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.

Grouping depends on the actual product formulation, so give the product name and strength from the label. Keep bottles upright with caps sealed inside an outer container. Pouring it away, rinsing a bottle or wiping a spill into a drain is not acceptable because of the aquatic hazard, and it should not go in the general bin. The waste code depends on setting: human healthcare normally uses 18 01 09 and veterinary practices normally use 18 02 08. List bottle counts and condition.

Usually held as: topical lotion.

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.