Phenoxyethanol (CAS 122-99-6): storage and disposal

Neat bottles tend to be small, glass or plastic, and are often tucked on a shelf beside mountants and fixatives in histology or at the back of a pharmacy compounding cupboard. The serious eye damage classification is the reason for keeping them low and upright on a tray, not above bench height. Check that the cap is tight, since the vapour is a respiratory irritant, and keep the date of receipt on the label. A bottle labelled as a preservative may be a made-up product and should be recorded as it is printed, not assumed to be neat. Keep it away from open benches and from food, and group it with general liquid stock, not with acids.

This liquid gives few visible signs. It is normally a clear, colourless, slightly oily liquid and nothing about the name or the condition suggests a particular chemical change with age, so the container carries the evidence. Look for a bottle that is lower than it should be, a dried residue or sticky film at the neck, a cracked or softened plastic bottle, a stained or peeling label, and rings on the shelf under it. A cap that smells of the liquid when you walk past shows it is not sealing. Any bottle with no date or a label you cannot read should be listed rather than guessed at.

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 We do not publish a drain or general waste route for any chemical.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

How it is grouped and packed depends on whether it is neat. A bottle of the neat liquid is listed with its volume and packed with other compatible organic liquids in sealed UN approved packaging, while a preservative product is listed by the name on its label. The usual code in a university is 16 05 06*, and 18 01 06* in a pharmacy or other human healthcare setting. The eye damage classification means that bottles with damaged caps are described carefully. It does not go to a sink or the general bin, and it is not for diluting or treating. A registered carrier collects it.

Usually held as: neat, preservative.

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.