Potassium bromide (CAS 7758-02-3): storage and disposal

Oxidising chemicals and strong oxidising acids are the neighbours to avoid, since either can free brown bromine vapour from a bromide, so do not keep the tub on a shelf with them. A dry general shelf is otherwise enough. Dust is the practical hazard: because it causes serious eye irritation, wear eye protection when scooping and close the lid afterwards. University labs often keep a tub for pressing infrared discs, and veterinary practices may hold it as part of treatment for dogs with epilepsy, so labels should show the source and date of receipt. A tub of white salt looks like many others, so write the full name clearly.

A white, free flowing salt is what to expect. Damp makes it cake into lumps, and a tub in a humid store may have set solid. It gives few distinctive signs of its own, so the container carries the evidence: a faded or lifted label, a cracked tub, a stained cap and no date of receipt. A yellow or brown tinge or an unusual odour is not normal for this salt and may indicate contamination. Do not open a suspect container to investigate or attempt to close one that may be reacting. Record observations that can be made safely and request specialist advice.

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 We do not publish a drain or general waste route for any chemical.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

Grouped in a lab pack with compatible solids, potassium bromide is kept away from oxidisers and acids for the same reason it is on the shelf. Waste code 16 05 06* is the usual entry, with 18 02 05* for a veterinary setting, or generally 18 02 08 for a licensed veterinary medicine, so say which kind of holder it came from and whether it is a medicine. It does not go into a sink, a drain, a general waste bin or a skip, however mild it looks, and staff should not try to treat it first. Record the container size, how much is left, whether it has caked and whether any is in a dispensing pot from a veterinary treatment room.

Usually held as: solid.

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.