Uranium trioxide (CAS 1344-58-7): storage and disposal
Uranium trioxide is a radioactive oxide, usually an orange to yellow powder, held as legacy stock in schools, colleges and universities. It is fatal if swallowed or inhaled and may damage organs with repeated exposure, as well as being toxic to aquatic life. Bottles may carry old names such as uranic oxide. The radioactive rules determine how it is handled, with the Radiation Protection Adviser making the decisions.
- CAS number
- 1344-58-7
- Form
- Solid
- Storage class
- Toxic
- Signal word
- Danger
Acute toxicity
Serious health hazard
Hazardous to the environment
This chemical is a manual enquiry
This is radioactive. Radioactive materials have their own regulations, which can require a permit or registration, and they need a specialist route, so we look at each one individually.
Uranium compound, radioactive.
It cannot be priced through a form. Please do not open or move it. Call us or send an enquiry and we will talk through the next step, which depends on what it is. Keep following your own procedures for controlled drugs, radioactive materials, gases and asbestos.
What to do this week
- Leave it where it is. If it looks old, crystalline or damaged, do not open or move it and keep people away from the shelf. If there is immediate danger, such as a leak, fumes or a fire, leave the area and call 999.
- Write down the label wording, the rough age and where it is stored, from a safe distance.
- Send us those details, and a photo if you can take one without touching it.
Safe storage in a school or lab
In a school, it is usually found at the back of an old prep room cupboard, among forgotten stock from an earlier chemistry or physics teacher. Elsewhere it tends to sit in a departmental legacy store with little documentation. Keep it exactly there, labelled, with a record of holding, behind a lock and well away from food and drink. If a cupboard has become the only record, begin one now: date found, label wording, shelf. The bright powder is fatal if inhaled, which is why a jar with a poor lid should not be tightened, opened or carried out to a bench. Tell your Radiation Protection Adviser, and ask them whether the cupboard needs any further signage.
How to tell it has deteriorated
Age does not reduce its radioactive status in any practical sense. Nor does the oxide give many visible signs: it is a dry powder that stays much the same, and slight darkening or caking on the surface tells you very little. Container condition is what you can judge. Look for orange or yellow dust on the shoulder of the bottle, on the shelf or on nearby labels, as well as cracked glass, a perished cap or a label that has lost its wording. A bright stain on a shelf is a warning that powder has already escaped. Do not open the jar to look at the contents or sweep up anything around it. Leave the cupboard closed and report what you saw.
How it is disposed of
This does not go through our standard collection route. It is arranged by manual enquiry, and never goes down the drain or into general waste.
Grouping with other chemicals is not an option, since this is radioactive material and does not belong in a lab pack with the rest of an old store. Treat it as a separate item from the moment you find it. Schools and colleges go to their Radiation Protection Adviser, and universities can also turn to their Radioactive Waste Adviser. They will know what the rules allow for your holding and how it should leave. An enquiry to us can help you describe it, and a store assessment is recommended, but it is not quoted online. Pass on the label wording, the amount and the state of the bottle. Nobody should repackage it, and it must not go in a general waste bin or a skip.
| Usually classed as hazardous waste | Yes |
|---|
No List of Waste code is given here. The waste is outside the chemical collection stream and is assessed by manual enquiry.
The code depends on where the waste came from and what it contains, and classifying it is the producer's duty. Use the waste code finder to see why.
Common quantities
Usually held as: legacy stock.
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.
Where it is commonly held
Hazard statements
- H300 Fatal if swallowed.
- H330 Fatal if inhaled.
- H373 May cause damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure.
- H411 Toxic to aquatic life with long lasting effects.
Substance as classified, dilutions may differ.
Questions
An orange powder in a bottle has no label. How do we find out if it is this?
Do not open it to find out. Report it as an unknown, with a note of the colour and where it sits, and mention any other uranium stock nearby. Your adviser can arrange an assessment. Plenty of old powders are orange or yellow, so colour alone does not identify this one.
Our predecessor kept this for teaching. Can we use it for a demonstration before it goes?
No. It is fatal if inhaled or swallowed, and the powder can spread very easily. Using legacy radioactive stock also raises questions under the rules that apply to your holding. Keep the bottle closed and in place, and ask your Radiation Protection Adviser about suitable alternatives for lessons.
Does old uranium trioxide lose its radioactivity over time?
Not in any way that matters to a holder. Uranium decays extremely slowly, so a bottle from decades ago counts just the same as a recent one. Keep it on the record of holding, and do not treat an old label as a reason to think it has become ordinary chemical waste.