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School of Biological Sciences School of Biological Sciences

Disposal of Unwanted Equipment through Surplus Sales

Equipment Requiring Special Decontamination Procedures

  • If isotopes were used with your equipment, please request a radiation decontamination clearance from EH&S before decontaminating the unit. If your unit shows signs of radiation contamination, follow EH&S's instructions on how to decontaminate and safely prepare the unwanted unit for disposal.
  • If ethidium bromide was used with your equipment:
    1. wash all surfaces with warm soapy water
    2. Wear appropriate PPE (lab coat, gloves, safety glasses) and collect all materials used in clean-up (all liquid, gloves, paper towels) as hazardous waste.
    3. Tag the clean-up material and have EH&S pick it up

Steps to Dispose of Unwanted Equipment

For Biology labs only! Laboratories with administrative bases in other departments (Physics, Kavli Institute, Neurosciences, Medicine, Pharmacy, etc.), please contact your respective fiscal units for assistance with equipment disposal/surplus sales requests.
  1. Request radiation decontamination clearance (if applicable)
  2. Clean and decontaminate equipment. This means to scrub away visible, dried up spill/chemical residue with warm soapy water, and wipe all surfaces with freshly made 10% bleach.
  3. Email [email protected] for a ‘green tag’ to indicate that the equipment is free of contamination
  4. To request a Surplus Sales pick-up and to make adjustments to the faculty’s equipment inventory, please see instructions on how to submit a Surplus Sales Transfer Request (STR).
Questions or concerns? Contact your School Safety Officer at [email protected] or 858-333-9791.