this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2025
418 points (100.0% liked)

Science Memes

13563 readers
2821 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.



Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
418
[OC] Acetone: A Thread (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

I'm dying chat.

Credit: An anonymous labrat friend. Thank you.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 day ago (3 children)

What is the proper disposal method?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 13 hours ago

Pour it in a proper waste container with a label and hand it over to EHS if in a lab. If not, do what another commenter said and let small amounts evaporate in a well-ventilated place.

Large volumes are something you should contact local waste disposal about. This usually isn't free, but sometimes they have certain times of year they'll take them for free. Large volumes are ~ >1L.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Acetone evaporates quickly. You just let it sit for a minute and it'll dispose of itself

[–] [email protected] 2 points 13 hours ago

Our hoods have a solvent trap at the front in case of large spills, it's a stainless steel grate covering a large, high surface area secondary steel trap below. Ngl, I pour smaller amounts of pure volatiles in there to evaporate. Usually < 10 mL. Small volumes with dissolved solids get dumped in the glass waste container in the hood to evaporate before disposal too.

Not the best practice, but the pragmatic approach.

Larger volumes go to proper waste containers. Local EHS mostly just dilutes things before pouring it down the drain. Not much we can do about that, so I opt for greener solvents from the beginning wherever possible.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 18 hours ago

Yeah, I don't work in a lab, but if I clean something in the shop with Acetone, I leave the rag to dry on the side of the trash can. If I think it's a lot, I'll put it outside to evaporate or burn it.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago

so just inhale it all... ok

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 day ago

Wick it with some paper towels and let it evaporate.