Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi,

The answer of how you dispose of methanol extracts may depend on where you are working. In an industrial laboratory all chemical wastes are normally collected in 55 gallon drums, and sent off to an authorized hazardous waste disposal company. This is a legal requirement, and companies get into huge trouble with the government if they fail to do this.

If you are working in a school lab, talk to the person in charge of the laboratory and follow their instructions.

If you are working at home, I cannot give you advice. Strictly speaking, it is not legal to pour any chemical waste down the drain - in most jurisdictions you must send the waste to an authorized hazardous waste disposal company (for an expensive fee) to comply with the environmental laws. If you know someone working in a chemical lab, perhaps they can help you with the disposal. Alternatively, contact your city government - some cities now sponsor hazardous waste disposal events where you can drop off your chemical wastes for safe disposal.

Good luck with the project!


Barrett Tomlinson

Hi,

I have merged all of your topics back under your original topic--please keep all your questions in this topic in the future; it will help the experts better help you.

Hi Deo,

It's very important to always reply on the same thread so everyone is notified of your response. If you do, everyone who is helping you will be notified when you post a question. I look for new inquiries on Sundays only, but I usually respond on other days if I see a notification in my e-mail.

For the methanol disposal, you need to follow the local laws for disposal. In the US, we collect methanol and other solvents in a special container in the hood and the container is taken a hazardous waste collection site when the container is full. I imagine that the requirements for organic solvent disposal are similar in the Philipines, but you need to find out what the legal requirements are for your city, and follow the law. It is very important for scientists to follow are laws and safety regulations when doing research projects. Methanol is toxic, so must be handled accordingly.

It sounds like you may have started doing your experiment already. It would be very helpful if you could post your experiment and explain what you are planning to do. We can do a better job of answering your specific questions if we know what the general project is. It’s hard to give a good answer to an isolated question if we don’t understand what is happening. Perhaps next time you post a question, you could explain what is happening that made you think of asking the question. Do you have a teacher or someone who can show you the specific techniques involved with this project, or are you trying to do this on your own?

Have you had a chance to read the articles and references I have previously posted? Please let me know if you could not access any of the information and I will print it out, scan it and upload it so you can see it. I want to make sure you understand the chemistry of what you are doing. The reason I am suggesting this, is that it sounds like you are following a protocol for indigo extraction from the plants. Methanol will extract the indigo precursor, but might not extract all possible antifungal compounds. If you look at the structure of antifungal compounds, you will see that most are hydrophobic and some are more polar than others. This means that some of these compounds will dissolve in polar solvents like methanol, and others will not dissolve in methanol, but might dissolve in a less polar solvent like methylene chloride or chloroform. If you use just methanol extraction, you will miss antifungal compounds that are soluble in non-polar solvents. Can you tell me if you think any of the known antifungal compounds are soluble in water?

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Donna Hardy