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A friend of mine works in a Pfizer lab and tells me how the technicians are constantly pouring drugs down the normal drains because a lot of rooms don't have th
by hanniabu 11y ago
A friend of mine works in a Pfizer lab and tells me how the technicians are constantly pouring drugs down the normal drains because a lot of rooms don't have the special drains for chemicals.
You'd think it'd be mandatory for every lab to have those special sinks. It may even be, but she tells me everybody is afraid of speaking up about that and various other safety protocols because they don't want it to affect their employment. Even if they did say something, it'll probably get stopped at management and nothing will every come of it.
- mirimir 11y agoI was thinking post-consumer. But your comment reminds me of horror stories from India. Regulation there is even less well enforced, based on what I've read.
- xkcd-sucks 11y agoIt's really not difficult to chuck waste drugs into some bleach... more likely, nobody cares.
- hanniabu 11y agoWhat does the bleach do? And she's a biomedical engineer and works with a lot of dangerous viruses both from humans and animals. So it's not just drugs that are getting put into the water sadly.
- mirimir 11y agoBleach is standard for infectious stuff. Some drugs, maybe even most, would be destroyed. But some for sure would not. Maybe chromic acid cleaning solution?
- hanniabu 11y agoI asked her today and she said they don't have any procedures if the like. It's a shame that a company like that takes no responsibility and it's horrible that there's nothing in place to make sure they do.