Dumping Fixer in NYC

[morback]

I'm unsuccessful in finding a lab in NYC that would take my spent fixer. This thread gives instructions to alternatives but I'd rather give it to someone. This would be a last resort.

Who has someone in NYC they give their spent fixer to? Preferred locations are the border of UWS/Midtown West (Hell's Kitchen) and East Village / LES. Or the Queens south Astoria, Sunnyside/Woodside area...

I'm tired of going door to door and looking at blank left-to-right shaking faces. I feel like a Jehovah's witness... I need someone who knows what they're doing.

Thanks,
m.

 

[rogerchristian]

Unless you are a big-time user, and have gallons of the stuff at one time, it is probably OK to put it down the drain. Hobbyists use so little of the stuff that it is generally not a problem. Think of it like this: You put half a gallon of fixer down the drain. A toilet flush is 3-7 gallons, the dilution factor is pretty great, not to mention all the rest of the water you put down the drain from dishes, shower, etc.

I agree that your intentions are good, but even the EPA forgives the casual user. If you were running a commercial or retail lab that would be a different matter, but since you are not, I would not worry about it.

Somebody may take potshots at me for this post, but like everything, there are good intentions, practical solutions and 'insignificant' issues, this is pretty small potatoes if I understand your post, if not, then I amend my answer to one of upgraded solutions.

You can call Photo Marketing Association International in Michigan or check their website for info, www.pmai.org, they have a compliance department which keeps all the updated info on this vis-a-vis current government regs, EPA, etc., and is probably has the most current info.

 

[mich8261]

I have some 3 year old fixer that i would also like to dispose of properly. I haven't called 311 yet. If I do, it will be to dispose of "dangerous chemicals". I would rather give it to someone that will reclaim the silver.

 

[-doomed-]

I keep reading about dropping steel wool into the bottom of a bucket with the spent fixer to attract the silver or something along those lines,

 

[colyn]

Unless you are dumping hundreds of gallons it will do no harm to pour a few gallons down the drain. And this comes from my local city waste disposal dept.

 

[-doomed-]

Thanks for that link , ill have to look into it for when i get the darkroom set up at my pops farm. I'd like to avoid dumping stuff down the septic system that isnt really good for it.

 

[bmattock]

I would advise you to check with the city.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/materials_minerals_pdf/hhwma.pdf

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Division of Solid and Hazardous Materials
Bureau of Waste Reduction and Recycling

...

PHOTOGRAPHIC CHEMICALS may contain a number of toxic or corrosive ingredients and should be handled very carefully. Photographic chemicals that contain silver, such as photographic fixer solutions, can be reclaimed. Ask a local photographer or photo finishing lab if they can recycle your wastes. Otherwise, the chemicals are best brought to a household hazardous waste collection program. Small amounts (less than one pint) of photographic chemicals may be poured down the drain, if necessary, provided that they do not contain silver, hexavalent chromium or ferrocyanide.

Fixer contains silver.

http://www.med.cornell.edu/ehs/updates/silver.htm

Photoprocessing wastes may contain silver which is considered a toxic heavy metal by the Environmental Protection Agency. The silver is primarily present as soluble silver thiosulfate complex. Silver sulfide is present in smaller amounts. Depending on the stage from which the waste originates and the type of film processed, the silver concentration can range between 5 mg/L and 12,000 mg/L. Therefore photoprocessing solutions and spent rinse waters are classified as hazardous wastes. In addition to photoprocessing solutions and spent rinse waters, films and negatives may contain high silver concentrations and require management as hazardous wastes.

It is illegal to dispose of hazardous wastes via drains, normal trash, or any other means which would result in a release to the environment or discharge to the city sewer system. Photoprocessing solutions and spent rinse waters must either be collected and sent to Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) for disposal or processed to remove the silver before drain disposal. All films and negatives must be collected and sent to EHS.

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/13/n...osal-of-dangerous-materials.html?pagewanted=1

In New York City, many of these items can be taken to a special waste-receiving site near the Muldoon Avenue entrance to the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island, said Lucian Chalfen, a Sanitation Department spokesman.
...
The city's Department of Environmental Protection will dispatch inspectors to examine questionable materials and will provide advice on disposal, including a list of licensed hazardous waste haulers, said Charles Strucken, the agency's chief of staff. For information call: 718-DEP-HELP.

 

[robklurfield]

people dump many things in sodom and gomorrah. 30 or so years ago, while sunning herself on one NYC's mostly-abandoned-then and now-gone westside piers overlooking the hudson, my wife spied a bloated body body floating down the river. she called NYC's finest, who, with the kind of aplomb only late 1970's/early 80's cops could muster, and acting as if this were as common an occurence as writing a parking ticket, had it hauled out of the river.

the hudson is the cleanest now that it has been in many, many years, so hats off to you, Martin, for not wanting to pee in the pool as it were.

 

[Roger Hicks]

If the EPA thinks silver is a toxic heavy metal, they are not very good scientists and they have not been reading the CDC's observations about it (Center for Disease Control, Atlanta): http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts146.html

The CDC is not noted for being insouciant or sloppy.

Cheers,

R.

 

[morback]

Ok, thanks everyone for chiming in. We're not even talking about 1L, so that's not even half a gallon.

I'll dispose of my fixer the next time I'll dispose of body waste and at least I'll save a flush...

 

[bmattock]

As always, I enjoy a good chuckle when people who ordinarily are save-the-planet granola-crunchers espouse pouring their chemicals into the sewer system, regardless of potential environmental damage or existing laws prohibiting it. I guess it's ok if it's for art, or if it's personally inconvenient to do the right thing.

I get the same chuckle when noting that vegetarians and vegans use film, which is made from the boiled hooves and bones of animals. They'll throw red paint on people who wear fur, they assiduously avoid leather shoes and belts, but film? No problem, d00d, we *like* film. And they get angry if it's pointed out to them.

Hehehehehe. Carry on.

 

[Chuck Albertson]

You might check with the x-ray department of the nearest hospital. A lot of it is digital these days, but those who develop conventional x-ray materials usually have some kind of silver recovery process.

 

[Roger Hicks]

As always, I enjoy a good chuckle when people who ordinarily are save-the-planet granola-crunchers espouse pouring their chemicals into the sewer system, regardless of potential environmental damage or existing laws prohibiting it. I guess it's ok if it's for art, or if it's personally inconvenient to do the right thing.

I get the same chuckle when noting that vegetarians and vegans use film, which is made from the boiled hooves and bones of animals. They'll throw red paint on people who wear fur, they assiduously avoid leather shoes and belts, but film? No problem, d00d, we *like* film. And they get angry if it's pointed out to them.

Hehehehehe. Carry on.

Dear Bill,

I generally manage a wry smile at those who have no sense of proportion or understanding of science.

Cheers,

R.

 

[bmattock]

Dear Bill,

I generally manage a wry smile at those who have no sense of proportion or understanding of science.

Cheers,

R.

I generally obey laws first and examine them for scientific validity later. And I try to avoid giving people advice that I know would be contrary to their local laws. Not to be pedantic about it.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I generally obey laws first and examine them for scientific validity later. And I try to avoid giving people advice that I know would be contrary to their local laws. Not to be pedantic about it.

Dear Bill,

So you have never knowingly exceeded the speed limit?

Sometimes it does not take long to examine the scientific (or indeed moral, or even in the US, constitutional) validity of a law, and to come to the conclusion that it is unenforceable and pointless.

Anyone who breaks a law does so at their own risk. I somehow doubt that on the strength of my previous posts, or even this one, I will be prosecuted for incitement.

Cheers,

R.

 

[bmattock]

So you have never knowingly exceeded the speed limit?

Certainly, although I try very hard to avoid it, and am in fact known for being particularly law-abiding in all things driving-related amongst my acquaintances (because they often find it frustrating that I will not engage in reckless lane-changing or punish people who cut me off in traffic, etc). If I am ticketed for speeding, it is my risk, my punishment. I do not, however, encourage others to break the speed limit. If asked, I always advise people to obey the law.

Sometimes it does not take long to examine the scientific (or indeed moral, or even in the US, constitutional) validity of a law, and to come to the conclusion that it is unenforceable and pointless.

True enough.

Anyone who breaks a law does so at their own risk. I somehow doubt that on the strength of my previous posts, or even this one, I will be prosecuted for incitement.

Nor do I.

 

[Ronald M]

What you use is miniscule and will cause no harm.

If you must, steel wool and then dump the rest.

It it were really that bad,, then we would have plastic coins. Providing the plasitic did not have lead content. If the government does it , it must be ok. right?

 

[rxmd]

I get the same chuckle when noting that vegetarians and vegans use film, which is made from the boiled hooves and bones of animals. They'll throw red paint on people who wear fur, they assiduously avoid leather shoes and belts, but film? No problem, d00d, we *like* film. And they get angry if it's pointed out to them.

Next time, try pointing out that their car runs on dead dinosaurs. And so does the bus. Oh noes!

 

[rxmd]

It it were really that bad,, then we would have plastic coins. Providing the plasitic did not have lead content. If the government does it , it must be ok. right?

If you grind your silver coins really small and pour them down the drain, it's a problem.

Silver is used in water purification on a large scale world-wide, because it has anti-microbial properties. It's quite amazing how little silver you actually need for that. Whether you call that toxic or not is a matter of definition of what's toxic, but silver purification tablets are made on an industrial scale and successfully used by everybody from hikers to armies by the millions every year.

One of the places where you don't want anti-microbial stuff is the activated sludge in your local sewage plant. That's why pouring filter down the drain is a bad idea. Dumping a bit of steel wool or a teaspoon of sodium dithionite is no work at all. A liter of fixer doesn't amount to much, that is definitely correct. But well, no matter what Roger thinks about science, caring or not caring about things that don't amount to much is the main difference between considerate and inconsiderate individuals.

And it's not really an environmental thing, it's just good old engineering. Talk to the guy at your sewage plant if you want a guaranteed 100% non-liberal arts opinion on the subject.

 

[morback]

Choosing your physician is choosing your disease: We all see the things we want to see.
I'll do what feels right to me since I'm the only one responsible for my actions.

This has certainly been an informative discussion.