Safe disposal of used pickle

As with everything, too much copper is dangerous, but “copper actually kills all the bacteria” is an overstatement. Virtually every living thing needs some copper (see Copper - Health Professional Fact Sheet), but too much can be toxic. Let’s be reasonable; reasonable is not the opposite of cautious.

Here are guidelines from Vanderbilt University Medical Center for disposal of lab waste. These are designed for safety and to conform to Nashville regulations. Copper is specifically forbidden, even after dilution. I live in Texas and I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if the rules were different here.
https://www.vumc.org/safety/waste/chemical-waste-sewer-disposal#summary_limited

Yes copper is trace mineral we need, but not necessarily every day. trace amounts. Which also rises the fear people have about putting copper down the drain. We get most of the copper from our foods. Some people don’t absorb enough, thus supplementation is required. I have low Vit. D. I should be getting it naturally from sunshine. Well when it was found it was .5 on a scale that should be between 30 to 100. I take 50K IU 3 times a week. I stay around 35 to 40. Other people taking as much as I do would be dying. Yet it keeps me alive. Freaked my pharmacist out until upon his refusal to fill the prescription I had my endocrinologist call him direct. Yes we need copper but it depends on the person and how much.

As for down the drain, the amount that gets dumped is far more than the mg. of copper a person would take. At those quantities it does kill off the bacteria. Just like copper surfaces are able to kill off most bacteria fast. Sending it down the drain depends on the destination of that larger quantity than mg’s of the metal. Here in Florida considering the makeup of the soil, it it not going to harm much. Reason is our soil is so akaline the sulfate part of the copper sludge or liquid will be neutralized further. leaving purer copper. Same in the southwest USA where it would have to break through the caliche layer that is also akaline. The worst problems come from septic tanks that need bacteria to break down what we put into the tank. Most of the homes in TN. are going to have septic systems. The copper in the large more than mg quantity will kill of the septic tank bacterias. Thus you have an inactive waste disposal system. It needs the bacteria reintroduced to keep the break down going. In residential areas here there is a city sewer system, it goes through a larger system, that will not be as apt to all the bacteria influenced and die off. Once the materials reach the processesing plant it is turned into cake. Not the kind you eat, but think dried out sludge in a hockey puck form. No they don’t make hockey pucks from it. That is the result of all the filtering of the materials out of the liquid portion. Some cities will refilter many times and treat that water until it is reintroduced to the community as drinking water. The copper you sent down the drain is in that cake portion. It is of all things analyized and used as product portions of what are put into fertilizers. Guess where the plants we eat get their copper from if it is not naturally occuring. Those same city sewer systems get our shower/bath water. Some of what we wash off our bodies would surprise you. Same goes for some of those oh so wonderful cleaning products that was away what was on our bodies.

Don’t fear copper. Be informed about it fully if you have questions. Large jewelry factories would not be dumping spent pickle down the drain. Now if you were going to dump it down a drain and had a septic system with the leech field adjacent to a waterway ie river, lake, ocean, you should not dump it don the drain. after neutralizing, let the liquid part evaporate and then take the dried out portion to a waste disposal company.

Lab wastes are different from a pickle pot. Some of my 5 years worth of college level chemistry classes had some pretty nasty waste that in every single one of those labs, we dumped straight into one large container. That container when it was full would be sent to a hazardous waste disposal place. Medical lab waste is going to have more than just copper in it. Medical waste should be handled differently than a single pickle pot.

Nashville… I lived in Brentwood off Hollytree Gap. Went to Tennessee Tech’s Appalacian Craft Center to study under Bob Coogan. I also went through Alan Revere’s school in San Francisco. It was in California that we were shown how to nuetralize the pickle and horror’s dump it down the drain. Check out what is considered hazardous in California. I still laugh at the out lawing of dihydromonooxide. That happened in Dana Point. Short story, it was a high school senior who pointed out to the city council it was di hydro = 2 hydrogens, monooxide = one oxygen. H2O or water. I remember Vanderbilt University well. I was still wondering when I took some classes there if I wanted to go on in the medical field. I had gotten my degree in molecular bio chem before we moved there. With 2 young teenagers I did the 180 and did fine arts instead.

This same basic question comes up every few months. It should be in the FAQ. Fear is more hazardous than learning about a subject. Ever wonder why we don’t wear gloves and use hazmat protocols to work the copper? Cyanide is used to get gold out of the host rocks and refine it. Do we worry about gold? Peanuts are hazardous to some people, but not all. You get what I’m saying. Learn fully about what you fear. There is more Than one summary of waste disposal. Read the MSDS about copper. When you do, look at the amounts they talk about toxic levels. Mostly it will be an irritant. What form is it in when it is a irritant? Lotions come to mind. Again it is like peanuts, who is irritated.

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It amazes and astonishes me at how much information you’ve put out here and still, folks are continuing to freak out about pouring out used pickle down the drain! It must feel as though you’re hitting your head against a brick wall! Unbelievable! I read up on how to dispose of the pickle prior to using it and have never questioned it. I live out in the county and have a septic. A pot of pickle usually lasts me a couple of months or longer depending on how often I can make it down to my shop.
I’m just amazed at all of the empirical data that you’ve so generously shared is going by the wayside due to unrational fears.

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Irrational fears! Sorry!

If you have moss you want to get rid of, I spray my neutralized pickle onto the roof. Dead moss. The rain further dilutes the pickle. I tested the grass at the base of the downspouts and the grass is green and healthy and the soil is pH neutral. Win - Win. I’m still trying to kill some small poplar trees with it but they just won’t succumb.