Cyanide
Brief exposure to high levels of airborne cyanide damages the brain
and heart, and may cause coma and death. Longer exposure to lower levels of cyanide may
result in breathing difficulties, heart pains, vomiting, headaches, and enlargement of the
thyroid gland. Ingesting cyanide may cause shortness of breath, convulsions, loss of
consciousness, and death. Skin contact with cyanide can produce irritation and sores.
Cyanide: P2 Options: Metal Finishing and Plating
- Train employees in proper equipment and chemical handling and
procedures.
- Consider replacing hazardous solvents with non-hazardous
alternatives.
- Install a solvent recycling system.
- Schedule batch processing so wastes or residue from one batch can be
used as input to the next.
- Reduce dragout and spilling by reducing the speed of parts lifted
from plating tanks.
- Consider replacing aqueous plating with ion vapor deposition.
- Change copper-bright dipping from a cyanide dip and chromic acid dip
to a sulfuric acid/hydrogen peroxide dip.
- Replace cyanide baths with non-cyanide alkaline baths such as
alkaline pyrophosphate for printed circuit board manufacturing and sodium hydroxide for
plating zinc.
- Replace cyanide-containing cleaners with ammonia or trisodium
phosphate.
- Replace cyanide salt heat treating with furnace heat treating or a
carbonate/chloride carbon mixture.
- Consider using a non-cyanide alkaline immersion stripping bath.
[Related
links][References]
Cyanide: P2 Options: Plastics Manufacturing
- Train employees in proper equipment and chemical handling and
procedures.
- Keep chemicals well inventoried and in well marked containers.
- Substitute hazardous raw materials with less water soluble materials
to minimize water contamination.
- Consider using computer controlled systems to optimize use of
chemicals and processes.
- Educate customers about the possibility of eliminating hazardous
chemicals from batch specifications.
- Regularly inspect equipment, pumps and pipes. Fix leaks immediately.
- Install seamless pumps to prevent leaks.
- Switch to less toxic cleaning materials and solvents.
- Reduce reactor wall fouling by maintaining a high polish on walls.
- Recycle and recover solvents and raw materials.
[Related links][References]
Cyanide: P2 Options: Newspaper Printing
- Train employees in proper equipment and chemical handling and
procedures.
- Fill ink fountains only enough for a run. Return all unemulsified
inks to their containers.
- Run similar jobs simultaneously to minimize cleanup waste generation.
- Consider replacing solvent-based inks with water-based alternatives.
- Clean ink fountains only when changing colors or when ink will dry
out between runs.
- Donate unemulsified inks to trade schools, colleges, etc.
[Related links][References]