Pro-active control of atmospheric emissions in research and small labs. A practical criterion for the design and management of activities under hoods

Environmental protection in research laboratories presents specific managerial problems strictly related to the fact that most of actual environmental managerial requirements are based on regulations tailored to relatively simple and continuous processes in manufacturing and service entities. In research labs the variety of substances used and the likelihood of creating new substances are generally higher than in industrial processes, while the quantity of substances is always significantly lower. Furthermore specific managerial criteria are necessary in order to take into account on one hand the variability of operations, on the other hand the impossibility to define in detail each operation. A practical criterion usable as decision making support for the organization of laboratory activities is presented in this work. The use of this criterion is aimed at obtaining the necessary authorizations from the competent authorities by ensuring, implicitly and preventively, the compliance with the regulatory threshold limits referred to the emissions in atmosphere. The first application of the methodology at University of Udine has permitted to derive some practical considerations in terms of environmental management that can be applied also in non academic research fields and in particular in small labs related to the process industry. Copyright © 2012, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.