Faculty and staff conducting projects that involve hazardous biological
materials (including
recombinant DNA), radiological materials, or hazardous
chemical waste materials must have
prior approval and must comply with all
relevant government regulations. SIUC\'s Center for
Environmental Health and
Safety (453-7180) oversees the approval committees described
below and
monitors compliance.
BIOLOGICAL SAFETY
SIUC\'s Institutional Biosafety
Committee and Biological Safety Officer are responsible for
ensuring that
faculty and staff who conduct research with hazardous biological materials
comply with the most recently published federal and state standards for such
research.
Biological materials covered by the standards include living
organisms, products produced
by such organisms, organic chemicals produced
to mimic activity/actions of such products,
and recombinant DNA molecules.
Biological materials are considered hazardous if they
present a direct or
indirect risk to the well-being of humans, animals, or plants.
Any SIUC
researcher who plans to conduct research involving potentially hazardous
biological materials or recombinant DNA must submit to the Institutional
Biosafety
Committee a memorandum of understanding and agreement (MUA)
describing the work and
the safeguards to be used. The proposed project must
be approved by the committee before
activities can begin. For more
information and for copies of the appropriate MUA form,
contact the
Biological Safety Officer at 453-7188.
RADIOLOGICAL CONTROL
SIUC holds
licenses issued by the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety that contain
specifications governing research projects that involve radiological
materials. All research
conducted at the University must be done within the
framework established by the licenses
and various other state and federal
regulations. SIUC\'s Radiological Control Committee
formulates policies for
uniform practice throughout the University wherever radioactive
materials or
radiation-producing devices are involved.
Prior approval of the committee
must be obtained by any University personnel who plan to
use radioactive
materials in their work. The appropriate application forms are available from
the Radiation Safety Office, 536-2015.
HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL WASTE
The
Hazardous Waste Oversight Advisory Committee formulates University policy for
managing and disposing of hazardous chemical waste materials and complying
with
government regulations concerning such materials. Researchers whose
projects will involve
the generation of hazardous chemical waste should
consult the Chemical Waste Management
Guide (available in departments or
from the Center for Environmental Health and Safety) for
information about
the procedures to be followed, or they may contact the center at 453-7180.
There are no disposal options for \"mixed waste\"-- i.e., waste that is both
chemically
hazardous and radioactive. Consequently, research involving the
use or generation of such
waste will not be approved by any of SIUC\'s
regulatory committees.