Unsecure Access and Lack of Safety Disposal Procedures of Ethidium Bromide in Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Faculty Of Science/Kufa University

الملخص

Ethidium bromide (EtBr) is a mutagen and a possible carcinogen. However Ethidium bromide is the most commonly utilized dye throughout the Faculty of Science in Electrophoresis gels for the identification of DNA. These gels will be agarose-based. Ethidium bromide is a highly toxic and potentially mutagenic chemical which may be fatal if swallowed, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin. The waste by-products of the DNA identification process must be managed and disposed in a manner to protect public health and the environment. Unfortunately there is no an appropriate way to discard the agarose gel that containing EtBr. Usually EtBr gels are discarded using the normal trash and aqueous ethidium bromide (EtBr) stock solutions discharge to a sink drain. Even though EtBr is known as mutagen it is still being kept in unsecured storage cabinet with unlimited access by any person who can inters the molecular laboratory in Faculty of Science.