Old smoke detector disposal

[Retiredguy2]

In my county there are at least two or three collection sites during the good weather months that permit residents to properly dispose of scrap materials and hazardous household wastes. Old motor oil and antifreeze and all types of batteries are accepted, but when I called them today to arrange for disposing of those items. I inquired as to whether they would accept half a dozen old smoke detectors of the ionization type and the answer was no. They suggested I mail them back to the company who manufactured them new, but of course said companies will ONLY accept their own brand. It seems to me that old detectors are probably a rather common form of household hazardous waste and I wonder what the rest of you do to dispose of yours...thanks for any input.

 

[jack707]

I throw mine out in the trash.

 

[roadhunter]

Everything looks the same in a black plastic bag.

 

[wawajake]

yep in the trash along with those silly curly light bulbs too, that were supposed to last a few years !

 

[atomchaser]

Contact the Michigan Dept of Env Quality. They may be able to help you out. DEQ - Radiological Protection

 

[dickfoster]

I throw mine out in the trash.

That's what I'd do. All the stuff these people are worried about usually starts out coming out of the ground. I thought it was silly to see people running around in hazmat suits to deal with the same latex paint that housewives all over the country are into up to their elbows in on a regular basis. Most of the time it seems to be much ado about nothing.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Contact the Michigan Dept of Env Quality. They may be able to help you out. DEQ - Radiological Protection

That's excellent advice. My smoke detector has a radioactive Polonium source that should be disposed of properly. Sending a can of old paint to the landfill is one thing; a radioactive source should be handled properly to avoid any exposure, especially if the thing is destroyed in a way that would allow inhalation.

 

[jack707]

That's excellent advice. My smoke detector has a radioactive Polonium source that should be disposed of properly. Sending a can of old paint to the landfill is one thing; a radioactive source should be handled properly to avoid any exposure, especially if the thing is destroyed in a way that would allow inhalation.

OK I agree with you but what the guy that takes a bag of asbestos to the landfill but don't want to pay the fee and tell the person it's garbage? Nothing 100%.

 

[buickanddeere]

I have no idea how such a double standard is allowed . 100cpm is not allowed out of a nuclear facility yet 20,000cpm from a ionizing smoke detector is not unusual.
Then again the dirt along the side of the road near Elliote Lake is "hot". Some granite countertops give of a couple millirem of gamma.
Alpha from radon gas in basements is probably the highest radiological concern .

 

[Taylortractornut]

Has a landfill manager smoke alarms and mtn dew bottles are the enemy. The rubbish site I run can't take household Or smoke alarms. Had one start beeping and it was in my covered biweekly cell. You could hear it good. Had an inspector from the state come by and almost heard it luckily the compactor was running. At the end of the day when it was quiet you could hear it good. Looked for it for a week then one day one of the landfill dogs dug zeroed in on it. Dug it up and put in the e waste bin. A lot of subtitle d landfills have Geiger counters on the scales that will reject a load for one smoke detector or an old microwave

 

[aczlan]

A lot of subtitle d landfills have Geiger counters on the scales that will reject a load for one smoke detector or an old microwave

The local scrap yard has Geiger counters on the scales to catch people who bring in concrete, microwaves, etc.

Aaron Z

 

[atomchaser]

In reality, the amount of radioactivity in a smoke detector is trivial and not a health concern. The concern is when you get thousands of them in the landfill and the radioactive material starts to show up in the leachate.
As was said, many landfills now have radiation gate monitors. They won't pickup your smoke detector however. They pick up larger sources and lots of nuisance stuff like short half life medical isotopes. Many hospitals have similar detectors on their facilities to avoid sending stuff to the dump that will get caught. Having done it a few times, dump surveys and dumpster diving are not much fun and the landfills have taken to fining facilities that send stuff that trips their alarms.

 

[Taylortractornut]

Our thing is if they hear one they have to investigate it. I got my MOLO for sub title D landfills and at an exercise we had to sort a wet load. I like my rubbish site better lol. They said one thing was adult diapers of radiation therapy patients would set them off.

 

[Retiredguy2]

The local scrap yard has Geiger counters on the scales to catch people who bring in concrete, microwaves, etc.

Aaron Z

Respectfully inquiring here how a microwave oven can emit radiation when it is not plugged in? My OP dealt with smoke detectors of the ionization type that are known to contain a tiny amount of radioactive material. To my knowledge a microwave has no radioactive materials in it's construction.

 

[aczlan]

Respectfully inquiring here how a microwave oven can emit radiation when it is not plugged in? My OP dealt with smoke detectors of the ionization type that are known to contain a tiny amount of radioactive material. To my knowledge a microwave has no radioactive materials in it's construction.

Good point, I wasn't thinking and was replying to Taylortractornut who mentioned them.

Aaron Z

 

[OldMasterTech]

There is presently no federal regulation of smoke detectors. It is recommended that you return them to their manufacturer, if they are still in business, but it is permissible to discard as MSW (household waste).

Do not put with e-waste as recyclers are not licensed/permitted to handle radioactive material and accumulating a quantity of detectors in a small area puts them into a regulatory position.

Just a comment on the microwave ovens, radiation is only present when the magnetron tube is running. There is no residual radiation once power is removed. The reason recycling is recommended is to recover the capacitor for proper disposal. If the unit is very old the capacitor may be PCB contaminated and must be incinerated in an EPA approved furnace.

 

[OldMasterTech]

There is presently no federal regulation of smoke detectors. It is recommended that you return them to their manufacturer, if they are still in business, but it is permissible to discard as MSW (household waste).

Do not put with e-waste as recyclers are not licensed/permitted to handle radioactive material and accumulating a quantity of detectors in a small area puts them into a regulatory position.

Just a comment on the microwave ovens, radiation is only present when the magnetron tube is running. There is no residual radiation once power is removed. The reason recycling is recommended is to recover the capacitor for proper disposal. If the unit is very old the capacitor may be PCB contaminated and must be incinerated in an EPA approved furnace.

 

[MarkF48]

This is a few years old from FEMA's site.....
Disposal of Fire/Smoke Detectors - US Fire Administration

 

[madamos]

To the best of my recollection microwave ovens use electromagnetic (EM) radiation to heat and there is no ionizing radiation ie alpha/beta or Gama involved.

Microwaves, along with radio waves from (you guessed it) radio and cell phone towers, are all types of non-ionizing radiation.

 

[Taylortractornut]

I need to bring that up in the next swana class. They kept hammering us about not taking them because of radiation and not the pcb. I know mdeq freaked out on old guy was hauling waste from a remodeling company and putting it in a hollow and burying it. He was getting a ton of smoke alarms. They were gonna let him cap it and monitor but found a over 100 smoke detectors in the first 3 feet of excavation. Got expensive after that