This question was posted on a Yahoo Group, of which I am a member, back on January 22, 2016:

A very happy Friday to all.

Here is an interesting one.

I have five used X-ray Lamps to dispose of.

Ohio makes this difficult.

The Ohio Department of Health claims that Ohio EPA has declared the lamps a Hazardous Waste.

They actually state that the lamps con only be disposed of by “approved Vendors”.

They have a web page with a list of these Vendors.

These vendors are running a scam by way overpricing the disposal citing ODH, Ohio EPA rules and requirements.

I have seen prices from $125.00-$425.00/lamp.

This is complete Client Abuse.

Ohio EPA has no idea what ODH is doing about this.

The lamps are not a Hazardous Waste. (Ohio EPA confirms this)

The lamps are X-ray emitters only if energized.

There is no lead.

We might have silver since the electrical contact need to be of a higher temperature material than lead.

We might have a beryllium ring as part of the structure.  This is not a hazardous waste nor is it dangerous unless we have the dust form.

The lamps have one of the noble gasses inside and they are under pressure.

Dropping or banging one can cause the lamp to shatter and explode.

I am looking for a vendor that can dispose of the used X-ray lamps in a safe and economical manor.

Any ideas would be useful.

I had five lamps, this is down to four lamps and a bunch of pieces.

These puppies are heavy and slippery.

I can legally destroy these items myself.  I would rather not do that.  But I can be persuaded.

HELP!!!

Normally many others reply to these questions before I get a chance but this time I was right there with an answer:

The lamps you describe may be a hazardous waste due to the presences of silver.  The presence of a concentration of silver in the leachate (aka: extract) created by the waste equal to or greater than 5 mg/L (same as parts per million) would require the D011 hazardous waste code for the characteristic of toxicity per 40 CFR 261.24.  40 CFR is the federal regulation and not the state of Ohio but Ohio EPA has incorporated this federal regulation into its own.