Table of Contents

• Is Spilled Antifreeze Toxic?
  • Dangers of Ethylene Glycol
• Hazard Effects of Antifreeze
  • Symptoms of Antifreeze Exposure
• Environmental Impacts of Antifreeze Disposal
• How to Dispose of Antifreeze
  • Safety Steps
  • Disposal of Antifreeze
• What Not to Do with Old Antifreeze
  • Safety Precautions
    • 1) Don't Pour Antifreeze Down the Drain
    • 2) Don't Pour Antifreeze Outside
    • 3) Don't Place Antifreeze in the Trash
• A Safer Alternative to Toxic Ethylene Glycol Antifreeze
  • Propylene Glycol in Engine Coolant
  • Prevent Spills

Have you ever noticed a collection of brightly colored liquid under your vehicle, RV, or boat? Most likely, it’s antifreeze leaking out from your radiator. Antifreeze, also called engine coolant, is a liquid that keeps your car from freezing or overheating.

Antifreeze can leak from a blown radiator hose, broken hose clamp, warped head gasket or a leak in the radiator itself. If antifreeze is leaking out, you should plan on a repair as soon as possible.

Antifreeze, just like other fluids in your vehicle, should be regularly changed. Engine coolant degrades over time and becomes acidic. This can cause corrosion that could damage your radiator, the water pump, thermostat and other engine parts.

Typically, antifreeze should be changed from as soon as every 30,000 miles to over 60,000 miles. This varies depending on the model of your car. The acidity level in the coolant can be checked using test strips to determine the best time to change out your antifreeze.

Is Spilled Antifreeze Toxic?

It may surprise you that spilled antifreeze is one of the more toxic substances in your home.

“People don’t tend to think of things in their homes as poisonous or being a hazardous waste, but most homes have a lot of items that are, in fact, poisonous,” explains Chris Blan, Resource Recovery technician.

Because it is so hazardous, if you decide to repair your radiator or change out the antifreeze in your car yourself, you’ll need to figure out a safe disposal method.

This is not as simple as tossing it into your trash. In fact, most communities ban the disposal of antifreeze in their landfills. This is because antifreeze is toxic to humans, pets and the environment. Ingestion of antifreeze can lead to death. There are close to 6,000 human antifreeze poisoning cases each year. For animals, exposure is even worse. Over 90,000 pets and wild animals are harmed every year from ingesting antifreeze.

Dangers of Ethylene Glycol

The main toxic substance in antifreeze is ethylene glycol -- a clear colorless liquid. It is usually colored a bright fluorescent yellow-green. There is now a wide range of antifreeze colors, however. Some coolants also contain methanol, which is similarly toxic. If ingested, these substances can damage the liver, lungs, kidneys and brain. It can also lead to organ failure and eventual death if not treated promptly.

Hazard Effects of Antifreeze

Why would anyone ingest antifreeze? Well, ethylene glycol has a sweet smell and taste. Most accidental exposures occur from a leak or improper storage. If your car leaks antifreeze and it pools on your driveway or in your garage, pets, wild animals or children could find and taste it. It doesn’t take much for toxic exposure to occur. It only takes two ounces of coolant, about three tablespoons, to harm a medium sized dog. For a cat, it’s even less, with 1/4 of an ounce causing toxic effects. Four fluid ounces is enough to kill an average-size man.

The symptoms of antifreeze poisoning can show up as soon as 30 minutes after ingestion and can develop over several hours. These symptoms start off looking like alcohol intoxication and eventually lead to kidney failure. Pay close attention to the effects of exposure to antifreeze.

Symptoms of Antifreeze Exposure

• Drunken affect
• Stupor/disorientation
• Drowsiness
• Irritation
• Blurred vision
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Convulsions
• Rapid breathing
• Fast heartbeat
• Leg cramps
• Coma

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) recommends immediate medical care if you see these symptoms and suspect antifreeze poisoning. Delays in treatment can cause more severe adverse effects. The medical provider will run tests and may treat with medicines to reverse the effects of the ingestion. Some patients may even require dialysis.

Environmental Impacts of Antifreeze Disposal

Antifreeze is a pollutant that can get into ground and surface water. It can also creep into our drinking water supplies. It is harmful to marine and aquatic life when dumped into open water sources. Over time, antifreeze breaks down in your vehicle and becomes more acidic. It becomes contaminated with fuel and engine grit.

Heavy metals such as iron, benzene, lead, tin, copper, cadmium, chromium and zinc also create tainted antifreeze. Tainted antifreeze is considered hazardous waste and takes special handling for disposal.

Continue reading to learn how to dispose of antifreeze.

How to Dispose of Antifreeze

What is the best way to dispose of antifreeze? If you are flushing coolant from your vehicle’s engine yourself, follow these safety steps.

Safety Steps

1. Use rubber gloves and goggles to protect your hands and eyes from direct contact with the coolant fluid.
2. Place a large drain pan under your vehicle to collect the antifreeze.
3. Take care not to spill the liquid as it drains into the pan.
4. Fill the radiator system with clean water and run it for a few minutes.
5. Drain the liquid, fill it, and drain it again, which will remove the majority of the coolant fluid.
6. Once the coolant is drained out and the radiator is flushed, transfer the fluid to a plastic container that has a tight screw top lid.
7. While transporting the antifreeze, secure the container in your car using bungee cords or cables to keep the container from tipping.

Disposal of Antifreeze

Where can you safely dispose of old antifreeze? In many communities, a disposal facility or recycling center will accept sealed containers of engine coolant. You can also check with a local service station or auto parts shop. Call before heading out to make sure they will accept your used coolant.

A particular recycling center may charge a small fee. In many cases, however, you can dispose of antifreeze for free. Call the recycling facility ahead of time to be sure if there is a charge involved.

There is one caveat about recycling antifreeze. If it has been contaminated with motor oil or brake fluid, for example, then it cannot be recycled. Recycling centers will refuse tainted antifreeze. You will have to completely dispose of the antifreeze rather than treat and reuse it. This applies to any and all fluids, even something as simple as liquid soap.

Clean antifreeze can be infinitely recycled. Take care not to mix antifreeze with contaminants when removing it from your vehicle. Do not use a drain pan that has been previously used for oil collection. Recycled antifreeze is much better than throwing it away.

What Not to Do with Old Antifreeze

The EET Corporation estimates that up to 50 percent of used antifreeze ends up improperly dumped by consumers. Tom Sigmund, executive director of the Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District cautions,

“Hazardous waste should never be poured down the drain, flushed down the toilet, or poured into storm drains on the street. Doing so can threaten public health and the environment.”

Take the following precautions when handling waste antifreeze:

Safety Precautions

1) Don't Pour Antifreeze Down the Drain

• Never pour old antifreeze down the drain or into a septic tank. The toxic chemicals in engine coolant are not safe in water and sewage systems. Coolant poured down a drain or into a gutter that leads to a storm drain can attract wild animals and harm them if they drink it, even if it is diluted.

2) Don't Pour Antifreeze Outside

• Do not pour old antifreeze onto the grass or ground. It can pool before being absorbed or dispersed. If an animal or young child makes contact with it and ingests it, it can cause poisoning.

3) Don't Place Antifreeze in the Trash

• Do not place old antifreeze out with your regular trash collection, place in a roll off dumpster, or take it to a standard landfill. There are some landfills that have special equipment to handle used antifreeze, but many do not. Antifreeze should never be place in residential trash collection or in a dumpster, as this can be hazardous to the waste management operators and the environment in the event of an accidental spill.

A Safer Alternative to Toxic Ethylene Glycol Antifreeze

Propylene Glycol in Engine Coolant

Pet and child-safe antifreeze formulations exist. There are coolants that use propylene glycol in place of ethylene glycol. Propylene glycol antifreeze has a wider margin of safety. This means that more of it would need to be ingested before toxicity sets in. This type of antifreeze is somewhat safer. However, the best way to prevent injury and death from coolant poisoning is to safely store antifreeze out of the reach of children.

Prevent Spills

Keep the antifreeze safely in its original packaging. Don’t transfer it to an unlabeled container. The best strategy to reduce harm is to keep all vehicle fluids stored safely away from children and pets and to address any leaks immediately.