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Regulated Medical Waste
Categories of Regulated Medical
Waste
- Designate the following as major categories of medical
waste that require special handling and disposal precautions:
- microbiology laboratory wastes [e.g., cultures and
stocks of microorganisms];
- bulk blood, blood products, blood, and bloody body
fluid specimens;
- pathology and anatomy waste; and
- sharps [e.g., needles and scalpels] " Consult federal,
state, and local regulations to determine if other waste
items are considered regulated medical wastes.
Disposal Plan for Regulated Medical Wastes
- Develop a plan for the collection, handling, predisposal
treatment, and terminal disposal of regulated medical wastes.
- Designate a person or persons as responsible for establishing,
monitoring, reviewing, and administering the plan.
Handling, Transporting, and Storing Regulated Medical
Wastes
- Inform personnel involved in handling and disposal of
potentially infective waste of possible health and safety
hazards; ensure that they are trained in appropriate handling
and disposal methods.
- Manage the handling and disposal of regulated medical
wastes generated in isolation areas by using the same methods
used for regulated medical wastes from other patient-care
areas.
- Use proper sharps disposal strategies:
- Use a sharps container capable of maintaining its
impermeability after waste treatment to avoid subsequent
physical injuries during final disposal.
- Place disposable syringes with needles, including
sterile sharps that are being discarded, scalpel blades,
and other sharp items into puncture-resistant containers
located as close as practical to the point of use.
- Do not bend, recap, or break used syringe needles
before discarding them into a container.
- Store regulated medical wastes awaiting treatment in a
properly ventilated area inaccessible to vertebrate pests;
use waste containers that prevent development of noxious
odors.
- If treatment options are not available at the site where
the medical waste is generated, transport regulated medical
wastes in closed, impervious containers to the on-site treatment
location or to another facility for treatment as appropriate.
Treatment and Disposal of Regulated Medical Wastes
- Treat regulated medical wastes by using a method (e.g.,
steam sterilization, incineration, interment, or an alternative
treatment technology) approved by the appropriate authority
having jurisdiction (e.g., state, Indian Health Service,
or Veterans Administration) before disposal in a sanitary
landfill.
- Follow precautions for treating microbiologic wastes
(e.g., amplified cultures and stocks of microorganisms):
- Biosafety level 4 laboratories must inactivate microbiologic
wastes in the laboratory by using an approved inactivation
method (e.g., autoclaving) before transport to and disposal
in a sanitary landfill.
- Biosafety level 3 laboratories must inactivate microbiologic
wastes in the laboratory by using an approved inactivation
method (e.g., autoclaving) or incinerate them at the
facility before transport to and disposal in a sanitary
landfill.
- Biosafety levels 1 and 2 laboratories should develop
strategies to inactivate amplified microbial cultures and
stocks onsite by using an approved inactivation method (e.g.,
autoclaving) instead of packaging and shipping untreated
wastes to an offsite facility for treatment and disposal.
- Laboratories that isolate select agents from clinical
specimens must comply with federal regulations for receipt,
transfer, management, and appropriate disposal of these
agents.
- Sanitary sewers may be used for safe disposal of blood,
suctioned fluids, ground tissues, excretions, and secretions,
provided that local sewage discharge requirements are met
and that the state has declared this to be an acceptable
method of disposal.
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