How to Dispose Hazardous Medical Waste |
Posted: August 27, 2016 |
Medical hazardous waste disposal is a system of disposing wastes generated from health care facilities including blood banks, hospitals, veterinary hospitals or clinics, medical research facilities and laboratories, physician's offices and dental clinics. The danger of irresponsible medical waste disposal arises from the huge possibility of contamination by blood or body fluids of infectious materials. The Importance of safe medical hazardous waste disposal Since the 1980s, there has been a growing concern for potential health hazards brought about by irresponsible and improper disposal of medical waste materials. It was also during the time period that an alarming amount of medical waste was washed up on several beaches on the east coast. Needless to say, the said incident shook the environmental agencies as it posed substantial threat to public health. The medical waste washed ashore had disease-causing potential and it was exposed to a great number of people! As a result of said incident, the Congress enacted the Medical Waste Tracking Act of 1989 which required the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide rules and regulations on the disposal of hazardous medical waste materials. Treatment and Disposal of Hazardous Medical Waste There are different medical waste materials derived from health care facilities and in every case, a proper disposal method should be observed. For medical sharps and needles, EPA Community Options for Safe Needle Disposal should be observed. Imagine the health risk to the waste workers as well as to the public if the discarded needles are sticking out and poking through the plastic garbage bags. And these used needles may have been contaminated with serious infectious diseases and can possibly be transmitted to those exposed to this hazardous medical waste. You can view the website of EPA for more in-depth instruction on how to dispose medical sharps and needles. For treatment and disposal of other medical wastes, incineration was employed by the EPA before 1997. However due to the growing concern regarding the danger caused by the emission produced in medical waste incineration, the EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards have revised ways how to safely dispose medical waste. And the potential alternative methods include thermal treatment, steam sterilization, chemical mechanical system and electropyrolisis. It is also important to note that all these methods are futile if there is no service provider dedicated to the cause of keeping the people and the environment safe and clean. Every town, city or county has its own system of hazardous waste collection and disposal. However for medical and health care facilities, it is a must to have a private and independent service provider with sufficient equipment and facility to properly dispose medical wastes. You can check out www.actenviro.com for this and for more information on this source on how to avail their services. Needless to say, proper disposal of hazardous medical waste materials is and should be of great importance to medical and health care facilities. The health risk brought about by irresponsible waste disposal is too colossal to be ignored.
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