What is Biohazard Waste?
Some States define Biohazard waste specifically. Below are a few examples from California and Iowa for examples only. As always call MedPro or check with your health department on your specific state requirements.
California’s definition of “Biohazardous waste” includes all of the following:
Regulated medical waste, clinical waste, or biomedical waste that is a waste or reusable material derived from the medical treatment of a human or from an animal that is suspected by the attending veterinarian of being infected with a pathogen that is also infectious to humans, which includes diagnosis and immunization; or from biomedical research, which includes the production and testing of biological products.
Regulated medical waste or clinical waste or biomedical waste suspected of containing a highly communicable disease.
Laboratory waste such as human specimen cultures or animal specimen cultures that are infected with pathogens that are also infectious to humans; cultures and stocks of infectious agents from research; wastes from the production of bacteria, viruses, spores, discarded live and attenuated vaccines used in human health care or research, discarded animal vaccines, including Brucellosis and Contagious Ecthyma, as defined by the department; culture dishes, devices used to transfer, inoculate, and mix cultures; and wastes.
Waste that, at the point of transport from the generator’s site or at the point of disposal contains recognizable fluid human blood, fluid human blood products, containers, or equipment containing human blood that is fluid, or blood from animals suspected by the attending veterinarian of being contaminated with infectious agents known to be contagious to humans.
Waste containing discarded materials contaminated with excretion, exudate, or secretions from humans or animals that are required to be isolated by the infection control staff, the attending physician and surgeon, the attending veterinarian, or the local health officer, to protect others from highly communicable diseases or diseases of animals that are communicable to humans.
Iowa State University defines biohazardous waste as “All biologically contaminated waste that could potentially cause harm to humans, domestic or wild animals or plants. Examples include human and animal blood, tissues, and certain body fluids, recombinant DNA, and human, animal or plant pathogens.” In more layman terms, biohazardous waste is any waste contaminated with potentially infectious materials. Disposing of this waste isn’t like throwing garbage away – you have to put the waste in dedicated biohazard disposal bags, often called Red Bags, and then the bags are put into bio waste containers for safe collection and transportation.
(https://www.ehs.iastate.edu/publications/factsheets/sharps.pdf)
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Anything that is soaked in blood (gloves, gauze, gowns etc.)
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Human or animal tissues created during procedures
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Cultures of infectious diseases/agents
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Any waste produced in patient’s rooms with communicable diseases
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Discarded vaccines
Why Do You Have to Put These Things in Special Containers?
Because of the potential diseases biohazardous waste contains it must be sterilized before finally being disposed of. In one of our other infographic resource (https://www.medprodisposal.com/happens-medical-waste-picked/) We created an infographic in which we went over what happens after medical waste is picked up. The summary is it’s transported to a sanitation facility, put through an autoclave and then taken to a sanitary landfill where they process and safely discard it.
How Can I Have My Medical Waste Picked Up?
MedPro offers a low cost biohazard waste disposal solution that focuses specifically on worker and environmental safety, compliance, and customer satisfaction. If you would like to learn more visit us on the web at https://www.medprodisposal.com or give us a call at 888-641-6131.
