The term “regulated waste” is one that is often used in bio-medical waste management Boyton Beach and refers to a certain type of waste substances and materials that may pose a hazard of infection if they are disposed of incorrectly. Unfortunately, there is a difference in opinion in the health care industry and among medical professio0nals as to what exactly is regulated waste and what materials fall into this specific category.
Identifying Regulated Waste
The Healthcare Environmental Resource Center (HERC) explained that the United States federal government does not have a clear definition of what regulated medical waste is or what falls into this category. When it comes to definition regulated waste, a lot of it is left to the individual medical waste management state agencies and this often makes the gap in definitions wider.
Some basic principles and general rules still apply, however, and all parties interested in bio-medical waste management Boyton Beach have to abide by them. First and foremost, regulated waste is almost entirely specific to the medical care industry and in the majority of cases include bio-hazardous waste, while having a strong potential of transmitting the infection around.
Regulated Waste Categories
Proper classification is one of the first and most important steps in medical waste management and it is the same with regulated waste. Regulated medical waste is usually divided into 6 different categories:
1. Liquid medical waste – blood and blood products
2. Pathological and anatomical waste – body parts, organs and tissue
3. Microbial waste – laboratory waste, such as stocks and cultures of infectious agents
4. Sharps waste – needles, syringes (with needles attached), other items found at hospitals that can lacerate or puncture the skin
5. Animal waste – animal body parts, carcases, organs and other waste that is contaminated by pathogens which are also dangerous to humans
6. Isolation waste – Material contaminated with pathogens and isolated to protect others from the infection.
What is Not Considered Regulated Waste
It is not easy to clearly define what is and what is not considered regulated medical waste, as there are so many different and converging opinions about it. State medical waste management regulations and definitions often do their part in adding to the confusion, instead of reducing it. For example, in some U.S. states, the term “saturated waste” is used for materials that have been contaminated by potentially infectious substances in liquid or semi-liquid state, such as blood. However, the problem with this definition is that, if this were the case, any item that comes into contact with bodily fluids and blood would fall into the regulated medical waste category. Would the term “regulated medical waste” then refer only to waste from health care facilities, or would it include household items such as soiled baby diapers? Albeit it is not a foolproof solutions, a number of states have a loose interpretation of the term “saturated waste”.
For the end, consider also the fact that although it is clearly dangerous, regulated medical waste is not that widespread, as, according to the Center for Disease Control estimates that only 3-5% of all hospital waste should be disposed of as regulated waste.
