How familiar are you with Palm Beach bio-medical waste removal? It is, after all, a topic that greatly concerns our health and environment. In this article, we will attempt to answer some of the most common questions regarding medical waste management, so keep reading to learn more about it.
What is Biomedical Waste?
Okay, let’s start with this one? What is biomedical waste? There are, of course, numerous definitions of it, depending who you ask, but basically, biomedical waste involves medical supplies that have a potential to be infectious. This includes blood and body fluids, sharps waste (needles, scalpels, syringes, etc.), laboratory waste (live and attenuated vaccines, stocks…), human pathological waste (body parts, organs, tissue), animal waste, but also disposable items like nitrile or latex gloves, IV catheters, bed sheets, glass vials and flasks and so on that are contaminated with blood or other biological.
So, to put it shorty, something that has been exposed to a biological, such as blood, body fluid or other is considered to be biomedical waste.
Sources of Biomedical Waste
Health care facilities, such as hospitals, are obviously the biggest generator of biomedical waste. These need to have strict bio-medical waste removal plans for dealing with infectious and biohazardous waste in order to keep their medical and other personnel, patients and visitors, but also medical waste handlers secure from the adverse effects of said medical waste.
Even though about 80-90 percent of all bio-medical waste is produced and disposed of in hospitals, clinics, nursery homes, etc, a great deal comes from individuals who use needles to treat themselves from diabetes or some other disease. Unfortunately, there are not enough laws, federal or state, that deal with bio-medical waste removal when it comes to individuals.
Storage and Disposal
Storage of biomedical waste is very strictly regulated. For example, sharps (needles, scalpels, etc) have to be contained in leak-proof and puncture-resistant sharps containers. Other solid biomedical waste has to be placed in red plastic bags, while liquids are kept in sealed containers.
Every biomedical waste container has to be properly labeled. Every state requires placing a biohazard symbol on the front or the top of the receptacle and adding the appropriate warning (“Medical Waste”, “Infectious Waste” or other). Also, biomedical waste containers are always red in the United States, for easier recognition.
In most towns, there is an official bio-medical waste removal protocol and a drop-off or pick-up site. It is best to confirm the location of these with your local health or waste administration and ask about the best bio-medical waste removal methods in your community.
Conclusion
The dangers of medical wastes for the individual, community and the environment are many and varied, from personal injury to wide-spread infectious. However, with a good Palm Beach bio-medical waste removal program and following that program, the risks can be averted significantly.
