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Defining Regulated Waste

Proper classification is a crucial part of medical waste management Davie and the start of any successful bio-medical waste management process. Of course, there are different types of medical waste and in this short article we will talk more about regulated waste and try to better define it.

Regulated medical waste is used to describe and classify waste materials, particularly medical wastes that can pose a hazard of infection to human beings if they are disposed if in a wrong way. Unfortunately, we still lack the full consensus about what really falls into the category of regulated waste, so it is important to use common sense and when in doubt, consult with your local bio-medical waste management government agency for clarification. In any case, hopefully, we will see different state and federal regulations for medical waste come into one.

How to Identify Regulated Medical Waste?

The fact that there is no general agreement does not mean that identification of regulated medical waste is impossible. In fact, the federal government, according to the HERC (Health Environmental Resource Center), does not even requests a standard definition of regulated medical waste. This is instead in most part left to individual state medical waste management Davie agencies and their own categorizes of medical waste and regulations.

Certain general assumptions still apply, however. First of all, regulated waste is unique to health care industry and involves waste that can pose a threat of spreading dangerous infections and diseases.

Regulated Medical Waste Categories

Correct categorization of regulated medical waste is also an important aspect of understanding it and with it bio-medical waste management as a whole.

Regulated medical waste is usually separated int six main categories, These are:

  • Pathological waste, which includes amputated body parts, tissue and organs from humans
  • Liquid waste, mostly blood and blood products such as plasma, but also body fluids like urine, semen, vaginal secretion, vomit or feces that may contain blood in them.
  • Microbial waste. This includes cultures and stocks of infectious agents and is produced during laboratory researches
  • Sharps waste. Probably the category that deserves the most attention in medical waste management Davie. This includes needles, syringes and other medical instruments capable of cutting or piercing and thus transmitting a blood-borne virus
  • Contaminated animal waste. Like human pathological waste, this includes animal waste such as body parts, organs, tissue or bedding that have been contaminated by infectious agents. Many state bio-medical waste management agencies consider animal waste to be regulated waste only if the infection can spread to humans.
  • Isolation waste. These are biological wastes that have been isolated to protect others from potentially hazardous infectious and diseases.

What is Not Considered as Regulated Medical Waste?

We return once again to the problem of lacking an agreement as to what falls into the group of regulated medical waste and what does not. One of the biggest misconceptions is that any medical waste that has come into contact with blood is regulated waste. For instance, many states and their medical waste management Davie agencies use the term “saturated” medical waste, which would mean that any waste that has been in contact with blood is hazardous.