Save 50% – 305-677-2343!

What Effects can Medical Waste Have?

Not all waste produced by the medical care facility should be considered as medical waste. Only those that have a potential to be hazardous in some way. This includes liquids such as body fluids or blood, sharps such as needles and scalpels, pathological wastes like human and animal tissue and organs, microbiological waste and any supply or equipment that has been exposed to blood. It does not include supplies that have not been exposed to infected blood, animal body parts, tissue and organs if the animal has not been in contact or otherwise exposed to pathogens that can transmit to humans or food leftovers and things like disposable plastic cups, plates and similar. As you can see, proper classification of medical waste items is an important part of medical waste management Davie.

Direct Effects of Medical Waste

Medical waste can be both direct and indirect threat to human and animal health, as well as to the ecosystem if it is not disposed of correctly and according to the regulations. This is because medical waste can often include dangerous pathogens in it that need to be destroyed . This can be done by incinerating, autoclaving or with using a chemical solution. If this is not done, pathogens can breed and thrive in the waste, infect rodents, birds and other animals foraging through the refuse, or worse, contaminate the soil and ground waster. If these pathogens get into our drinking water and food sources, we would be looking at major disease outbreaks.

Indirect Effects of Medical Waste

Indirect effects of medical waste are no less important to keep in mind when it comes to medical waste management Davie than are direct ones. Of particular concern here are human organs, tissue and body parts. When still “attached” to the body, the pathogens on these are suppressed by our immune system and pose little to no threat. However, when, say an arm has been amputated, it can no longer count on the body’s immune system and the pathogens in it are free to make a havoc and spread. If these are disposed of incorrectly, they could get snatched by animals or they may also contaminate our ecosystem.

What is Important in Medical Waste Management Davie?

Proper medical waste management Davie can help guarantee that neither direct or indirect negative effects of medical waste disposal ever happens. This, above all, involves classifying materials according to whether they are hazardous or not. This is done primarily to avoid mixing infected and non-infected waste, but also to protect the workers that handle waste from any potential hazard.

The main idea behind medical waste management Davie is to limit the risk of a human being getting harmed in any way or infected. Often the best way to do this is to completely destroy the waste by incinerating it into no more than ashes. In other cases, for instance when hospitals wasn’t to reuse or recycle their medical waste, they can use autoclave or steam sterilization machines.