Each day we come into lab, we are filling up the biohazard waste more and more. Like me, I'm sure some of you have wondered: Where does it all go? Well this week, I am here to give you that answer!
We put every micropipette tip, whether hazardous or not, into the biohazard buckets. We also fill it with paper towels, gloves, and a variety of other items used throughout our labs. A company hired by the institution, like our school or hospitals, come to pick up these containers or bags. Once these are back at the companies facility, the waste is sorted through to remove any items that could be recycled after being sterilized. Next, an autoclave is used to sterilize all of the waste. An autoclave forces air out while steaming the waste at very high heat that bacteria cannot survive in. Once all of the waste is made safe, it is disposed of normally in a dump/landfill or recycled. Some of the plastic items are even melted down and recycled to make new products.
Before federal regulations were made, the waste was collected into plastic boxes and bags and disposed of normally. One can only imagine the issues this could cause to the environment. Needles used to draw blood from people with infectious diseases would be disposed of without sterilization and be out there in the environment. Not only would the environment be affected, but also those who may come into contact with the waste. If a needle was placed into a plastic bag rather than a box and it pokes through the bag, it could puncture a person and who knows the variety of dangers that could cause. Biohazard waste companies are the only ones that can dispose of this waste according to regulations.
So next time you dispose of your micropipette tips in those red boxes, you know where they will end up and you can have peace of mind knowing they are taken care of safely.
I got my info from a waste disposal company at this website:
https://www.medprodisposal.com/what-happens-with-biohazardous-waste-once-its-placed-in-the-designated-container/amp
Hey Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteSome of the work I do for the forensic science department involves me taking full biohazard waste boxes and sharps containers to a storage room where they are collected. I know the containers are picked up monthly by a contracted company but I had no idea that all of it is autoclaved before disposal. I would like to see the size of those industrial autoclaves since the ones we have around the forensic science building are only big enough to autoclave one or two 1 liter beakers at most. The amount of waste from different science programs on a college campus is pretty sizable. It is good to know that the waste it so carefully treated. It does make me wonder how they treat and process the chemical/liquid waste that we produce in labs. I would assume that process is even more complicated since there are so many things in the waste containers that can cause reactions.
Something we generally don't think out, but has a major impact of the people and environment around us. Clearly we do not want to cause unnecessary illness, so these companies have an important job that will rarely be thanked.
ReplyDeleteI feel like my eyes have been opened to a whole new world. Thank goodness we now have regulations that ensure proper disposal of biohazard waste products. Can you imagine the kind of safety procedures required for the "waste sorters?" As Chris said, it's a kind of job people are rarely thanked for. But now, I have a deeper appreciation for the people that take these jobs.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to know that a lot of what we use is recycled because I just feel like I use a lot of stuff. Also, those must be some pretty large and intense autoclaves. As Ryan said, I am also curious about how chemical waste would differ because it seems like that would need a lot more regulation and care.
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy to think that there was a different procedure once used to dispose of biohazard waste that included placing bloody needles in bags that went to the same place as normal household trash. Without the current regulations, those handling the trash would have a much more dangerous job. Since I put materials in biohazard waste containers on a regular basis, it is very interesting to learn what actually happens to the waste.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes feel really about about how many consumables my lab uses and how these are expensive and difficult to dispose of.
ReplyDelete