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The Several Classes of Medical Wastes and their Severity

Medical wastes not only turn risky for human lives but for the animal lives and environment too. Though medical waste removal reduces the risks, yet indirect health risks do occur all through the discharge of toxic pollutants or through the process of disposal of waste. So, in this situation, the three R’s which signify reduce, reuse, and recycling seems to be the ideal solution to manage medical wastes. Medical wastes mean many products of healthcare activities, like infectious wastes that include cultures and infectious agents, anatomic wastes that include animal carcasses and body parts, sharp wastes that include disposable scalpels, syringes, etc.

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It also includes pharmaceuticals, chemicals, radioactive matter. Additionally, the medical wastes include the used medical consumables, such as medical tapes, gloves, sanitary products, etc. that are processed by the waste management and treatment equipment plant. GIC Medical Waste Disposal is an example of a reputable medical waste disposal company that processes medical waste.

There are many medical waste companies but Daniels Health Maryland processes and treats medical wastes in a slightly different manner. This company supply medical waste containers that are designed by the clinicians and all the containers are sanitized via world’s leading decontamination or washing process.

Effective methods to dispose of medical waste

Medical waste requires some care for getting disposed of adequately. The chief problem that arises while dealing with these medical wastes is the danger of infection. The pathological wastes might comprise contagious and dangerous infectious agents like the laboratory cultures. Sharp objects like injections and scissors must be managed well otherwise, they can insert dangerous agents into the bloodstream directly. The medical dangerous wastes comprise highly toxic constituents similar to those used in chemotherapy and so, they fall under specific guidelines under the federal law. The couple of ways to deal with these wastes are:

  • Incineration – It refers to the process of burning the medical risky wastes and the kinds of incinerators which are used are excess air, rotary kiln, and controlled air. Among the three, controlled-air incineration is widely used and nowadays, it is dominating the market.
  • Thermal processes – These processes depend on heat, and thermal energy is used for destroying the pathogens in the waste. This class is again split into low-heat, medium-heat and lastly, high-heat thermal processes. This division is important as physical as well as chemical reactions that take place in the thermal processes alter at various temperatures. Low-heat thermal processes operate between 200 F and 350 F. The medium-heat processes take place between 350 F and 700 F, and high-heat processes take place from nearly 1000 F-15000 F.

What to look for in a company?

A medical waste disposal company should propose support to the hospitals in forming an excellent system to deal with the quantity of medical waste which gets generated. There are some companies that provide color-coded containers and bags of medical waste. These companies provide puncture proof bags for handling sharp objects. However, every waste disposal company must abide by the regulations and they must be authorized by the federal and state agency to oversee the treatment as well as disposal of medical wastes. A reputed company like Daniels Health Maryland has trained medical staff and they know well to handle medical waste adequately and they also know how to segregate various classes of medical wastes.

Funny Waste Cartoon

• Meet the Author • Julius Rogers


Julius Rogers is a health freak and loves to pen health articles that teach, educate, and entertain. He writes health information at various health outlets. Be sure to check out his other ventures!


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