subject: What Is Biohazardous Waste, And How Can You Dispose Of It? [print this page] People are often not very clear on what constitutes bio hazard waste. Read on to know what waste materials are categorized as bio hazard waste and how to dispose of them.
Biohazard, as the name suggests, refers to something which is a threat to the biodiversity of our surroundings. In other words, biological hazards are those biological substances and infectious materials that can be a risk to the health and wellbeing of humans, animals, and the environment. There is huge amount of waste generated by humans every day, and not all of it poses potential health risks.
The waste containing toxins, microorganisms, bacteria, fungi, parasites, viruses, allergens, venoms is known as bio hazardous waste. Such waste is most commonly generated by medical facilities, labs and research centers. Waste generated from such facilities has biological hazards which can be harmful to the state of the biosphere. The bio hazard wastes can cause immediate harm when the infection spreads to humans/animals, and they can cause pose indirect risks when these toxins start polluting and damaging the environment.
That is why bio hazard waste needs to be collected and disposed of quite carefully so that the risks of infection are reduced. This is where specially manufactured bio hazard bags come in. These bags are the best way to dispose of these infectious materials in a safe manner.
Now some facilities may not be sure whether a certain material is a bio hazard are not. In this case, one must refer to the list of biohazardous materials as per their federal, state, and local regulations. If there is any doubt regarding a material being biohazardous, the best practice is to use biohazard bag to dispose of it.
There are different types of medical waste disposal bags, but for easy identification, bio hazard bags are red or deep orange in color. These bags follow a standardized design and labeling. You can easily identify them with the international biohazard symbol printed on both sides and the word Biohazard printed on them.
These bags are manufactured following certain set quality standards to ensure that there are no incidents of waste leakage. Biohazard bags need to be impervious to moisture, and built strong enough to not rip, tear, or burst during normal usage, handling and transportation. That is why medical and research facilities seek to buy bio hazard bags from the most reputed manufacturers only. This way they can be assured that the quality of the bags will be top notch, and that the staff handling bio hazardous waste (and the patients they serve) wont be at any risk of infection.
Federal and state authorities have given clear standards for the disposal of bio hazardous waste. Most organizations follow the authority regulations while some have also devised their own procedures on how to dispose of their biohazardous waste (usually very large scale generators of bio hazardous waste). The healthcare industry including hospitals, physicians, dentists, laboratories, blood banks, veterinarians and research centers all have to ensure that they follow regulations in letter and spirit and dispose of the bio hazardous waste in the safest manner.
Safe disposal is ensured by using bio hazard bags which are handled by trained and well protected staff. Only then can the risks of potential infections can be ruled out.
