Types of Medical Waste

The Medical Waste Tracking Act of 1988 considers "any solid waste that is generated in the diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of human beings or animals, in research pertaining thereto, or in the production or testing of biologicals" to be medical waste. Hospitals, clinics, doctor's offices, dental practices and veterinary hospitals all produce medical waste. There are five types of medical waste.

Blood

• Human blood and blood products make up one type of medical waste, often referred to as liquid medical waste. Serum and plasma as well as other human bodily fluids such as semen, vaginal secretions, salvia and cerebrospinal fluid also fall into this category. Liquid medical waste includes both bulk amounts of these fluids and small quantities such as blood samples. These fluids can contain infectious agents and cause blood-born diseases. The government only considers animal blood medical waste if infectious agents have deliberately been introduced to a human infectious agent that can be transmitted back to humans.

Cultures and Stocks

• Cultures and stocks of infectious agents, also known as microbiological waste, include: inoculated and mix cultures, discarded cultures, culture dishes, stocks, specimens and live and attenuated vaccines. This type of medical waste can contain organisms such as bacteria that can harm humans. Doctors offices and hospitals produce microbiological waste when they take throat or vaginal cultures. Clinical and research laboratories that deal with communicable infectious agents also product this type of waste.

Pathological Waste

• Pathological waste refers to human tissue, organs, amputated body parts and body fluids that are removed during surgeries and autopsies. Animal pathological waste is only considered medical waste if the animals were intentionally injected or exposed to pathogens that can be transmitted back to humans. This type of medical waste usually comes out of hospitals or research laboratories where research, biologicals productions and internal pharmaceutical testing is performed.

Sharps

• All sharp objects are also considered and regulated as medical waste, whether they have been exposed to medical waste or not. These include hypodermic needles, syringes, scalpel blades, intravenous needles and tubing and lances. Broken glassware, such as broken pipettes, capillary tubes, test tubes and stir rods, are also considered sharps and must be disposed of in approved sharps containers.

Contaminated Equipment and Supplies

• Any other medical supplies that come into contact with blood, bodily fluids or other types of medical waste are also considered medical waste. This includes gauze, cotton balls, surgical tape and latex gloves. Tainted equipment such as hospital beds, tables and surgical tools are considered medical waste until they are properly cleaned according to the state's guidelines.