Infectious Waste Treatment

Health care centers and research labs generate infectious waste that carries bacteria and other pathogens. Infectious waste must be specially treated before it is disposed to prevent the spread of disease and to protect public health.

Thermal Treatment

• Incineration has historically been the most common method of treating infectious waste. However, because incineration creates toxic emissions, many health care facilities choose other treatments such as autoclaves, pressurized steam chambers that sterilize waste, and microwave systems that destroy pathogens with high-frequency radio waves. Plasma arcs, a system that combines electricity with inert gas to create temperatures as high as 5,000 degrees, are also being used to treat infectious waste.

Chemical Treatments

• Chemical treatments sterilize infectious waste, but they also create a stream of contaminated chemical byproducts. Disposal companies use chemicals such as chlorine, common laundry bleach and chlorine dioxide, a volatile gas, for small amounts of infectious waste. Alkaline treatments such as lye and quicklime are also considered effective.

Radiation

• Ionizing radiation destroys pathogens by damaging individual cells. Although some facilities treat infectious waste with radiation, it is expensive and carries a higher risk for disposal workers.