Hazards of Hospital Waste

"Hospital waste" refers to the medical wastes created during the day-to-day functioning of a hospital. While some of it is harmless, some hospital waste can be dangerous for health care workers if it is not handled properly. It can also be dangerous for people and animals outside of the hospital unless it is properly pre-treated, contained or incinerated.

Sharps

• Injuries caused by the improper disposal of needles, and sharp objects such as blades and broken glass, can be fatal. "Sharps" can transmit such diseases as hepatitis B and C, as well as HIV. UNISON, the largest public services trade union in the UK, estimates that sharps are responsible for roughly 100,000 health care injuries in that country each year.

Infectious Waste

• The waste produced by hospital pathology departments, or clinical and research laboratories, may be harmful if it contains parasites, bacteria or viruses. These pathogens may come from patient samples or tissues (e.g., blood samples, or cultures derived from clinical specimens) or from the laboratory's own stocks.

Pharmaceutical Waste

• Pharmaceutical waste can be dangerous unless it is disposed of properly. These wastes include controlled drugs and vaccines that have passed their expiration date, and spilled or contaminated medicines. These wastes can be highly toxic to humans and animals.

Pathological Waste

• Pathological waste comprises tissues, organs, body parts or fluids that have been removed as part of a patient's testing or treatment. Even if the patient is healthy, these tissues and fluids must still be treated as infectious waste as a precautionary measure. Pathological waste also includes animal carcasses, which may transmit diseases like rabies or anthrax.

Chemical Waste

• Chemical waste emitted by hospitals includes toxic metals like lead, cadmium and mercury; volatile organic compounds like tetrachloroethane, methanol and formalin; poisons like phenol and epinephrine; and photographic chemicals from radiology labs. Many of these chemical wastes present a persistent environmental hazard, as well as a direct health hazard to human beings.

Radioactive Waste

• Hospitals use radioactive materials in a number of diagnostic and treatment methodologies. Radioactive isotopes of cobalt and cesium, and radioactive dyes like radioiodine, are common, as are radioactive compounds used to treat cancer and thyroid disease. Although they are considered "low-level" radioactive wastes, many of these compounds are capable of causing illness or even death. There is also concern that these materials could be stolen and used as weapons (e.g., in "dirty bombs").