ASSESSMENT OF A MICROWAVE-BASED CLINICAL WASTE DECONTAMINATION UNIT

A clinical waste decontamination unit that used microwave-generated he at was assessed for operator safety and efficacy. Tests with loads art ificially contaminated with aerosol-forming particles showed that no p articles were detected outside the machine provided the seals and cove rs were correctly seated. Thermometric measurement of a self-generated steam decontamination cycle was used to determine the parameters need ed to ensure heat disinfection of the waste reception hopper, prior to entry for maintenance or repair. Bacterial and thermometric test piec es were passed through the machine within a full load of clinical wast e. These test pieces, designed to represent a worst case situation, we re enclosed in aluminium foil to shield them from direct microwave ene rgy. None of the 100 bacterial test pieces yielded growth on culture a nd all 100 thermal test pieces achieved temperatures in excess of 99 d egrees C during their passage through the decontamination unit. It was concluded that this method may be used to render safe the bulk of war d-generated clinical waste.