Report of the Council on Scientific Affairs - Biohazardous waste management: What the physician needs to know

Sources of biohazardous waste include not only large hospitals and laborato ries, but also physicians' offices, dental offices, clinics, research facil ities, surgery centers, veterinary offices, funeral homes, and a growing nu mber of settings where home health care is delivered. State and local munic ipality definitions and regulations on biohazardous waste vary widely. Most regulations exempt home health care settings, but include physicians' offi ces. Although the infectious public health risk posed by medical waste is e xceedingly low, this fact is not well understood by the general public. Phy sicians should develop biohazardous waste management programs that fulfill their county, state, and municipal regulations and that consider the differ ence between health risks to employees and risks to the general public. Phy sicians can considerably reduce the amount and costs of biohazardous waste disposal by proper identification and segregation of waste in a manner that meets their state's criteria. Using products that can be recycled may redu ce the amount and costs of disposal of biohazardous waste. Processing costs also may be reduced by cooperative arrangements among medical groups or he alth care facilities to negotiate group disposal rates with vendors.