What is regulated medical waste?
regulated medical waste (RMW) is a waste that represents a "significant risk" for human health by infection. Medical waste, usually generated by healthcare facilities, may include parts of the body, body tissue, blood and objects contaminated with blood or other body fluids. In the United States, the disposal of medical waste, also known as biohazarous waste, regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and enforced by state agencies. Medical waste is also closely regulated in many other countries.
regulated medical waste caught the public's attention in the US at the end of the 80s, after several needles of needles and other Biohazard materials that are washed on the beaches. The media attention of the AIDS epidemic has brought the importance of proper disposal of contaminated waste, followed by public outrage. This led the US Congress to introduce the Medical Waste Monitoring Act in 1988, which required all the biohazard materials to be destroyedy separately from an ordinary official official and home waste. It is estimated that new instructions have reduced emissions of dioxin, mercury, particles and hydrogen chloride by 90 to 98%. As a result of the EPA instructions, 50 to 80% of existing medical waste incinerators were estimated.
New laws have increased the costs of liquidation of regulated medical waste ten times. Many medical centers could not sustain increased costs and moved in the discovery of alternative means for disposal. The safest and most economical methods include the sterilization of waste to remove contamination and then load it into a landfill.
regulated medical waste can be sterilized by heat. The Mospolene ST treatment is with a steam autoclave that combines extreme heat and high pressure for killing microorganisms. Further treatment includes microwave sterilization, dry heat systems or Plasma Arc technology. AllThese methods are effective, although the cost of the equipment may be high and the waste must be processed for some time to ensure that all contaminating organisms have been killed.
Another way to sterilize regulated medical waste is contact with an oxidation chemical agent, usually chlorine. This method is more suitable for small amounts of waste because it consumes chemicals and produces toxins such as chloroform. Ozone is also used to sterilize medical waste because it does not create harmful by -products, although there is a risk to workers due to the negative effects of ozone on the lungs during treatment.