Medical waste haulers (often referred to as ‘red-bag’) and incineration firms that specifically handle biomedical waste routinely specify in their waste acceptance protocols that only administering paraphernalia such as tubing, gloves, gowns, etc. and EMPTY vials, syringes, and IVs can be accepted for disposal. These items are incinerated at medical waste temperatures or sterilized, shredded, and land-filled. Disposing of partially filled vials or syringes in these waste streams violates these acceptance protocols and in many cases also violates the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act regulations. The burden of liability, however, rests with the waste generating facility since it is they who package and prepare these wastes for disposal. The law states that the generator is responsible for their waste from cradle to grave.
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In practice, chemotherapy drugs pose another serious issue. Because the law has not been updated in this area, only nine chemotherapy drugs are regulated as hazardous chemical waste by EPA. These nine drugs must be segregated from chemotherapy waste or red sharps containers and placed into RCRA hazardous waste containers when present in bulk or residue amounts. Since many of the non-regulated chemotherapeutic agents are at least as hazardous, good risk management should involve treating all bulk and residue chemotherapy agents as hazardous waste when discarded as a Best Management Practice (BMP). Since spill clean-up materials involve more than trace amounts, these materials should also be managed as hazardous chemical waste and segregated accordingly.
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Click on the icon on the right for an excerpt from the CDC’s NIOSH advisory entitled “Preventing Occupational Exposure to Antineoplastic and Other Hazardous Drugs in Health Care Settings” NIOSH Publication No. 2004-165.
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| CDC PDF |
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Chemotherapy drugs are pharmaceuticals and as such, chemotherapy waste can be handled as Universal Pharmaceutical Waste (UPW) when managed in Florida.
Clean Fuels of Florida, Inc. has successfully tailored a Pharmaceutical and Chemotherapy Waste Disposal Program that address the specific needs of healthcare facilities. Please contact us for a free on-site consultation to review your current hazardous chemotherapy waste handling procedures.
Toll Free: 800-725-8177
Email: info@clean-fuels.net
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