Are you familiar with the different types of biomedical waste and how to dispose them?

25-04-2019

Regardless of the activity in question, all industries produce waste. However, the impact of that waste can be even more dangerous in the case of healthcare facilities.

To put it simply, any kind of waste that contains infectious (or possibly infectious) material can be considered as biomedical waste. The term also has several synonyms that describe its nature (clinical waste, biohazardous waste, or regulated medical waste just to name a few),but no matter what you call it, managing and disposing of the different types of biomedical waste remains one of the biggest challenges of the healthcare industry. This is also why so many businesses rely on waste management companies, as the issue requires a formidable know-how to be handled efficiently.

Whether or not you choose to outsource hazardous waste management, it is essential that your company at least knows what needs to be dealt with. There are about eight different types of biomedical waste (although the exact number can differ depending on the categorization). No matter what kind of medical waste you have to treat, you will definitely find the most suitable equipment on Celitron's website! Read on to find out how!

The 8 types of biomedical waste

1. General, non-regulated waste disposal

Also known as non-hazardous waste, this category of waste does not pose any particular danger, and therefore doesn’t require any special handling or disposal method. General waste usually represents the bulk of medical waste in a healthcare facility, such as plastic and paper.

2. Infectious waste disposal

Just like its name suggests, these materials carry a risk of infection towards animals, humans, and the environment as a whole. This is why infectious waste management has strict rules regarding storage, transport, disposal, and processing requirements. Such waste includes, but is not limited to blood-soaked materials, sharps and surgical waste, and even body parts.

3. Sharps disposal

Sharps can also be considered as infectious waste. This includes anything that can pierce the skin, from tools like staples, needles, razors, scalpels, to other “sharp” waste like broken glass or wires.

4. Pathological waste disposal

This category can also be treated as infectious waste. Pathological waste basically covers any remain that comes from animals and humans, like bodily fluids, blood, tissue, body parts, and organs.

5. Pharmaceutical waste disposal

Discarded medicines and drugs also pose a risk of infection. This category of biomedical waste includes all vaccines, injectable medicine, pills and antibiotics that have expired, remained unused, or have been contaminated in some way.

6. Chemical waste disposal

This grouping mainly refers to the materials and components of medical equipment. This means that even the mercury found in thermometers counts as chemical waste. Other examples include batteries, disinfectants, solvents, and heavy metals.

7. Genotoxic waste disposal

Extremely hazardous waste, that can be mutagenic (able to cause permanent changes in an organism’s genes, i.e. mutations),teratogenic (can halt pregnancies and cause birth defects),and carcinogenic (can cause the formation of cancer). Cancer treatment drugs are also considered as genotoxic waste.

8. Radioactive waste disposal

In a nutshell, any equipment or supplies that could have been contaminated by radiotherapy or other lab research liquids. While low level of radiations aren’t considered dangerous, high radiation exposure can cause deadly damage to internal organs.

The best equipment to handle biomedical waste disposal

The best equipment always depends on the features of the medical facility you work in, as well as the type of medical waste you need to dispose of. Thankfully, we have a wide variety of products, so whether your company is a small clinic or a huge hospital, you will most definitely find what you're looking for on Celitron's website.

For example, if you're working at a dental or veterinary clinic, then you will most probably need a medium-sized autoclave, like one of the models of the Azteca AC series. These are perfect for medical facilities who have less space available compared to larger hospitals, or just less medical waste to dispose of. Not to mention that you won't even have to compromise on performance: you'll get the same quality results as with larger autoclaves.

Of course, if you need an autoclave to treat a huge amount of biomedical waste every day, then you should most definitely go for the large autoclaves, like Celitron's Azteca A steam sterilizer series. They are perfect for CSSDs as well (Central Sterile Supply Departments),and depending on the model you choose, they can even be fitted out with a 880 liter capacity!

However, it is also very important that you know, that if you need to treat hazardous biomedical waste like sharps, then the safest and most practical way you can do it, is by choosing the ISS (Integrated Steam Sterilizer). This is also an on-site machine, but in addition to being a steam sterilizer, it also works as a medical waste shredder. Not only does it render your hazardous biomedical waste sterile, it also greatly reduces its volume, making disposal even easier!

For more information about the listed products, you can check them all out right here!