The proper disposal of medical waste requires some attention. Infection is the main issue when dealing with medical waste. Both pathological and laboratory wastes are prone to contain infectious and potentially dangerous agents. If sharps are mishandled, they can inject harmful substances directly into bloodstream. Find out more?

Hazardous wastes can exist as a separate category, but overlap with medical waste. It is possible for a waste to be both hazardous and medical. Medical hazardous wastes are toxic, like the chemicals used for chemotherapy. This is why they fall under federal regulations.

The following are two methods of dealing with this waste.

Incineration

Incineration is the act of burning medical hazardous waste. Incinerators can be classified as controlled air incinerators, excess air incinerators, or rotary kilns.

The most popular medical waste incinerator technology is controlled air incineration. It dominates new system sales in hospitals, clinics and similar facilities.

Thermal processing

Thermoprocesses are processes that depend on heat, i.e. The thermal process is used to destroy pathogens from waste. The category of thermal processes is divided further into medium heat, high heat, and low heat. Further divisions are necessary due to the drastic differences in physical and chemical reaction rates that occur during thermal processes.

In low-heat processes, heat is used to remove contaminants from wastes at temperatures that are too high to ignite or cause chemical reaction. Low-heat thermal processes are typically operated between 200 F and about 350 F.

These processes are carried out at temperatures ranging between 350 F and 700 F. (177 C and 370 C). They involve the breakdown of organic matter. They are at the core of relatively new technologies.

Thermal processes that operate in high heat are generally carried out at temperatures between 1,000 F and 15,000 F. (540 C to 8300 C). Electrical resistance, induction or natural gas can provide this high heat.