When disposing of medical waste, you need to be careful. Dealing with medical waste can be a problem because of the infection risk – get more info. The pathological wastes and lab cultures can both contain harmful and contagious infections. Incorrectly handled sharps can cause harmful bacteria to enter the bloodstream.
Medical and hazardous waste can coexist. What I’m saying is that a waste may be medical as well hazardous. As these medical hazardous materials contain compounds that are highly toxic like those in chemotherapy, they’re subjected to federal laws with special rules.
You will find two options below for dealing with these wastes.
Incineration
Incineration is the act or process of burning dangerous medical waste. Incinerators include controlled air, excess-air, and rotary Kiln.
Currently, controlled-air medical waste incinerators are most common in medical institutions.
Thermal process
These processes rely on the heat generated by the waste. Thermal processes destroy pathogens by using thermal energy. The thermal process category can be further broken down into low-heat processes, medium-heat processes, and high temperature thermal processing. Thermal processes undergo a wide range of physical and chemicals reactions. This requires a further sub-division.
Low-heat technologies are ones that decontaminate waste using heat at temperatures not high enough to promote combustion or chemical breakdown. Low-heat technology operates between 200 F – 350 F. (93 C – 177 C).
Thermal processes at medium temperatures occur between 350 F and700 F (177 C – 370 C). These thermal processes involve chemical decomposition of organic material. These processes form the foundation for new technologies.
Temperatures of high-heat thermochemical processes range from around 540 C to 15,300 C. These intense temperatures are generated by electric resistance, induction energy, natural gases, or plasma.