Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:54:02 -0400
Reply-To: Jane McNeil <jmcneil**At_Symbol_Here**MCLEAN.HARVARD.EDU>
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: Jane McNeil <jmcneil**At_Symbol_Here**MCLEAN.HARVARD.EDU>
Subject: Re: FW: [DCHAS-L] BBP Waste Issues
Comments: To: "Hadden, Susan [PRDUS]"
In-Reply-To: <163282172E7D874896E984D5CC2A66B204AD9483**At_Symbol_Here**JNJUSRAGMS02.na.jnj.com>

Just to clarify-I was assuming that the Sharps are autoclaved in 
Sharps containers and I was under the impression that this is not a 
problem in the regular trash.....and sewerage authority or not, I 
don't think we should be disposing of drugs any longer into the water 
waste streams.

Regards, Jane

At 8:35 AM -0400 8/26/09, Hadden, Susan [PRDUS] wrote:
>Pat, Here is what our environmental engineer had to say about your questions.
>
>He can NEVER dispose the needles or any of these things in regular 
>trash.  If he can separate our some of the debris, (i.e. gloves, lab 
>coats) he may be able to go with someone like SDS (Specialty 
>Disposal Services) and do a waste characterization on the material 
>to determine if it is, indeed, medical waste. Going w/ SDS on some 
>of the streams may save him a little money. He will have to use 
>Stericycle or equivalent for needles and other true med wastes.  The 
>10% bleach w/ product is fine, provided that the sewerage authority 
>is ok with this stuff going to drain. 
>
>It's very expensive, but it is the only way of handling these 
>materials.  It may be beneficial to find a different licensed med 
>waste hauler as a lot of folks complain about Stericycle's pricing.
>
>I hope this helps.
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**list.uvm.edu] On 
>Behalf Of Patricia Peifer
>Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 3:22 PM
>To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU
>Subject: [DCHAS-L] BBP Waste Issues
>
>I currently work at a company which occasionally gets involved in testing
>on drug products which are derived from human blood.  We give all our lab
>employees Bloodborne Pathogen training and offer the the Hep B vaccination
>and essentially try to follow all the requirements of the BBP Standard.
>These drug products have been tested and are certified to be pathogen-free,
>but of course, there is always to remote possibility that they may not be,
>so our employees are to use the Universal Precautions when working with
>these blood-derived drugs.
>
>I have been using Stericycle to get rid of our waste which consists of
>sharps and contaminated gowns, gloves, kim wipes, etc.   I could not find
>anyone who would take leftover drug product for disposal, but a reliable
>source told me to add 10% bleach to it, let stand for 30 minutes, then
>dispose of down the drain.
>
>Here's what I'm wondering...   We are definately a small-scale generator of
>this type of waste ( the sharps and contaminated gowns, gloves, kim wipes,
>etc.)  The Stericycle service is expensive and inconvenient.  Is anyone
>else autoclaving this type of waste (apparently the red bags and red sharps
>containers are autoclavable) then placing the autoclaved waste into a
>regular trash bag and disposing in the regular trash, or for sharps,
>labeling for disposal as non-hazardous sharps after autoclaving?
>
>Thanks for any advice anyone can offer.
>
>Pat Peifer
>Project Manager, Safety & Training
>West Pharmaceutical Services
>101 Gordon Drive
>Lionville, PA  19341
>Phone:(610) 594-3278
>Fax: (610) 594-3005

Previous post   |  Top of Page   |   Next post



The content of this page reflects the personal opinion(s) of the author(s) only, not the American Chemical Society, ILPI, Safety Emporium, or any other party. Use of any information on this page is at the reader's own risk. Unauthorized reproduction of these materials is prohibited. Send questions/comments about the archive to secretary@dchas.org.
The maintenance and hosting of the DCHAS-L archive is provided through the generous support of Safety Emporium.