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Perhaps the most significant waste issue confronting a medical facility is called
“sharps,” meaning discarded needles used to give shots or draw blood.
Sharps are not the only waste item generated in a medical facility, of course.
Any solid waste produced in the diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human
beings or animals is considered a regulated medical waste. Examples of medical
waste and sharps include:
- Needles
- Syringes with attached needles
- Capillary tubes
- Slides and cover slips
- Scalpel blades
- Lancets (the little blades the doctor pricks your finger with to draw blood)
- Soiled or blood-soaked bandages
- Culture dishes and other glassware
- Discarded surgical gloves
- Discarded surgical instruments (other than scalpels)
- Cultures, stocks or swabs used to inoculate cultures
- Removed body organs
Continue on through this section of the EVC to learn more about environmental
laws, regulations and best practices associated with sharps and other regulated
medical wastes.
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