Medical waste and its disposal is an everyday challenge in the healthcare industry that it has its own regulation that this field needs to follow. The people in the healthcare field need to understand the important of proper disposal for safety and security of everyone around it.

Medical waste has its complications thus the need of for the right disposal and management must be followed in all areas in the medical field.

Medical waste and its definition

Medical waste is any waste coming from pharmaceutical fields that contains infectious or may even have infection or contaminants. It can contain bodily fluids and other elements considered to be hazardous to the environment.

The fields as mentioned are:

• Laboratories
• Hospital
• Clinics
• Medical facilities and other related research centers

Types of waste:

• Infectious – bodily fluids
• Pathological – human tissue or organs,
• Sharp wastes – any materials used or not used
• Chemical – any materials that were used to hold chemicals
• Pharmaceutical – expired and/or unused materials contaminated with drugs and vaccines
• Cyctoxic – wastes with high levels of drugs and other hazardous substances for cancer treatments and such
• Radioactive
• General waste

These wastes coming from healthcare sources are considered high-risk of any contaminants when exposed to the environment. A stronghold of understanding on how to properly execute correct waste disposal could avoid this from happening.

The risks in health

Improper disposal of any medical waste is potentially dangerous to everyone around. There are hundreds of microorganisms that can infect people through the waste which could double up health cases.

Here are some outcomes:

• Injury through sharp medical tools
• Toxic exposure to medical products such as antibiotics
• Chemical burns through disinfectant or sterilization products
• Air pollution as a result of the released elements from waste burning
• Radiation burns

Impact on the environment

Improper waste disposal and management could affect a lot of casualty.  Health are at risks due to the release of contaminants that ruins or damages the environment. Waste could contaminate landfills and its excess could affect water areas. Chemical release could also release pathogens as well as improper incineration thus imposing grave threat to anyone who is directly in contact of tainted areas.

Proper waste management and disposal

Medical personnel; or anyone managing the healthcare facility could have a lack of awareness on the correct disposal and management. The absence of the proper set of skills as well as the correct materials to execute it is also the leading reason why there could be improper waste disposal and management.

Proper disposal of waste must be implemented in all areas of the medical field. There are resources right now providing good medical waste disposal information and services. If anyone needing them, they could be at least hired for the preposition.