PROCEDURES FOR THE SAFE DISPOSAL

OF BIOHAZARDOUS WASTE

                            
1. Personnel must avoid or minimize contact with infectious biohazard waste.   Protective clothing (lab coat, gloves, etc.) must be worn when necessary.  "No touch" technique must be used when practical.  Avoid generating aerosols or splattering.  Hands must always be washed after any contact with biohazard waste.
   
2. All contaminated or infectious dry solid type waste (i.e., gloves, personal protective equipment, paper towels, gauze/bandages, bodily fluid/blood saturated items, etc.) should be placed in red bags stored inside proper biohazard boxes. (Bags must be stored in labeled biohazard boxes with lids.) Do not put sharps of any kind into red-bagged boxes. Keep the weight of box reasonable, 25 lbs. or less.
   
3. All contaminated needles or other contaminated sharps (i.e., glass and plastic pipettes, slides, rigid plastic, capillary tubes, syringes, culture dishes, scalpels, broken glass, etc.) should be placed in red sharps containers or buckets that are puncture-resistant and leak proof. Anything that could potentially puncture a bag should be placed into a sharps container. This includes plastic pipettes, too. By law, needles/blades and syringes whether contaminated or not must always be placed into a red sharps container. Containers must be closed and disposed of when 3/4's of the way full.
   
4. Contaminated liquid waste (aqueous biological or infectious solutions such as blood, urine, cells, microbial cultures) must be autoclaved or chemically disinfected (i.e., bleach) prior to disposal. Upon obtaining a one time approval from Environmental Health and Radiation Safety, the disinfected waste may be flushed into the sanitary sewer system if flushed with large amounts of water. Otherwise, these liquids must be in containers that are break-resistant and tightly sealed before being placed into red biohazard waste buckets. There should be sufficient absorbent material in the bucket to absorb the entire contents of the liquid in the event of a release. (e.g., absorbent pads or vermiculite)
   
5. The bags, boxes, lids, containers and absorbents can be obtained from the Griffith Hall and McNeil Science and Technology Center Central Stockrooms.
   
6. Do not put any hazardous pharmaceutical (including chemo drugs), chemicals, radioactive waste, or regular garbage into the biohazard waste containers.
   
7. Do not autoclave bleach treated waste, flammables, corrosives, reactives, cancer drugs, volatile chemicals or radioactive materials. [Link to recommended procedures for autoclaving materials]
   
8. Infectious biohazard waste containing virulent pathogens or presenting a risk to individuals handling it must be autoclaved before being placed into biohazard waste containers for disposal. [Agents required to be autoclaved]  

Non-contaminated or decontaminated sharps (except needles, syringes and blades), whether plastic or glass, should be placed in blue and white glassware boxes or sturdy double-bagged boxes labeled as "broken glassware." (Not in regular trashcans.) However, place, ALL needles, blades and syringes into a red sharps container.

While storing these bags and containers in the laboratory, THEY MUST BE KEPT CLOSED, unless adding waste. Before transport from the laboratory, also check to make sure that they are not leaking.

Do not store biohazard waste in hallways or near general traffic. Biohazard waste, excluding used sharps, may be stored at room temperature until the storage container is full, but no longer than 30 days from the date of generation. It may be refrigerated for up to 30 days and frozen for up to 90 days from the date of generation. Biohazard waste must be dated when refrigerated or frozen for storage. Storage of biohazard waste in a freezer must be approved by the Environmental Health and Radiation Safety Dept.

All red bags, sharps containers and buckets are obtainable from the Central Stockrooms.  When the waste is ready to be picked-up, call the Central Stockrooms at X8843 or X3141.  Waste will be scheduled for pick-up in a timely manner.

See procedures on chemical waste disposal.

See procedures on radioactive waste disposal.

University of the Sciences in Philadelphia • 600 South Forty-third Street • Philadelphia, PA 19104-4495 • phone: 215-596-8800 • email: safety@usp.edu