<unk>  must be properly managed and disposed of to protect the environment, general public and workers, especially healthcare and sanitation workers who are at risk of exposure to<unk>  as an occupational hazard. Steps in the management of<unk>  include generation, accumulation, handling, storage, treatment, transport and disposal. The development and implementation of a national waste management policy can improve<unk>  management in health facilities in a country. On-site versus off-site These healthcare workers are being trained to safely handle contaminated wastes before being assigned to an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever. Disposal occurs off-site, at a location that is different from the site of generation. Treatment may occur on-site or off-site. On-site treatment of large quantities of<unk>  usually requires the use of relatively expensive equipment, and is generally only cost effective for very large hospitals and major universities who have the space, labour and budget to operate such equipment. Off-site treatment and disposal involves hiring of a<unk>  disposal service (also called a truck service) whose employees are trained to collect and haul away<unk>  in special containers (usually cardboard boxes, or reusable plastic bins) for treatment at a facility designed to handle<unk> . Generation and accumulation<unk>  should be collected in containers that are leak-proof and sufficiently strong to prevent breakage during handling. Containers of<unk>  are marked with a biohazard symbol. The container, marking, and labels are often red. Discarded sharps are usually collected in specialized boxes, often called needle boxes. Specialized equipment is required to meet OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1450 and EPA 40 CFR 264.173. standards of safety. Minimal recommended equipment include a fume hood and primary and secondary waste containers to capture potential overflow. Even beneath the fume hood, containers containing chemical contaminants should remain closed when not in use. An open funnel placed in the mouth of a waste container has been shown to allow significant evaporation of chemicals into the surrounding atmosphere, which is then inhaled by laboratory personnel, and contributes a primary component to the threat of completing the fire triangle. To protect the health and safety of laboratory staff as well as neighboring civilians and the environment, proper waste management equipment, such as the Burkle funnel in Europe and the ECO Funnel in the U.S., should be utilized in any department which deals with chemical waste. It is to be dumped after treatment. Storage and handling Storage refers to keeping the waste until it is treated on-site or transported off-site for treatment or disposal. There are many options and containers for storage. Regulatory agencies may limit the time for which waste can remain in storage. Handling is the act of moving<unk>  between the point of generation, accumulation areas, storage locations and on-site treatment facilities. Workers who handle<unk>  must observe standard precautions. Treatment The goals of<unk>  treatment are to reduce or eliminate the waste's hazards, and usually to make the waste unrecognizable. Treatment should render the waste safe for subsequent handling and disposal. There are several treatment methods that can accomplish these goals.It include secregating the bio waste<unk>  is often incinerated. An efficient incinerator will destroy pathogens and sharps. Source materials are not recognizable in the resulting ash. Alternative thermal treatment can also include technologies such as gasification and pyrolysis including energy recovery with similar waste volume reductions and pathogen destruction. An autoclave may also be used to treat<unk> . An autoclave uses steam and pressure to sterilize the waste or reduce its microbiological load to a level at which it may be safely disposed of. Many healthcare facilities routinely use an autoclave to sterilize medical supplies. If the same autoclave is used to sterilize supplies and treat<unk> , administrative controls must be used to prevent the waste operations from contaminating the supplies. Effective administrative controls include operator training, strict procedures, and separate times and space for processing<unk> . Microwave disinfection can also be employed for treatment of<unk> s. Microwave irradiation is a type of non-contact heating technologies for disinfection. Microwave chemistry is based on efficient heating of materials by microwave dielectric heating effects. When exposed to microwave frequencies, the dipoles of the water molecules present in cells re-align with the applied electric field. As the field oscillates, the dipoles attempts to realign itself with the alternating electric field and in this process, energy is lost in the form of heat through molecular friction and dielectric loss. Microwave disinfection is a recently developed technology which provides advantage over old existing technologies of autoclaves as microwave based disinfection has less cycle time, power consumption and it requires minimal usage of water and consumables as compared to autoclaves. For liquids and small quantities, a 1–10% solution of bleach can be used to disinfect<unk> . Solutions of sodium hydroxide and other chemical disinfectants may also be used, depending on the waste's characteristics. Other treatment methods include heat, alkaline digesters and the use of microwaves. For autoclaves and microwave systems, a shredder may be used as a final treatment step to render the waste unrecognizable. Some autoclaves have built in shredders.
Biomedical waste
Hazardous waste
Toxic waste
Domestic medicine
Pharmaceutical marketing
Organ trade
Surgical smoke
Sharps waste