As is well known, satisfactory disposal methods associated with waste products present formidable problems to industry, governmental agencies and the like. However, the degree of difficulty in dealing with certain waste products such as medical waste is even more difficult in light of the potentially infectious nature of biomedical waste products, such as used syringes.
Recognized methods of treating medical sharps (syringes and the like) include incineration, encapsulation or in some other manner rendering the biomedical waste products safe and unusable. Incineration, however, leads to still further problems, such as air pollution, and still further regulations pertaining to the elimination of metallic compounds from the exhaust fumes. For example, it is known that the red disposal bags presently used for medical waste include significant amounts of cadmium. For incineration, additional measures would be required to prevent the exhaust of such cadmium compounds and other hazardous compounds by way of incinerator exhausts.
Encapsulation in the disposal of medical sharps is also permissible in accordance with some regulations. For example, dentists in some localities may dispose of their used syringes by encapsulating such waste in plaster. Clearly such treatment and handling processes, although authorized, present problems of convenience and practicality and do not eliminate or discourage the problem of illegal dumping.
The principal object of my invention is that of treating medical waste sharps so as to render them harmless the same day of use and at any selected location, such as a doctor's office, thus eliminating any transportation and, therefore, the possibility of dumping untreated potentially infectious biomedical waste.
I have discovered that such objects can be obtained through the use of a dry heat generator that is useful in rendering medical waste, such as syringes and other wastes including plastic elements, harmless by subjecting such items to a heat treatment wherein the temperature is sufficiently high to sterilize the material, as well as to melt the plastic bodies or elements, so that the metal needles and rubber plungers, for example, will sink to the bottom of the thus formed liquid plastic pool. Since the melting temperatures of such materials are substantially below their flash points, the heating function may be controlled both as to time and temperature such that a heating cycle will meet all government regulations pertaining to sterilization and encapsulation but without any burning or incineration of the sharps or other waste products.
It is a further object of this invention to employ a disposable sharps container constructed, for example, of single strength corrugated fiber or cardboard with aluminum foil laminated on each side of the fiber board. Such containers may be used for holding used medical waste until the container is either full or otherwise ready for disposal. When placed in the dry heat generator and subjected to a heating cycle, the corrugated fiber board becomes brittle and easily crumbles. However, the aluminum foil remains intact, thus preventing the melted plastic from leaking from the container. Upon cooling, the top of the container can be pressed down and the entire container discarded as a harmless and relatively small foil wrapped waste product.
It is a still further object of my invention to equip the dry heat generator with a safety lock feature whereby the door of the generator cannot be opened until an entire heat cycle has been completed, and the temperature of the sharps has been reduced to a predetermined safe temperature. The principal object of the safety lock system feature is that of preventing contact with medical wastes that have not been completely treated due to a loss of power, as well as preventing contact with treated sharps prior to cool down to a safe temperature.
A still further object of the invention is to include a high temperature afterburner at an exit port of the dry heat generator, as well as a charcoal filter for treating the fumes including any metallic vapors, in such a manner as to eliminate any metallic or particle contents, as well as removing odors that might be generated in the process.