Managing hazardous waste in the laboratory

This article offers an introduction to the federal U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations as they relate to hazardous wastes generated by clinical and anatomic pathology laboratories. Traditionally, the EPA has targeted "heavy" industries such as manufacturing for compliance auditing, but it recently turned an eye toward health-care facilities since they are identified as important sources of hazardous waste generation. Enforcement of EPA regulations within health-care facilities presents the challenge of a new labyrinth of definitions, rules, and compliance methods for laboratorians who have already made it through other regulatory agency mazes, including the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) standards, the College of American Pathologists (CAP) checklists, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards.